“Get a little bit of everything on your spoon.”

That’s the advice San Dimas High School culinary student Alexa Aguilera offered me while I studied a carefully plated appetizer—thin slices of hamachi, tuna and salmon layered with cucumber, jalapeño, and a coconut-based sauce made with jalapeño, cilantro, ginger, and lemon grass. It's topped with tobiko (flying fish eggs) and green apple sorrel. There's also micro-wasabi, charred avocado, fried shallots, ikura, furikake, shichimi, togarashi, cilantro oil, chili oil, and flowers.

It’s the kind of dish that looks too precise to eat. It's so pretty, I told them I didn't want to it eat it (which was totally untrue, I wanted to devour it!).

"Don't worry about destroying it. Dig in," insisted culinary arts instructor Nick Brandler.

Special thanks to the San Dimas Culinary Team and instructors Laurie and Nick Brandler for inviting me into their kitchen. I'll be cheering them on here in La Verne as they compete this weekend in Baltimore!

For these students, this level of perfection is the result of months of trial, error and persistence.

The San Dimas High School culinary team has been preparing for the National ProStart Invitational in Baltimore, where teams have just one hour to execute a three-course fine-dining menu—using only two eight-foot tables and butane burners. There’s no oven, no refrigeration and no running water. And, the team had to design their menu and create their recipes from scratch.

“It’s intense,” Nick said.

And no pressure, of course, but last year, the San Dimas team cooked their way to a Culinary Champion title in the national competition.

Bonita Unified’s ProStart culinary program—led by Laurie and Nick Brandler—has become one of the top high school culinary programs in California, preparing students for careers across the hospitality industry. The husband-and-wife duo are ProStart educators with decades of restaurant experience. Laurie leads the culinary arts program at Bonita High School.

That success shows up at competition.

At the 2026 California ProStart Cup in March, San Dimas High School took first place in the Culinary competition. Bonita High School earned second place in both Culinary and Management, while San Dimas also placed third in Management.

Behind the scenes, reaching this level requires relentless work.

Students practice five days a week, often staying as late as 9 p.m., repeating their menu more than 40 times to refine execution.

It’s a team sport, and one that requires every player to contribute.

“If any one of these kids is absent any day, we can’t practice,” Nick said.

Competitions test more than cooking.

Students are judged on consistency, costing and preparation. Even the smallest detail—like dressing microgreens—counts as its own recipe and must be calculated accordingly.

The logistical challenge is just as demanding.

Teams must transport nearly everything themselves—equipment, ingredients and tools—often flying across the country with limited luggage and backup plans for perishable items.

“It’s the X factor in stress,” Nick said.

Meet the San Dimas High School Culinary Team 📹

The learning process can be as intense as the competition itself.

Senior Julian Rozier described months of frustration trying to master chocolate tempering, a precise technique that depends on exact temperature control.

“It would keep me up at night,” Rozier said. “It would … eat me alive.”

After repeated trial and error, the breakthrough came from understanding the science behind the process. When a judge later confirmed the chocolate was “perfectly” tempered, the moment brought the student to tears.

Those moments, Nick said, are where the real learning happens.

“Every time we do a run, something goes wrong, and then we’re learning from that.”

At nationals, students say the experience shifts from competition to community.

“I’m excited to meet people from everywhere,” said junior Alexa Aguilera .

Nick and Laurie say the event brings together students from across the country who share the same passion—offering a chance to collaborate, connect and see what’s possible at the next level.

“This is the future of our industry,” Laurie said. “Everybody’s there supporting each other, cheering each other on. And they get to see what their peers are doing at that level and start building those connections with chefs and judges.”

For students, the appeal goes beyond competition.

Sophomore Ella Carranza said the program confirmed a long-standing interest in the culinary field after hearing about “the opportunities they get” and seeing where past students have gone.

Those opportunities range from touring food production facilities to meeting chefs and traveling to places like Napa Valley, where students visit Michelin-starred restaurants and connect with industry professionals.

The program also reshapes how students think about careers.

“When you think culinary … you would be a chef … but there’s so much more,” Aguilera said, explaining there are roles in interior design, research and other specialized fields that she learned about through field trips and networking.

And for some, it leads directly to careers.

One former student leveraged connections made during program trips into a career in fine dining, eventually helping open a restaurant in Sonoma, California, that earned two Michelin stars in its first year.

“When you see how lives get changed forever,” Nick said, “that’s what makes it worth it.”

“The ProStart program is such a great opportunity; more schools should have something like it,” said senior Kyle Yamate. “It inspires the new generation to help in the culinary world."

Back in the classroom, that opportunity is visible in every dish.

In the precision of a plated appetizer.
In the persistence behind a perfected technique.
In the teamwork required to pull it all together under pressure.

Not just how to cook—but how to think, adapt and build a future.

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