Gourmet in an hour? Culinary students from Siletz tackle the competition in statewide cooking championship

By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle 

Jayden Metcalfe carefully cracks eggs and measures milk, cream and sugar, whisking them into a creme anglaise.

He holds a handwritten recipe and zips around the workstation – a square of blue tape on the floor carving out an island surrounded by towering chrome refrigerators and shelves stocked with bins of panko, cocoa powder, rice flour, and cornmeal. Knives hang neatly above the stove seemingly defying gravity and notes and articles of past triumphs covered the walls and fridges.

The smell of cinnamon roll cookies lingers in the air from a previous student project. But it is quickly replaced by a more savory aroma as Metcalfe’s teammates moved tactfully in their limited space – Zoey Kohler braising short ribs while James Pearson and Nick Dickson chop vegetables and Kyler Adams gives feedback. A piece of salmon from the Siletz Tribe sits in a jug of water as the students move about the L-shaped workstation.

Their teacher, Patrick Clarke paces, hands crossed over his chest, prominently displaying the chef’s knife tattoo on his forearm. Clarke watches as the team of six students attempt to create a three-course gourmet meal in 60 minutes using only two butane burners.

It was the first time they had practiced and the 2026 ProStart Championships — where Siletz Valley School would compete for the first time against 12 other Oregon high schools — was less than a week away.

The team

Clarke is an Army veteran and a chef with over two decades of experience in the restaurant industry. He trained at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school and created his own gourmet food truck event company, the Food Truck Mafia.

His students and teachings have earned notoriety and accolades in a short period of time. The culinary team is a branch of Clarke’s class and only formed a year ago. His students have partnered with the Hotel Chelsea, met esteemed chefs in the industry, competed in Cook Around the World, done a variety of work and partnerships, and had their accomplishments spread by various news outlets.

They’ve shucked oysters at Newport’s Local Ocean, caught rockfish deep sea fishing, and have waded in creeks to catch crawdads with their bare hands. The group regularly uses produce from the Siletz Farm, ceremonial elk and salmon from the tribe and creates free meals for the community with Clarke’s mobile kitchen YAA-TR’EE-YAN, which means Feast in Dee-Ni.

“These kids work,” Clarke said. “They’ve got a real chance because they aren’t just sitting in a classroom doing paperwork. They are cooking and they are working.”

But Clarke knows that his students have barriers that most culinary teams don’t. Many of his students’ families have fewer resources. For example, transportation can be a challenge because his students don’t have access to cars and living in a rural area without a very connected transit system poses a challenge to get to jobs and culinary events.

Clarke is constantly fundraising and looking for grant opportunities. Right now, he is seeking donations so that next year’s culinary team can compete in Cook Around the World at Disney World.

Clarke’s teaching combines a professional firmness with encouragement that makes his students enjoy what they are learning and realize goals are attainable.

“He holds us accountable when we make a mistake but he makes sure we don’t beat ourselves up for it,” Metcalfe said. “We learn. And Patrick is the best possible person we could ever work with.”

Metcalfe had always loved cooking, back to a deep love and memories he shares with his Nana and her Southern dishes – cornbread, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn. He smiles as he adjusts his glasses. A senior, Metcalfe said he didn’t see a future for himself and everything felt unattainable. But Clarke’s culinary class kept him in school. He even believes it kept him alive.

“I do well in my classes because I want to get them out of the way because I just want to focus on this,” Metcalfe said. “I want to be a professional chef.”

A challenge 

The hour was almost up and the three courses were not yet complete. Kohler placed huckleberries on the salmon tartare, their bright sauce runny and unpredictable. And the team’s third dish, a dessert, hadn’t yet made it to the table.

Clarke shouted the time – four minutes over.

Once the three dishes — a salmon tartare, short rib tomahawk and blackberry aebleskiver with a creme anglaise – were done, the team picked them apart. First visually, then for taste. Clarke asked them what they thought they should change and what was difficult. The students were quick to answer and suggest other techniques they could try instead. The group had already submitted their dishes to the ProStart competition so they couldn’t change. But they could change their presentation and techniques.

In just six days, the team would travel to Salem to compete against 12 other teams, many which enter the rigorous competition every year. Teams are scored by a panel of volunteer  judges, including chefs and professionals from Oregon’s hospitality industry. It was the 25th year and many of the schools were well practiced. This was Siletz Valley School’s first time.

Clarke was speaking at an event when he was approached about the competition. The team joined late, and by the time the students picked and submitted their dishes they only had about a week and a half to prepare.

Although the students had hours of practical experience and competed before, they had never been in a competition like this.

“There’s over 30 pages of rules here,” Clarke said waving a packet in the air.

Clarke rattled off the litany of ways they could lose points – for talking to the audience, for not formatting their written recipes correctly, even the way they packed their materials and the way they cleaned would be judged.

“It will be a challenge,” Clarke said.

But he encouraged his students. Yes, the other teams had done this before but Siletz’ food would taste better because they worked more and had practical experience.

Competition day

The team didn’t get very much sleep the night before the competition. They were all nerves, Clarke said. Measuring their ingredients and packing took longer than it should. By the time they got to their hotel in Salem, it was midnight Monday.

But the nerves and lack of sleep didn’t show once the team made it to the Salem Convention Center. The group took its place – an L shaped workstation not much different from the one in their Siletz classroom.

Something was amiss from their late-night packing. A critical ingredient for multiple dishes – eggs – hadn’t made the journey. The team quickly pivoted, instead using quail eggs they brought only for the salmon tartare.

The team had exactly 60 minutes to prepare their three-course meal over two butane burners. They looked different this time. Rehearsed, calm, measured, confident.

“Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast,” Clarke said.

He sat in the front row, with one hand grasping a coffee cup and the other holding a camera. He couldn’t coach them or even talk to them. He could only watch.

The ingredients – aside from the eggs – were exactly the same. But the techniques and presentation were completely different.

A giant clock loomed above the teams as each of their 60 minutes slipped by. When their time was half-up Clarke was already on his second cup of coffee and was pacing the perimeter. A panel of judges watched and took notes and photographers loomed over the team as they put the finishing touches on their dishes.

When the hour was up the team had all three courses complete.

The finish line

Clarke had been anxious to speak to his team but he had to wait for them to clean their stations and leave the room, since that was also a part of the judging.

As soon as he was allowed, he went downstairs to find them. His voice full of excitement, Clarke was still approaching the team when he asked how they thought they did.

Metcalfe and his teammates echoed his enthusiasm and replied they thought they did really well.

“I think you did really well too,” Clarke said beaming before they each put their hands out, overlapping each other.

When it was time for the students to get their feedback, he was surprised by the amount of positive comments. One judge said they would order the salmon tartare at a restaurant. The only really negative feedback was that they should have used a little more salt.

“The judges were really impressed with them,” Clarke said.

So Clarke was surprised when they didn’t win.

Salem CTEC won first place, Sam Barlow High School of Gresham took second and Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis was third. Clarke was named Oregon ProStart teacher of the year.

Without the scoring sheet, Clarke can’t definitively say where the team lost points, but he is sure “The devil is in the details.” If he had known the competition was so paperwork heavy, Clarke said he wouldn’t have joined as late as they did.

But after the first time, he knows what they need to do to be more successful next year. One thing is to get the team practicing as soon as the school year begins, Clarke said.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the team,” Clarke said. “They won in my book. I tossed them a huge task.”

• Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, Newport, education, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]