Taylor Draper, a second-year competitor and apprentice at Lethbridge College, prepares a sauce for one of the dishes at the Iron Chef competition at Mocha Cabana on Jan. 18, 2019.
Two teams competed to make an appetizer, a soup course, an entrée and a dessert at Mocha Cabana as part of a culinary cook-off where chefs showed their expertise in the kitchen
The Iron Chef competition showcased chefs, apprentices and chef enthusiasts from around Lethbridge, including one team that were apprentices at Lethbridge College.
For one apprentice, leaving carpentry with a new passion for cooking was an easy decision.
“I got the opportunity to apprentice under Mocha and I definitely took the opportunity. And I’m very much enjoying it. I enjoy cooking for people and that’s something that can always make them happy,” said Taylor Draper, a second-year competitor at the event and apprentice at Lethbridge College.
The young chef’s apprentice team won the appetizer competition when they made a feta and lamb filo. Draper said it was a stress reliever to win the first round as it took the pressure off for the rest of the challenges.
“The past couple weeks, especially coming up was stressful. Filling recipes, making everything from scratch and trying to top off our executives. It was fun, it was very good,” he explained.
Draper added he has been cooking now for 14 months as he joined Mocha Cabana right before the Iron Chef competition last year. Draper said his goal is to travel around the world with cooking in the future.
“I love different cuisines. I’m not partial to anything. So, I’m hoping this is just a stepping-stone and I can continue to advance here,” he said.
Other winners in the competition included Marc Gedrasik, a sous chef at Plum Restaurant won the soup competition, Grace Oaks, chef apprentice won the desert portion and her fellow apprentice Barret Sunada won with his entrée dish.
The competition also has many local farms bringing in the ingredients to Mocha Cabana, as 26 companies donated to the bistro.
“We love our local partners. We also have several businesses downtown that we like to collaborate and support. I think the fact that we have these local farms and businesses helping and supporting us really helps put on events like this,” said Angel Harper, owner of Mocha Cabana.
Harper added this is the sixth year and ninth Iron Chef event that Mocha Cabana has been held since she became the owner. She said they used to do the event twice a year, but decided to stop due to the heavy school workload for the apprentices.
The Mocha Cabana owner said the competition is all about having younger, less experienced chef come in and have a chance to showcase their skills.
“This is the opportunity for these students and apprentices to be creative, to plan production, to basically practice everything that they are learning at school, in the real world and get some feedback from real customers,” said Harper.
Mocha Cabana’s owner added she believes people would have an uproar if Mocha Cabana didn’t do the Iron Chef event as many people have come back every year.
The event served 86 people as tickets for the event cost $100. For more information about future events, visit the Mocha Cabana website.