Chef Amir Joshua Mortazavi built a winning taco around a photo of the ocean, and on July 18, he'll find out if that instinct is enough to make him Tucson's next Iron Chef.

Mortazavi, who goes by Chef AJ, is executive chef of The Barnyard Crafthouse & Eatery on Tucson's east side. He'll compete against OBON Sushi Bar's Anthony Dromgoole, a two-time Iron Chef Tucson champion, during this year's event.

Mortazavi has competed in numerous culinary competitions throughout his career, saying his focus extends beyond winning a title or first place.

He sees competition as an opportunity to learn from fellow chefs while continuing to grow his craft.

That philosophy was on full display over dinner service last week, as Mortazavi watched from the bar as a pair of diners at a nearby table took their first bites of food, nodding enthusiastically.

"That's what makes me happy," he said, gesturing toward the pair. "Their faces, that's what I get happy about. That, to me, is the most amazing part about being a chef."

For Mortazavi, success isn't about being the best chef.

"It's about winning popular choice," he said. "The customers are the ones that we really want to make happy."

A Tucson native who is half Mexican and half Persian, Mortazavi grew up in a traditional Mexican household, with much of his childhood revolving around his grandmother, whom he called Nana.

"She was always cooking, my grandfather too, always making barbacoa outside," he said. "The more I think about it, we didn't eat out a lot, I always had a warm home-cooked meal."

As a kid, Mortazavi said, his relationship to food was pure enjoyment, not curiosity about technique. He fondly recalled dining on tortillas and pozole made from scratch in Nana's kitchen.

That interest in creating didn't take hold until he got older and moved to Boise, Idaho, in 1997.

After three months working in a restaurant, he moved from prep cook to running the kitchen, with his time in Boise allowing him to work with a team.

Those leadership skills traced back to a lifelong background in athletics, where he learned the concept of teamwork early on.

By 1999, he had made his way back to Tucson and was working for Wildflower and later Zona 78, growing his knowledge and experience.

In 2000, Mortazavi moved to San Francisco to reconnect with his father, describing the city as "the melting pot of diversity."

He said working in San Francisco allowed him to expand his skills beyond his traditional Sonoran style, though after a year and a half, navigating the city grew difficult and pushed him back toward Tucson.

On his way back, a visit to his aunt in San Diego turned into years of culinary growth and self-discovery, with Mortazavi smiling as he recalled San Diego's laid-back vibe.

"It felt like I was playing Bob Marley in my brain all the time," he said.

After unintentionally attending a job fair at Petco Park, Mortazavi accepted a sous chef position at a new restaurant concept before later becoming regional chef.

San Diego introduced him to the vibrant flavors of Baja cuisine, and while his Sonoran roots remained the foundation of his cooking, Baja cuisine expanded the way he approached food.

Mortazavi said he found a freedom working in San Diego that allowed him to grow even more professionally.

Working under an owner who encouraged him to enter culinary competitions led him to consecutive wins at the Taste of Cardiff, a popular annual culinary festival.

When he eventually returned to Tucson, Mortazavi spent several months working at Noble Hops Gastropub before joining The Barnyard Crafthouse & Eatery during its development stage.

He was given the opportunity to build the kitchen around his own vision, creating the menu and training the kitchen staff from the ground up. The eatery's barn-inspired design and open layout left plenty of room for possibilities, and Mortazavi said that when he first walked through the doors, he immediately saw more than a restaurant.

"I fell in love with the potential of the place," he said.

The property reminded him of restaurants he had worked at in San Diego, but what excited him most was the idea of what it could become.

He began imagining farmers markets, pig roasts, taco stations and, eventually, a Tucson-style barbecue concept that would blend the Sonoran flavors he grew up with and the Baja influences he'd come to love throughout his career.

Beyond the Mexican flavors he grew up with, Mortazavi has recently begun exploring the Persian ingredients and traditions that are also part of his identity. He said he's continuing to learn more about Persian cuisine, incorporating ingredients like dates, pistachios and spices into the way he thinks about food.

That same curiosity carries into the kitchen at The Barnyard, where he said they focus on natural ingredients, local farms and better alternatives whenever possible.

"I enjoy cooking the way I eat," he said.

Rather than relying on processed ingredients, he strives to create dishes that feel fresh and scratch-made.

"I am trying to give you a home-cooked meal with an artistic touch," he said.

Every dish reflects where Mortazavi has been, the cultures that have shaped him and the people he hopes to bring together around the table.

That philosophy carried into this year's competition. Having previously competed without advancing to Iron Chef, Mortazavi saw this year's 18th Annual Meet the Chefs competition as an opportunity to do something different.

He built his winning Baja fish taco around a single image: Rosarito Beach, the resort town on Mexico's Baja California peninsula.

"I'm looking at a picture of the ocean and I'm like, 'How can I make it look like that?'" he said.

Every element traced back to that picture in his mind. He wrapped the tortillas in a corn husk to keep them warm, plated them on a banana leaf to make the colors pop, worked in smoked blue sea salt to evoke the ocean, and poured the salsa into a tiny corked bottle. With no fryer available, an equipment limitation every competitor faced, he reached for an air fryer to get the crisp texture he was after anyway.

"I wanted to control all these elements so it'd be the best taco they'd had," Mortazavi said. "So I had to focus on the components."

The attention to detail paid off. Mortazavi won the May 17 Meet the Chefs competition, earning a place in the July 18 main event.

He hopes Iron Chef Tucson will introduce more people to The Barnyard before it launches its upcoming Tucson-style BBQ concept.

Regardless of the outcome, he says every competition is another opportunity to learn.

"Even if I'm in last place, I'm still learning something," Mortazavi said.

Jazmin Renteria is a University of Arizona student.

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