Spring High Student Wins National Cooking Championship

SPRING, TX — Over the last few years the Houston-area has become known as one of the best places to be for food, and that love for food has transferred down to the next generation.

Labria Lanaux, a senior at Carl Wunsche High School in Spring, recently claimed the gold medal at the 2016 Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics, ACT-SO, national culinary competition. The event is a yearlong achievement program sponsored by the NAACP with the finals held at the annual NAACP convention.

Labria — who is being mentored by Frank Majowicz, executive chef of the Hyatt Regency Houston —participated in the 2015 culinary competition, but failed to claim the top spot. Instead of giving up she doubled down and worked harder.

She spent up to four hours every Saturday in the Hyatt's kitchen, working with Majowicz. She wrote recipes, developed menu items and perfected her techniques. When it came time to compete again Labria's hard work paid off and she wowed the judges with two Mediterranean-inspired dishes, a tomato and goat cheese flatbread and a Mediterranean herb chicken with lemon zest vinaigrette.

Along with the gold medal, and bragging rights, Labria won a two-year scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America.

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