Teen Places 2nd in National Cook-Off

Joseph Messina, a 16-year-old Sun Valley teenager with a troubled past, walked into a kitchen in Atlanta for a national cooking competition with little more under his belt than youthful determination.

By the time the bread crumbs had settled, he emerged with a $30,000 scholarship to pursue his dream of becoming a professional chef after he completes a drug rehabilitation program.

Messina placed second last weekend in the Art Institutes National High School Culinary Cook-Off competition against 23 other contestants from throughout the U.S. The Art Institutes are headquartered in Pittsburgh, and the arts and culinary-oriented school has 20 campuses, including one in Los Angeles.

“I was speechless,” said Messina, back home after the whirlwind weekend. “They announced from ninth place down, and we were sitting on the edge of our seats. When they got to second place and said from the Art Institute of Los Angeles, we jumped up yelling.”

The “we” included his father, Joe Messina, his grandfather and two uncles who traveled from Boston to cheer him on. For the last nine months, Joseph has lived at Phoenix House, a drug rehab program in Lake View Terrace.

He came within a hair of first-place finisher Anthony Tabb, a 17-year-old high school student and part-time body shop mechanic from suburban Chicago. The final score, said Messina, showed him scoring 85.08 points from the six judges to Tabb’s 85.83.

He “was the youngest one there and they were very surprised at how well he [was] able to handle cutlery,” said Messina’s father. “Joey enjoyed himself no end.”

The contestants were required to whip up a menu of crab cakes with remoulade sauce and dill cucumbers, Caesar salad and roast tenderloin with a wild mushroom sauce, roasted new potatoes, and sauteed squash and carrot medley.

They were judged on their demeanor, sanitation and how they worked with their student helper, as well as presentation and taste. Messina is eager to get his scorecard to see where he can improve.

He is scheduled to graduate from Phoenix House in June and will begin his culinary course at the Santa Monica campus of the Art Institutes in July. And although he’s taken a few days off after the competition, he’s ready to get back into the kitchen.

“Even,” he said, “if it’s just to wash pots and pans.”