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Four local students and their professional chef mentors will face off in a cooking challenge this Saturday at Hope Full Farm in Dripping Springs. The inaugural Farm to Fork Junior Chef Challenge runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 11 at the farm.
Emmy-nominated CBS Austin anchor Trevor Scott will serve as emcee. H-E-B is the presenting sponsor. Tickets to the event are $75 and are available at https://www.hopefullfarm.org/tickets. Hope Full Farm is a nonprofit, and this family-friendly event benefits its mission to fight childhood hunger through regenerative agriculture.
The four junior chefs - ranging in age from 13 to 17 - will each create an original dish using organic produce harvested directly from Hope Full Farm. They will be working alongside some of Central Texas's most recognized culinary names. All four will receive scholarship awards.
The pairings are Rider Scardino, 14, with Chef Michael Fojtasek of Olamaie; Aubrey Pevehouse, 13, with Chef Edgar Rico of Nixta Taqueria; Penelope Orsak, 16, with Chef Fiore Tedesco of L'Oca d'Oro; and Lauren Smets, 17, with Chef Sarah McIntosh of Épicerie.
Rider, Aubrey and Penelope are all students in Dripping Springs.
Rider, a student at Sycamore Springs Middle School, said he has been cooking since he was about three years old. It started one Thanksgiving when his father was cooking, and let Rider start experimenting alongside him. His resulting dessert was so tasty it surprised everyone.
The hobby has grown considerably since then. Every year on his birthday, Rider cooks a five-course tasting menu for his friends. Past menus have included beef wellington, Chilean sea bass, scallops in a beurre blanc sauce, and short rib ravioli made with homemade spinach pasta.
“I like experimenting with dishes I see online that look challenging,” Rider said.
Rider said he gets the most enjoyment out of cooking main dishes, but he also makes a lot of desserts. Some recent favorites included macarons and a homemade ice cream infused with tea and lavender. He’s excited to get more experience cooking for large groups.
“I don’t have much experience cooking for more than about 15 people at a time, so that will be fun,” Rider said.
He has been paired with Chef Michael Fojtasek of Olamaie, one of Austin's most acclaimed restaurants. The two have been mapping out their approach to Saturday's competition. They plan to do extensive prep work together the day before the event.
“We met with Chef Michael and started figuring out what ingredients we’re going to use, what we’re going to make, and some of the techniques,” Rider said.
Rider said he expects one of the biggest challenges will be staying composed when challenges come up during the contest.
"When there are a lot of people waiting for food, you don't want to make them wait longer if something goes wrong," Rider said.
Rider said he hopes the experience leads to a career in the kitchen.
"I'd like to cook professionally and maybe open a restaurant one day," he said.
Penelope Orsak, 16, came to cooking through 4-H, where she has competed for five years. This year, her team took first place at the district level and is headed to the state competition at Texas A&M.
She was paired with Chef Fiore Tedesco of L'Oca d'Oro, an Italian restaurant in Austin. The two met at his restaurant, where Tedesco gave her a pasta book and encouraged her to start experimenting.
"I had never tried making pasta before, since I usually cook other things, so learning that was really fun," she said. “It was really cool to see what he’s been able to accomplish with cooking. It showed me what might be possible in the future if I continue with it.”
Penelope said she applied for the competition because she liked the idea of working with a chef mentor.
“It also connects local farmers, the community and chefs, which brings together a lot of things I really enjoy,” Penelope said.
The farm's ingredients also sent her home with new ideas. After learning about the produce she would be working with, she started experimenting with unfamiliar ingredients, including an attempt at radish mousse.
"Radishes aren't unusual, but I had always used them in savory dishes," Penelope said. "I tried making a radish mousse, which was surprisingly delicious. I never would have expected to use radish in something sweet."
Penelope said the experience has already shifted the way she thinks about cooking.
"It made me appreciate farmers more, realizing they're producing all these amazing foods," she said.
Her main goal for Saturday is to deepen her understanding of the cooking process.
"When I think about food, I usually focus on the finished dish, but I want to understand more about the steps that get you there," Penelope said. “I want to learn about new ingredients, how to prepare them, how farmers grow them and which flavors work well together.”
Penelope said she’s both nervous and excited about the competition.
“I’m a little nervous about doing something wrong and letting my chef down,” Penelope said. “But he told me he’s there to learn with me and mentor me, which made me feel a lot better.”
Aubrey Pevehouse, 13, started cooking one morning when she was 7, almost on a whim.
“One day my mom came downstairs and I was making scrambled eggs, because I’d seen her do it so many times,” Aubrey said. “It went well, so I kept doing it.”
Today she cooks her own breakfast and lunch daily, hosts breakfast spreads for friends at sleepovers, and has tackled cuisines ranging from Mediterranean to Indian to Vietnamese. For her sister's 16th birthday last year, she made a two-tiered autumn-themed cake from scratch, complete with fondant and buttercream.
“At first, I just cooked what my mom made. I would follow her recipes, sometimes ending in a disaster, but I’d still eat it,” Aubrey said. “It’s fun to go out of my comfort zone and show people what I love to cook.”
Aubrey is paired with Chef Edgar Rico of Nixta Taqueria, a Mexican-focused Austin restaurant known for its house-made tortillas and chips. When she visited the restaurant, Rico brought out nearly the entire menu and gave her a preview of an unreleased dessert.
“It was a mix of melting and crunchy textures and really unique,” Aubrey said. “I even got to go into the kitchen and see how things were made. It was a completely new experience.”
Aubrey said she sees cooking primarily as a hobby for now, though she hasn't ruled out a more formal role in the industry someday.
"I love expressing myself through food and making things look neat," she said. "I've thought about a restaurant as a side experience, even if it's not my lifelong career."
The Farm to Fork Junior Chef Challenge event will include tastings, youth music performances, guided farm tours, and hands-on activities for children. All proceeds will benefit the programs of Hope Full Farm, which grows and donates certified organic produce to families across Central Texas. In 2025, the farm donated $61,185 worth of organic produce - the equivalent of 13,045 meals - to an average of 118 families per week.
For more information, or tickets to the event, visit www.hopefullfarm.org.
