While his dish didn't win over the popular vote, Austintown Fitch High School principal Chris Berni clearly had a crowd following Wednesday morning.  Berni was one of four staff members that went head-to-head in the Fitch Frito Throw-down, a TV-inspired chef contest.  Each participant's goal was to win over the taste buds of the student body and food service professionals.

"Our team's primary goal was to make it spicy, as spicy as possible," said high school principal Chris Berni.

As part of the competition, participants had just thirty minutes to create a Frito-inspired meal.. One of the requirements was to follow the USDA school lunch guidelines.

Culinary students from Choffin Career and Technical Center helped the faculty members along the way.
Each group was assigned to work with either taco meat, pulled pork, pulled chicken or black beans to create a Frito Chili Pie.

"We are always thinking outside the box, trying to find new things to bring to the students of Austintown to make lunch exciting, try to meet the guidelines and make it fun," said Austintown Local Schools food service director Tascin Brooks.

Food service professionals weighed in from an industry perspective during the morning session.  After students made their way through the voting lines during lunch, it was apparent everyone agreed.  Family liaison, Nate Armstrong's BBQ pulled pork took the cake or in this case the Frito Chili Pie contest.  His creation will soon be added to the district's lunch options.