Locals battle in ‘Beachside Brawl’ and ‘Iron Chef’
Not just one, but two renowned San Diego chefs are competing on national cooking shows within days of one another.
Claudette Zepeda appears in the latest incarnation of Netflix’s popular Iron Chef series — “Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend” — which debuted yesterday.
The executive chef of Vaga in the Hyatt’s Alila Marea resort in Encinitas could not be reached for comment, but she is already a TV food show veteran. Zepeda competed earlier on season 15 of Bravo’s “Top Chef ” and on “Top Chef Mexico.”
On June 19, ARLO gourmet chef Josh Mouzakes will rumble in the Food Network’s “Beachside Brawl.” This new six-week series that airs Sundays at 10 p.m. (and on discovery+) pits five prominent East Coast chefs against five on the West Coast to see which coast offers the tastiest summer dishes.
When judges rule, the winner may be the “beast of the East” or the “best of the West,” trumpets the show promo.
Mouzakes actually got his start in Eastport, Long Island, before moving westward to culinary commands in the Hotel del Coronado and JW Marriott in downtown Houston and then becoming executive chef at ARLO, the Town & Country’s new signature restaurant in Mission Valley.
“I thought it would be good exposure for my career,” Mouzakes posted on Facebook following filming. “What I found was much more profound.”
Working alongside the coach cooks and show host chef Antonia Lofaso “gave me a whole new perspective.” He called it one of his top culinary experiences.
Although no stranger to competition, this was Mouzakes’ first time on a Food Network show. But his TV premiere had an ominous start.
Mouzakes got an unexpected direct message from a show casting agent while shopping at the Panera bakery and cafe in Solana Beach. As he talked to the agent, he glimpsed slight movement of a purse belonging to a woman customer dining nearby, then the front door quickly open and close.
Sensing the customer had just been robbed, he told the casting agent, “Hang on, man, I gotta help this lady,” and dashed out the door in pursuit of the suspected pickpocket. The fellow already had sprinted across the parking lot and was quickly out of view.
The customer was missing her credit cards but was able to call and cancel them before any harm was done.
It wasn’t quite the chef ’s “catch of the day” but was a testament to Mouzakes’ crisis response, a key ingredient to kitchen survival. After the excitement, he resumed his phone conversation with the casting scout who cleared Mouzakes for a Zoom interview with his boss.
When he received confirmation that he was a contestant, he had only a couple of days to buy all the Hawaiian shirts he could find (no chef ’s jackets or white shirts were allowed) and report to Hermosa Beach.
The show was staged on the Redondo Beach Pier where a village of tents had been erected for the 10-day photo shoot involving a crew of about 200.
Host Antonia LaFaso gave the two teams of four contestants and their coach
she can’t think of a better way to celebrate the company’s history, the new building and its future than landing the rights for such an acclaimed play.
“I read ‘The Ferryman’ when it came out in 2017, and I was shaken by how impacted I was by the story,” Kurner said. “Through telling the story of this rural family going through the troubles, you’re looking at the impact of violence on everyday
people. I think the timing of this is very important right now.”
Kurner will direct the production, which she’ll begin preparing for in August when she travels to Ireland with cast members and production consultant Grace Delaney to do research for the project. The large-scale play asks a lot of a theater company. It requires a cast of 21 actors as well as a live human baby, rabbit and goose, as well as breakfast being cooked onstage and things catching fire.
“With my training at the
Actor’s Studio in New York, for me it’s always been about celebrating ensemble and a space where actors can do their best work. This play is like the perfect match for me and also a way for me to celebrate running this company for 21 years.”
Kurner said she thinks she was successful in landing the rights because she asked for them during the pandemic, when most theaters were worried about committing the resources to such an ambitious project. She was able to do so with the support of a generous grant from the Conrad Prebys Foundation, though she will also be seeking additional production sponsors in the coming months.
When the theater complex reopens on Dec. 1 with a remount of San Diego playwright Dea Hurston’s 2021 play “1222 Oceanfront: A Black Family Christmas,” the revamped building will have new names. The theater will be named the Conrad Prebys Theatre, and the overall building complex will be named The Dea Hurston New Village Arts Center. Kurner said it will be the first arts center on the West Coast to be named after a Black woman. A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for July 7.