Gala Night: Cooking For a Cause

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Prepare for the meal of your life.

Camilo Bacca, Staff Writer

On Monday, March 10th, the Coral Gables Senior High’s Culinary Arts Academy will be hosting its 4th annual Gala Night. For the past three years, Gala Night has been held at CGHS, but unlike past years, this year’s Gala will be held at Dome Restaurant on Miracle Mile. The Culinary Arts Academy will serve the attending patrons an exquisite, mouth-watering four course meal. It will be a night to remember with all the proceeds going to benefit the Culinary Arts department.

The CGHS Culinary Arts Department is a prestigious program that has won multiple awards over the years; it has proven successful, not only on the local level, but also at the state and national level. The program provides training for students, allowing them to experience and master the art of working and managing a kitchen. This academic preparation has maintained its quality and commitment to students over the years, and has helped students get a head start in their careers. The department boasts a great success after graduation; many old Gables alumni have successfully entered the culinary industry or have opted to continue their education, often at prestigious institutions. The students are almost as good as the food they serve. The Gala Night fundraiser is aimed at raising funds for the pupils, in order for them to buy necessary equipment and to afford competitions. The money will help ensure that it can maintain its promise to uphold its standard, and to continue to provide the highest quality education to students.

This year’s Gala Night is being sponsored by Dome Restaurant and Doctors Hospital, who are providing all the ingredients for the meal. The students are taking control of the Dome, who generously is lending itself out for one night only, and the students will be in charge of the preparing the food and serving it.

“Basically the restaurant is closed, and we have the whole reign of the restaurant for one night. The students will be cooking, doing service and everything else. It’s just like a fundraiser, for us to have enough funds so we can afford new equipment and go to competitions and things like that. It would be wonderful for alumni and students to come out and to support the cause,” Chef Vera, the Culinary Teacher at CGHS, said.

If the program’s reputation precedes itself, it will be a dinner that you are bound to remember for your life. The first course will consist of scrumptious sea scallops stuffed with chorizo on a bed of corn ceviche accompanied by a salad of edamame. Yum! The next course to be served will be fresh field greens from CGHS’s own organic garden, with roasted beets, goat cheese, and candied pecans toasted in an exquisite lemon dressing. The menu only improves, and it’s a roller coaster that can only go up. Each plate is more delicious than the previous. The third course is euphoric, composed of well-prepared dual of beef – braised short ribs, and grilled churrasco served with crispy yucca mash-and Fufu Fritter (it’s plantain mash, but you have to love the name) in a red wine reduction and sautéed seasonal vegetables; it is a culinary masterpiece worthy of the finest five-star restaurant. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. The final course will be a trio of deserts- delicious mini key lime pie, a mangifique crème brulee, and sensational chocolate delight. It is a meal fit for a king.

If you are hoping to attend, as you should, you must RSVP and pay by March 7, 2014. You can pay in cash. Checks and money orders should be made out to The Dome Restaurant in Care of Coral Gables Senior High Culinary Arts Program in the amount of $65.00. It can be mailed or dropped off at 450 Bird Road, Coral Gables. The $65 is all inclusive and pays for all beverages and food.

Gala Night is a beautiful, satisfying event that guarantees the perfect evening. It will be held on Monday, March 10, at 6:00 PM.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected] or call us at 786-277-5082.