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Community Corner

Iron Chef Spices Up Alpharetta Grocer's Cooking School

The Next Iron Chef winner Jose Garces came to Apron's Cooking School in Alpharetta to demonstrate and teach the students.

The Next Iron Chef winner Jose Garces was excited to get things started for his demonstration at the Apron's Cooking School at the Publix on State Bridge Road Sunday night.

Garces won the Food Network's popular show The Next Iron Chef and is now appearing on Iron Chef.

Apron's invited Chef Garces to offer the students a chance to taste and watch the top chef work his magic in the kitchen.

Chef Garces had nothing but good things to say about cooking demonstrations.

"It's a lot of fun to get out there and tell your story. Hopefully, inspire people to get into the kitchen as well," Chef Garces said.

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As guests started arriving, the excitement in the room was undeniable. The chefs of the cooking school were running around making sure everything was properly in place. Josh Formby, one of those chefs, has been a chef at the school since it opened four years ago.

"This is just another extension of Publix's customer service, to show people how to cook things that we sell out in the store," Formby said.

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After autographs were signed and people found their places to sit, the event began. Chef Garces worked his wonders in the kitchen and had the students smiling.

The future for Chef Garces is nothing short of a full plate. Owning and maintaining eight restaurants is first on the list.

"I just purchased some farmland and hopefully [will] grow some things for those restaurants, and really get involved with agriculture. We are also going to take our concepts on the road, maybe here., the sky is the limit," Chef Garces said.

As the night was falling into place, Chef Garces wanted to pass on some words of wisdom to aspiring chefs.

"Find your passion within the industry, focus on it, and become the best you can at that," he said.

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