Charlotte-Area Chefs Compete in NCRLA Chef Showdown
Semifinal round saw participants judged by past winners
The North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA) held the semifinal round of its annual Chef Showdown culinary competition on Monday at Central Piedmont Community College in Uptown.
The annual event raises money for the NCRLA and its mission to protect, educate and promote the growth of the state’s $34.9-billion hospitality industry. The 2024 competition is expected to surpass the 2023 total of over 400 local producers and farmers included in the competition.
The ninth year of the competition kicked off in March, with more than 70 chefs taking part in the first round. The semifinal round on Monday featured 12 of the remaining 28 competitors, with chefs competing for the NCRLA Chef of the Year title and inclusion on the 2024-’25 Got To Be NC team.
Chefs represented restaurants across North Carolina, using ingredients locally sourced from more than 400 North Carolina farms and distributors.
The judges’ criteria included story and community building as well as quality of food. The four judges were all previous winners of the competition and chefs in restaurants in North Carolina.
“I’m looking for chefs to think outside of the box, present outside of the box, show the things that you’ve been wanting to bake. This is your time to shine. Show us all the things that you’re thinking of. Bring your stories to us, and show yourself and tell us what you’re about,” said judge and NCRLA’s 2021 Pastry Chef of the Year Tie Whitaker of Buttermilk Boutique.
Dishes presented and prepared on Monday were as diverse as each chef’s reasons for attending. Judges were presented with pastries and savory dishes by the chefs, who all drew inspiration from their own stories.
Chef Myles Scaglione of Dot Dot Dot cooked a savory dish that married Amish and North Carolinian cooking techniques, while Suzette Ramsey of McNinch House Restaurant baked a pastry inspired by the Strawberry Shortcake doll character from the 1970s.
Michael Beers of River Run Country Club in Davidson presented a chili inspired by his grandmother’s recipe, adding that he “bombed” last year and wanted to show up this year with a redeeming dish. Andres Prussing, executive chef with Stoke at Marriott Center City, said his savory dish was inspired by his Chilean roots.
Though we were limited by what details we could report about each dish due to the fact that the competition’s semifinal round is ongoing, we did hear from four competing chefs representing restaurants in and around Charlotte about this year’s competition.
Mary Jayne Wilson, pastry chef, founder of Thoughtful Baking Co.
“It’s really cool to be a part of this.” It’s a great community of chefs to be a part of all from all over the state. So it is fun. It is nerve-wracking, but it is really fun,” said
Read more: Thoughtful Baking Co. Offers Slice of Comfort with Take-Home Pies in Charlotte
Chef Michael Beers, River Run Country Club
“It’s great to be back. Last year, I made it this far. And the biggest critique that I received was that I needed to show more of myself. So I thought about it long and hard. And I found an old recipe on my grandmother’s and decided to refine it, make it like a restaurant dish.”
Suzette Ramsey, line cook, The McNinch House
“I’ve wanted to be a chef since I was three. I’ve been in the restaurant industry for 15 years now. Knowing this competition and the NCRLA made me just want to become more part of the community.”
Andres Prussing, executive chef, Stoke at Marriott Center City
“It’s really my art. Because when you’re far away, and you don’t have your culture, ingredients, or people, food brings everything together.”
Chef Elena Lundy of ELM Catering in Charlotte was the sixth Charlotte-area semifinalist competing on Monday.
One by one judges tasted the dishes presented before providing feedback to the chefs. Chefs had ninety minutes to prepare their dish upon arrival to the competition area.
Fifteen savory and five pastry chefs will be chosen from the semifinal pool of 28 to compete in the Grand Finale event on Aug. 26 at Bay 7 at the American Tobacco Campus in Durham. Finalists will be announced on July 30. Six finalists have already been selected to compete in the Mixology portion of the competition, including Shrijan Tallury of Dram & Draught in Charlotte, who partnered with Oaklore Distilling in Matthews for her creations.
At the Grande Finale event, each finalist will serve the crowd the same dishes the judges voted on in each semifinal round of competition. Each participating chef and pastry chef will recreate the semifinal dish they crafted for the judges and will serve Grand Finale attendees sample-sized portions of the same. Each mixology finalist will offer the crowd sample-sized tastings of their competition cocktails and mocktails.
Attendees of the Grand Finale will be able to vote for their favorites as they choose winners of the People’s Choice Awards for Best Savory Dish, Best Dessert, Best Cocktail, and Best Mocktail. A special wine pairing will also be offered by each participating chef, curated by NC Wines from the list of winners of the 2024 North Carolina wines competition.
Tickets for the Grand Finale are available at the NCRLA website.
