Local teen chef spices things up

MERIDIAN. Miss, (WCBI) – You may have heard of Starkville teen Mark Coblentz.

He’s a 15-year-old self-taught chef who’s been featured on shows like “Chopped Junior” and “Master Chef Junior.”

He now has his own show on Mississippi Public Broadcasting called “Making A Chef.”

On Sunday he stopped by the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience building in Meridian to give a cooking demonstration.

“We brought him here today because this weekend we opened the Jim Henson Exhibition Imagination Unlimited. One of Jim Henson’s most beloved character’s, at least one of my favorites, is the Swedish Chef who is known for his antics in the kitchen. So, to celebrate Jim Henson and the Swedish Chef, we invited Mark to come here and to cook Swedish meatballs,” said Education and Public Program Curator Tiffany McGehee.

Coblentz, or Mark the Chef as he’s referred to on TV, said for him — this is more than a demonstration.

“I mean this is such an awesome experience, an awesome place. I would just love being here and being able to influence the community. I’m reaching out because I live in Starkville and I don’t come up to Meridian so often, so it’s just awesome to be able to have roots down here and see that I’ve done something pretty impactful here,” said Coblentz.

Family members said they could tell early on that there was something special about Mark.

“I actually would pick him up and sit him on the counter and we’d make something together. You know, monkey bread or something where he could do it with his hands…He kind of went beyond that stage to doing it himself, you know, with his own creativity,” said Mark’s grandmother Susan Allen.

And it seems that Mark the Chef is a hit with people of all ages.

“He’s a really interesting, fun, and engaging kid chef that I think children can really look up to who are exploring in the kitchen and doing things like that,” said McGehee.

“I’m just hoping that I can influence them to maybe, you know, start to see cooking in a different fashion. Like, Hey a kid who’s a little older than me is cooking…maybe I can do it too,” said Coblentz.

With big-time television shows like “Chopped Junior,” “Master Chef Junior,” and the first season of his own cooking show under his belt, It doesn’t look like Mark the Chef is planning on slowing down anytime soon.

“For ‘Making A Chef’ season 2 we’re going to do a whole lot more episodes. We’re going to do four or five more extra episodes, I believe. Awesome stuff like coffee…Learning where coffee comes from… We’re doing so many awesome and different things that I can’t wait to show,” said Coblentz.

Administrators at The MAX in Meridian say they want to continue to showcase local talent like Mark the Chef in their upcoming season.