MARLBOROUGH, Mass. - Dozens of culinary students from vocational schools across Massachusetts attended a culinary arts food show at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School on Wednesday.

The event was a rare opportunity for the students to soak up knowledge from some of the best chefs in the Bay State. Food shows are typically age-restricted, and Wednesday's event was believed to be the first food show in Massachusetts specifically for high school students.

Louis Trudeau, a chef instructor at Assabet, worked with his colleagues Margo Wilson and Jessica Bengston to organize the event.

“I said to myself, ‘why don't I bring this experience to the high school up here in Massachusetts?’" Trudeau said. "We have 34 culinary programs throughout the state. I think it was a really good opportunity. The students get to see what else is out there on a regular basis that they do in their culinary program.”

It took a few years for restaurants to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, but new research shows the industry is making a comeback, and it needs more employees.

The National Restaurant Association reports 62% of kitchens nationwide don’t have enough employees to serve customers effectively, and the workforce is expected to grow by 500,000 jobs in 2023. This is certainly good news for the dozens of aspiring chefs who visited the food show on Wednesday who feel they have the skills and patience to make a career for themselves.

It takes a certain type of person to handle the hustle and bustle of working in a kitchen, but Assabet senior Gabe Lopes is confident he has what it takes.

“Having a father who is in the food service industry, he already gave me some tricks of the trade,” Lopes said. “But patience is definitely the key, and the number-one role in the kitchen that I learned from my boss is never panic.”

Rico DiFronzo, executive chef of the Union Oyster House in Boston, gave students a live cooking demonstration. The Oyster House is America’s oldest continually operating restaurant.

Looking around at the dozens of excited students and their enthusiastic instructors, DiFronzo said he sees hope.

“Chef Lou here is one of those chefs that can excite the kids, he really gets that adrenaline going in them,” DiFronzo said. “And for us, we really need people like Lou to be able to get students excited and want to stay in this industry. Our biggest thing is if the students stay in the industry, the industry continues to flourish. If we don't have the students, you'll see a shrinkage in operations. There’s just no other way around it.”

When class of 2024 seniors in the Assabet culinary program first walked into the kitchen in the fall of 2020, there wasn’t any certainty an event with this many people would even be possible. They felt fortunate to have some of the best chefs in Massachusetts sharing their skills and are hopeful for the future.

“This day was great having everybody in here, like 200 kids,” said Samuel Matkins. “It's the busiest I've ever seen this kitchen. I'd like to see it again. I just signed papers to go into the Marine Corps yesterday, so I'm going to be there for four years a chef.”

“It's very amazing, because as an aspiring chef, I'm trying to open my own restaurant,” Lopes said. “Seeing all the vendors and food brokers here - some people are made for it, some people are not.  It’s up to you to decide whether you're going to be one of those people or not.”

Eleven other school districts brought students to the food show, including Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School, Blue Hills Regional Technical School, Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School, Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, Madison Park High School, Nashoba Valley Technical High School, Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School, Taunton High School, Whittier Tech and Waltham High School.