AROUND TOWN WITH MR. BROOKS

Our man shines a light on the city

Unique would be the best way to describe Sashay Fillet — a fun and cheeky pairing of drag queens and local chefs for a competitionstyle merging of food and drag. Hot on the heels of Eat North’s inaugural Drags Benny event, Sashay Fillet saw five local chefs partner with local drag queens for a series of interactive challenges performed onstage at Hotel Arts on Aug. 30.

Queen/cook duos pulling out all the stops this night included: Abeiya Miraj and Hotel Arts’ Quinn Staple; Angelina Starchild and Foreign Concepts’ Duncan Ly; Duke Carson and Pigeonhole’s Alec Fraser; Grease Jones and Alloy’s Rogelio Herrera; and Perla Coddington with Two Penny Chinese’s Scott Beaton.

Celebrity co-hosts Top Chef Canada judge Mijune Pak and Yuhua Hamasaki of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 10 joined forces with judges Terri Stevens, an Alberta drag icon; Christy Farrell and Fraser Tuff of the 101.5 Kool FM morning show; and pastry chef Heather Mordue of Toronto’s Adelaide Hotel. They scored not only the performances but the sumptuous food samplings as well.

Cocktails, canapes and the popular Lit Cosmetics glitter makeup booth — for those who needed a little sparkle to enhance one’s outfit — were additional highlights of the evening. Other guests in attendance included: legendary food critic and event producer Eat North’s Dan Clapson; Hotel Arts’ Fraser Abbott and Brian Brownlee; Mode Models’ Kelly Streit; Travel Alberta’s Rose Bolton and Kristyn Snell; Sam Brown; and Tourism Calgary event manager Cindy Good who did a great job white-hatting the competitors and celebrity co-hosts.

Drag king Duke Carson and his food partner Alec Fraser from Pigeon Hole took top honours as the winning duo.

PHOTOS: BILL BROOKS Sashay Fillet, Calgary’s newest drag-meets-culinary event held Aug 30 at Hotel Arts, was a feast for the senses. Pictured, from left, are Eat North’s Dan Clapson, Hotel Arts’ Brian Brownlee, celebrity co-hosts Yuhua Yamasaki of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 10 fame and Top Chef Canada’s Mijune Pak.

Tourism Calgary events manager Cindy Good, left, white-hatted the drag competition performers at Sashay Fillet, a fun and cheeky evening of judged chef creations and a drag competition. The event was held Aug 30 at Hotel Arts.

From left at Sashay Fillet are celebrity judges Christy Farrell and Fraser Tuff of the 101.5 Kool FM morning show and pastry chef Heather Mordue of Toronto’s Adelaide Hotel.

Terri Stevens

From left, Drag performer Perla Coddington, Mode Models’ Kelly Streit and Coddington’s manager Sam Brown at Sashay Fillet Aug 30.

Competitor/performer Abeiya Miraj at Sashay Fillet.

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 10 finalist Yuhua Yamasaki.

Foreign Concept’s Duncan Ly was one of five chefs competing for top honours at Sashay Fillet, held Aug. 30 at Hotel Arts.