Foodtastic Fun: Creative Chaldeans on Disney+

Rachell Yousif (left) as part of Team “Two Foxes and a Relic” on Disney+’s Foodtastic.

By Crystal Kassab Jabiro

When a chance of a lifetime comes your way, you have got to go for it. 

That is what Rachell Yousif told herself when she was invited to participate in Disney+’s new series Foodtastic hosted by Keke Palmer. It was her former teacher, Chef Ray Duey, a produce artist in California, who invited her to be his teammate on the show. She happily accepted the challenge. 

When one of the three teammates backed out on short notice, Yousif was asked if she knew anyone that would be willing to participate. She thought of a certain “pastry guru” she knew through the baking world in metro Detroit. When she mentioned Jonathon Elias, the second-place winner of Food Network’s “Halloween Baking Championship” Season 3 to the producers, they hesitated and said they would look into it. She wondered why they were so reluctant.  Nonetheless, she flew out to California to film for a week.

In the meantime, Jonathan Elias had already wrapped up filming for Foodtastic. Contracts and confidentiality kept the producers from telling Yousif they had already chosen him.

Elias, who owns Pastry Guru in Troy, had received a message on Instagram from Disney’s casting department last Christmas season and told the company he would consider it. Before he could even look at the details, his former teammate on “Halloween Baking Championship,’’ Tai Davis from St. Louis, messaged him to be part of his team. Then they messaged another former teammate, Jessica Scott from Las Vegas, and she did not hesitate. Nearly two months later they were off to Los Angeles to film the show.

“We were competitors-turned-partners this time,” Elias said. “At first, we were competing against each other and now we’ve combined our talents for something different.”

Foodtastic is a food art show, not a baking show. Contestants create scenes out of different kinds of food. There is not even a tasting portion; it is all about looks.

“I never in a million years thought I would have the opportunity to be on a show, let alone push myself out of my comfort zone to do it,” Yousif acknowledged.

“What did food art judges Amirah Kassem and Benny Rivera think of their scenes? Watch the show to find out!

Follow on Instagram: Jonathan Elias @pastryguruRachell Yousif @fruitfulart and @whiskandcrumble”

After graduating from Warren Mott High School in 2006, Yousif enrolled in the pre-nursing program at Macomb Community College. Though she always loved to bake, she was often discouraged by family and friends from doing it as a career because there was more financial stability in nursing. At the time, Yousif’s aunt was very ill in the hospital. She saw how much her aunt suffered and Rachell was not sure she wanted to see that kind of affliction every day. She changed her major and graduated with an Associates in Culinary Arts in 2012.

Around that time, Yousif took a class with Chef Ray Duey, who came to Michigan with the art of fruit and vegetable carving. “Nobody ever inspired me more to do something I didn’t think I could do,” she said. 

In 2013, Yousif started her small business, Fruitful Art. She kept in touch with Chef Ray over the years, sending him pictures so he could critique her carvings. She earned her spot carving pumpkins live at the Detroit Zoo’s Halloween Zoo Boo, and Fox 2 even showcased her pumpkins for KISS’s Farewell Tour. 

Yousif then became a stay-at-home mom, putting her culinary skills on the back burner. In January 2020, she started her cookie business, Whisk & Crumble in Sterling Heights. She had been watching YouTube and Instagram videos on cookie making to learn every technique to make flawless cookies. She is a self-admitted perfectionist, which served her well in the show.

In episode 5, “The Avengers: Sorceress by Day,” Yousif’s team, Two Foxes and a Relic, which included Chef Ray and home baker Sherry Clarke from Connecticut, had to imagine being in Central Park and that the Avengers were coming to save the city of New York. 

They had to create a whole scene out of food. Yousif’s job was to build the body of Groot, never having worked with gingerbread, modeling chocolate, rice cereal, and fondant for a task like this. She did not know if the materials would adhere or fall apart.

But when she stepped back and looked at the final product, she was awestruck! 

So was Elias when he looked at his scene. His team, Project Alchemy, is featured on the first episode, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Introducing Micro-Girl.” Their task was to create a picnic scene where Ant-Man intercepts Yellowjacket from getting to Micro-Girl. Elias’ favorite part was creating the ant army out of melons, gourds, coconuts, and chocolate – both modeling and real. 

What are the chances that two Chaldeans from metro Detroit would end up on the inaugural season of a new show on Disney +? Such a feat is indicative of the fortitude that exists in the Chaldean community as more and more people answer their true callings.

“It was great to prove myself in the culinary world and to show my two girls they could do anything they put their mind to,” Yousif affirmed.