Who's the Cheesiest Entrepreneur

The humble and homey grilled cheese got its glam on January 11 in a competition for taste and a strategic business plan to elevate it.

The first-ever entrepreneurial bootcamp saw a score of students from Trinity University and the Culinary Institute of America San Antonio campus, evenly divided into five teams. They learned the fine arts of sandwich making as well as marketing, finance, and inspirational stories. See this Trinity News story for more background.

The competition came to a head Sunday morning at The Pearl as hundreds of market shoppers tasted the teams' variations on a theme and voted for their favs.

Three judges - Trinity's Tom Evelyn, vice president of Strategic Communications and Marketing, Andrew Wells, vice president of Student Life, and First Gentleman Trey Beasley - awarded first place to Team Cheesin, composed of Kate Klein '26 and Leslie Rodriguez-Ortegon '28 from Trinity. Their winning 'wich was made with homemade milkbread, goat and Havarti cheeses, bacon, and caramelized onion jam. They also provided tomato chutney dip, a cardamom lemonade with a pucker, and a whipped cream-peanut butter pup cup for the four-legged foragers.

A popular vote went to Loco Flamma, a "spicy French-Mexican croque" with roast beef, Oaxaca cheese, queso fresco, queso blanco, and a chipotle aioli, paired with elote and a watermelon-prickly pear agua fresca. Trinity students Apple Garcia '29 and Julie Navarro '27 were on Team Loco Flamma. Trinity students Drew Norris '28, JR Law '28, Laurel Miller '27, Leah Dooling '26, Miguel Otero '26, and Orion Tyree '29 also participated in the bootcamp and the grilled cheese competition.

The notion behind the entrepreneurial bootcamp was to have students from two very different institutions work together to bring a fun idea to life, said Mar-y-sol Salina-McCoy, the senior director of academic success at Trinity.

The event was "amazing," said Mar-Y-Sol. "It was a whirlwind, very fast-paced week for our students. It was great to see them dive in and challenge themselves in many ways. To see them today, in action, live, with real customers, bring it all together. They were just amazing."

Explore the photo gallery from the week here.