ECC Culinary Arts and Hospitality students compete in Grand Victoria Casino's Culinary Competition

Elgin Community College Culinary Arts and Hospitality students De'Reen Vyleta, Michael Prager, Alec Lappa, Megan Sweeney, Sierra Harris, Calvin Trillet, Andrzei Opiela, Kasey Cooke, Thomas Osko and Erin Neisendorf competed in the semifinal round of the Grand Victoria Casino Culinary Competition on Wednesday, Oct. 11. The competition took place at Spartan Terrace, a restaurant run by students of the program, in Building I of ECC's 1700 Spartan Drive campus, in Elgin.

Participants in this year's competition created original recipes that focused on appetizers, starters or salads, at the request of Grand Victoria Casino's Buckinghams Steakhouse. Previously, the competition consisted of students inventing burger recipes for the casino's Prime BurgerHouse.

Five students will be moving on to the final round. The semifinal round-winning dishes included ceviche with an oriental twist (Vyleta), smoked salmon crostini (Prager), truffle-fried brussels sprouts (Lappa), lobster cado (Sweeney) and foie-pumpkin mousse (Cooke).

The students will go on to compete for $7,000 in scholarships during the finals, and for the opportunity to have their dish featured on the Buckinghams Steakhouse menu.

The finals will be held at Grand Victoria Casino's Prime Burgerhouse, 250 S. Grove Ave., Elgin, at noon Thursday, Oct. 26. Viewing of the final round of the competition is free and open to the public.

All five finalists will receive a chef's coat, hat, and apron, and certificate of participation. In addition to a generous $2,500 scholarship, the first place winner will receive an invitation to Grand Victoria Casino's Buckinghams Steakhouse to try their menu item. The second place winner will receive a $1500 scholarship, and the third, fourth and fifth place winners will each receive a $1,000 scholarship.