KINGSTON — The Frutti di Mare by the Westerly High School Career & Technology Pathways Program’s culinary students took home a first-place win at this year’s annual Rhode Island High School Seafood Cook Off on April 15, sponsored by Rhode Island Sea Grant and URI’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences.
Their winning dish will now be featured at one of the Newport Restaurant Group’s restaurants.
The winning team consisted of students Trista Thornton, Bella Weber, Chloe Will, Lucas Denslow and Nate Pachiga, with head chef Jamie Finkelstein.
“I couldn’t be more proud of their hard work, creativity and dedication,” Finkelstein said.
The annual cook off challenges local high school culinary student teams to serve up their own original recipes for locally caught seafood. The Warwick Area Career and Technical Center hosted the 2026 Cook-off.
This year’s signature fish species was calamari — a seasonal choice as it is Rhode Island’s official appetizer. The calamari used for the event was donated by Wild Atlantic Seafood and courtesy of Newport Restaurant Group. Rhode Island Sea Grant organizes the event closely with the host, the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center.
“Rhode Island Sea Grant sponsors the cook-off each year to support students in workforce development, with seafood being such a big part of the RI restaurant experience, and also to encourage the public to try more local seafood and cook it themselves at home,” said Monica Allard Cox with Rhode Island Sea Grant. “And all of this supports our local seafood industry, so we see it as having multiple benefits.”
Schools fielding teams this year were: CHARIHO Tech, Davies Career and Technical High School, East Providence High School Career and Technical Center, Warwick Area Career and Technical Center, and Westerly High School Career and Technology Pathways Program. Each team has up to four team members along with a supervising chef.
“The students rise to the occasion and see value in the competition and schools keep coming back year after year to participate,” said Cox.
This year, the judges table featured Chef Greg Coccio from the Newport Restaurant Group, David Dadekian of Eat Drink RI and Chris Roebuck from Wild Atlantic Seafood. Members of the public were able to vote on their favorite dish, with the winner receiving a People’s Choice award.
There were also two featured speakers at the event: Molly Ogren from the Rhode Island Department of Environment Management talked about local seafood, and Kate Masury from Eating with the Ecosystem spoke about local fish and eating what is caught here in Rhode Island.
“We have seen a great deal of enthusiasm from our partners, participants and attendees,” said Cox. “People have grown an interest in eating local seafood to support fishermen, supporting the environment and encouraging others to do the same.”
In addition to Rhode Island Sea Grant, Newport Restaurant Group and Wild Atlantic Seafood, the event was also sponsored by the University of Rhode Island College of the Environment and Life Sciences and the URI Coastal Institute, the Rhode Island Department of Environment Management, Warwick Area Career and Technical Center, Rhode Island Hospitality, Rochs Fresh Foods, Eating with the Ecosystem, and Eat Drink RI.
Winning recipes can be found on the Rhode Island Sea Grant website.
This story was written by Kiera Wrage, a senior majoring in public relations at the University of Rhode Island.
Dining and Cooking