I am proud and pleased to once again be working with my good friends at the NCRLA to produce and host the annual NCRLA Chef Showdown. This annual culinary and mixology competition is the largest of its kind in North Carolina. With preliminary and regional rounds of competition across the state, contestants each present to a panel of judges in private sessions from March to the end of July, all leading up to the open-to-the-public Grand Finale at the end of August. Our first preliminary round of competition is on March 25. Before the chefs do their thing, though, we kick things off with a judges’ dinner. It’s become an annual tradition for our team. When we compete in Asheville each year, we can’t wait to eat at Tastee Diner.
No matter when or why you visit the area, the question begs to be answered. Is it really even a trip to Asheville if you don’t eat at Tastee Diner? This small and funky chef-owned and operated breakfast-lunch-dinner diner is the dream child of Chef Steven Goff and his lovely wife Sam.
From Aux Bar to Tastee Diner
Prior to owning Tastee Diner, Goff had Aux Bar in Downtown Asheville on Lexington Ave. Aux Bar closed as a result of the pandemic, but the Goffs dream to have a cool littlee place all their owned was always top of mind, The space that is Tastee, located at 575 Haywood Street in Asheville, became available.
The building originally opened as local diner in 1946. With a lot of hard work and determination, the Goffs and their team breathed new life into the neighborhood joint and made it their own. With this new incarnation, Tastee remains the longest running consistently open restaurant in Asheville.
To steal two sentences from the Tastee Diner website, “Goff created a casual atmosphere to enjoy creative diner food during the day and upscale tapas style plates at night. Tastee is local community driven by using ingredients from Asheville and surrounding North Carolina farms when at all possible, down to the beer and wine.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Before Tastee Diner, Goff was NCRLA Chef of the Year in 2019
In 2019, Steven was a participant in the 4th annual NCRLA Chef Showdown. In his preliminary round of competition, Sam worked along side Steven has his sous chef. The food for his competition plate was all locally sourced and his simple yet sophisticated nose to tail style of cooking wowed the judges. HIs award-winning dish, pictured below was comprised of Dynamite Coffee braised Shipley Farms Beef Cheeks:Smoked Beef brain aioli; Recover Ventures Corporation Smoked Tomato Vinaigrette; Farm and Sparrow Farro; RVC tomatoes; and Asheville Micro Greens and pea shoots.
In the end Chef Steven Goff took the win, the top title and the bragging rites that year. Ever since has been a judge in the competition. This year he won’t judge in the Asheville prelim; but along with three other past NCRLA Chef Showdown Champions, Goff will once again judge both of our regional culinary rounds of competition.
Back to our 2024 Judges Dinner at Tastee Diner
Now that you’ve seen a bit of Steven Goff’s style – here’s how it influences the menu at Tastee Diner and here’s what we enjoyed at the pre-competition Judges’ dinner on March 24, 2024. Lots of product on the menu is locally sourced and dishes roll on and off as seasons change.
We started with cocktails and mocktails, followed by raw oysters served with ahot sauce and a hibiscus mignonette to drop on as we pleased; and Tastee’s famous chicken wings served with dipping sauce for the table to start.
Next, came an assortment of entrees each one better than the next. The lovely thing about eating with food-centric crowd like this, is that everyone shares. It’s a great way to get a little taste of a lot of different things. The Aux Burger remains on Tastee’s menu and comes as is or topped with a variety of additions like pulled pork or mac and cheese. The soup was curry and the deviled eggs, were flavored with smoked trout and topped with caviar.
More on the Menu at Tastee Diner
The mashed potatoes and gravy this chilly Asheville night, hit comfort food home for me.
I enjoyed them as a part of a plate cleverly dubbed the “I-26 Pile Up” . They were served in a bowl with generous helpings of pulled pork, smoked collards and mac and cheese.
The crispy yet tender Brussels sprouts were the fan favorite side this evening. And, if we were pressed to pick, the NC trout po’ boy might have been the favorite hand-held. We didn’t order the made-in-house livermush this evening, but you should. I’ve had it several times and I can say without hesitation, you are going to love it.
Who was there?
It was a great evening and another round of spectacular eats at Tastee Diner. The company this evening was divine as well. But, as of this writing, I’m not naming the names of the judges for the March 25, Mountain Preliminary Round of Competition for the NCRLA Chef Showdown. It’s all hush-hush until we start sharing snippets of this phase of the competition on social media feeds. Check it all out later today and through the week.
Quick after-the-fact update: The judges for the NCRLA Chef Showdown Asheville round and my friends for dinner at Tastee Diner were: Chef Raeffele Patrizi of Mano Bella Artisan Foods in Charlotte; Chef Mark Allison, private chef and national culinary consultant also of Charlotte; and Pastry Chef Tie Whitaker of Buttermilk Boutique in Clayton NC. Tie is also the 2021 NCRLA Pastry Chef of the Year.
Also Joining in for all the delicious fun, was culinary instructor and international competing chef,Chef Chris Bugher from AB Tech, our host venue for the competition. And Jason Allen of NCRLA Chef Showdown cast iron cooking sponsor, Carolina Cooker.
You can follow along with all the action during the NCRLA Chef Showdown on instagram and Facebook at @ncrlachefshowdown and @NCRLA Chef Showdownm respectively. And I’ll be sharing on all of my social feeds as well. – That’s @heidibillotto on instagram and @Heidi Billotto Cooks on Facebook.
Asheville area chef and pastry chefs competing in the NCRLA Chef Showdown
While mums the word for now on the list of judges – all NC chefs, by the way. It is my pleasure to share now the chefs and pastry chefs who will be competing with us this day. We can’t wait to see what they all bring to the table…
- Chef Cheyenne Cristina Leo’s Italian Social in Asheville
- Chef Santiago Guzzetti Ilda in Sylva
- Chef Matt Rivers Blowing Rock Country Club in Blowing Rock
- Chef Paul Taylor Jargon in Asheville
- Chef Terri Terrell Private Chef and the Director of Events for The Utopian Seed Project in Asheville
- Chef Santiago Vargas Mikasa Criolla in Asheville
- Pastry Chef Whitney King Restoration Hotel in Asheville
- Pastry Chef Jill Wasilewski Ivory Road in Arden
And, you can read more here. On the NC Chef Showdown website shares all the details. Look for the list of all the NC chefs, pastry chefs, mixologists and distilleries who will be competiting this year.
It’s Just the Beginning
With this post I mark the beginning of the 8th season of the NCRLA Chef Showdown, stay tuned for more. Culinary and Mixology competitions take place from now till the end of July. And, there will be a judges dinner in each competition city to write about before each one.
These are all private events, but the August 26 Grand Finale, held this year in Durham NC will be open to the public. Tickets will go on sale sometime in July. Until then, follow along with all the fun and when you have a free weekend or want to take a midweek overnight, come to Asheville and eat at Tastee Diner. #TellThemHeidiSentYou
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