A hot team in competition, from left, EIT students Kayla Hughes, Ashleigh Butler and Sabrina Faes.
A team of EIT hospitality students has won a cache of medals in the Nestlé Toque d’Or competition in Auckland.
Front of house student Ashleigh Butler scored a silver medal and culinary students Kayla Hughes and Sabrina Faes each picked up a bronze medal in the nationwide event.
From Napier, Ashleigh is studying the one-year Certificate in Front of House Operations (Advanced).
Kayla is from Hastings and is the second year of her Diploma in Professional Chef Practice while Swiss-born Sabrina, from Waimarama, is in the first year of the programme.
Having developed a menu comprising three courses, Kayla and Sabrina worked over three hours to prepare the dishes served by Ashleigh to guests.
The pressure throughout the live kitchen cook-off was intense, with the team fighting the clock and working under the ever-present gaze of a panel of industry judges.
The 12 teams taking part were marked against World Chefs Societies’ international judging standards encompassing food preparation, presentation, taste and service.
This year was the 24th for New Zealand’s longest-running student cookery and food event, which is also held in 17 other countries and has helped launch the careers of chefs such as Jamie Oliver.