Auburn boy, 13, participates in John's Incredible Pizza cook-off competition

Auburn native Simon Hardman donned an apron July 19 and participated in the third annual John's Incredible Pizza Company Kids Cook-Off competition. Simon, 13, was one of three finalists who vied for the chance to win an opportunity to create a unique dish to be featured on John's Endless Buffet and a cash prize of $5,000. After his mom, Amanda Hardman, received an email about the contest and potential prizes, Simon and his brothers Eli, 11, and Gabe, 9, made audition videos to submit for the competition. Although his youngest brother, Noah, 7, was too young to audition, Simon said they included him and "still made him a video so that he felt like he was doing it, too." According to Brad Jashinsky, director of sales and marketing for John's Incredible Pizza Company, 152 video entries were received for the competition. The excitement kicked in when Amanda received the email noting Simon was advancing in the competition. Amanda said she was at a youth group girls camp with limited cell service and happened to find "service in this one little spot" when she read the email. After reading the email five times, she called Simon to give him the news. "I was kind of shocked about it," Amanda said. "I knew he was good when I saw all his presentations and everything … but I didn't know if I was biased because I was his mom." Although he was bummed his brothers weren't in the competition, Simon said he was glad he didn't have to compete against them and that his parents wouldn't be torn on who to cheer for. The competition provided the finalists with an hour to create an original dish in a John's Incredible Pizza kitchen in Carson and present it to a panel of three judges, including John's Incredible Pizza Company Founder and Owner John Parlet and CHOPPED and Fire Masters Champion Chef Joe Youkhan. For the competition, Simon made Carmelitas, which he described as an oatmeal cookie with a layer of chocolate and caramel with more cookie on top. Because the dessert is so rich, and due to the time limit, Simon said he served it with a glass of milk. He normally makes it with homemade vanilla ice cream. Simon said the dessert is a favorite his mom makes for his birthday and was something he knew he could make to prove his skill. "It's not like a simple, simple dish, which is good because I wanted to show that I could make something other than just a box of mac and cheese," he said. Although he didn't win, Simon said the competition helped him level up his cooking and baking skills with his continued practice leading up to the July 19 event. "I was very glad with my dish and my presentation," Simon said. "I didn't feel like I could have done anything better, which makes it so I have no regrets." Amanda said she has seen Simon's growth, too. "I was really proud of him," she said. "He's a very independent child in the first place, but I've seen his growth grow immensely and his maturity as well, which you wouldn't think a cooking competition would do that, but it made him even more independent than he already is." Simon said the competition also provided new friendships, as he and the others have kept in touch through text. "The experience of getting to cook in the John's kitchen was pretty cool, and being able to see the original John, like the real guy that started John's Pizza," Simon said. "It was really cool to compete with the other contestants because they were nice, so it wasn't like, "Oh, I'm going to beat you," the entire time. It was like, "What are you making?" type of thing. It was just a really fun and cool experience to get to do all of that." Even though Simon has been helping in the kitchen since he was little, he said cooking is not on the top of the list of his hobbies and he likes to mountain bike and play video games. Simon also likes to create YouTube videos and is "really into acting" and hopes to either become an actor or YouTube creator. He's well on his way to making that dream a reality. Simon, an eighth-grader at Bowman Charter School, said he has participated in school plays since the second grade and has played the male lead in all but one.