A show of Valley hospitality

It's not everyday that a group of students get the opportunity to present their culinary skills at a state event. On Jan. 29, however, students of Cheryl "Mo" Munroe who attend Encampment K-12 School and Saratoga Middle/High School were able to do just that as they attended the Wyoming Governor's Hospitality and Tourism Conference, organized by the Wyoming Restaurant and Lodging Association (WRLA) as Platte Valley ProStart.

The Saratoga Sun spoke with Encampment students before attending the event and Saratoga students after the conference, as well as Chef Mark DeNittis, who served as a mentor for Platte Valley ProStart. On the morning of the event, Encampment students were busy moving around Mo's classroom as they prepared the last minute condiments, such as the mango chutney cream for their smoked trout dish and cowboy candy jalapenos.

DeNittis, who is a graduate of Johnson and Wales University Providence Campus, is no stranger to Encampment or to Munroe.

"When I formally met her, I was teaching at Johnson and Wales (Denver) and it was the summer of 2001 and each of the four Johnson and Wales campuses host an educative series. So, when the campus is not full, they develop programing for ProStart teachers like Mo," said DeNittis. "Of course, Mo being Mo, we got to talking and I had worked at King Mountain Ranch. So, my familiarity with the area goes back to '95 when I moved out from Palm Beach, Fla. and one of my general managers, Jennai Howe Bachus, was actually a student here, one of Mo's students,m and she was the daughter of Bob and Margie Howe who ran the A-Bar-A."

While DeNittis was, at one time, an instructor at Johnson and Wales Denver, he has been all over the industry. The professional chef was involved in starting a $45 million golf project as executive chef at the Houstonian Hotel, Club and Spa, started his own United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) processing plant and served as the chef educational consultant for the American Land Board before becoming a specialist for Sysco Denver.

DeNittis was instrumental in acquiring the meat and fish required for the dishes that Platte Valley ProStart presented in Cheyenne. The beef chuck for the Piedmontese Beef Chuck Bruschetta and the wild game for the Wild Game Meatballs were provide by Carmine Lonardo's Italian Market while the trout for the Smoked Trout was provided by Seattle Fish Company in Denver. Colo.

Between both of Munroe's classes, 500 horderves were made with 250 made in Encampment and 250 made in Saratoga. For presentation, river rock from Munroe's ranch was used to display the trout while tree trunk slices, courtesy of Scott Bokelman's tech class, were used to display the other dishes.

Not all of the students who take Munroe's ProStart class are planning to pursue culinary career. Some of them take the class because "we love Mo." Others take it learn skills they will need once they head to college.

"I was kind of just looking for something new to experience and I thought, with being in a ProStart type class, it would give me just more experience and possibilities of what I wanted to do in the future," said Encampment junior Reid Schroeder.

"I think it's a great life skill. It opens up lots of jobs for me, especially right now," said Encampment student Rylie Henry.

Whether they have any plans to pursue a career in the service industry or not, each student was proud that their class had been asked to attend the governor's tourism conference.