The 2024 NCRLA Chef Showdown

Culinary Events, Restaurants & Chefs Leave a comment

Now, in its eighth electrifying season, this prestigious culinary and cocktail competition, the 2024 NCRLA Chef Showdown is the only statewide contest in which the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association names the NCRLA Chef of the Year, NCRLA Pastry Chef of the Year, and NCRLA Mixologist and Distillery of the Year. Plus, new this year, a separate award for the 2024 NCRLA Best Mocktail of the Year.

Heidi Billotto and the NCRLA Chef Showdown

Once again, I am proud to be a part of this incredible statewide event. No, I’m not competing. Instead, this is an event I host and produce. I originally conceptualized the idea of the Chef Showdown in 2016 as a one-night fundraising event for the NCRLA. Now, nine years later, I am very proud to say, it’s still going strong.

For each of those years, I have continued to contract with the amazing team at the NCRLA to run and organize the event. This North Carolina culinary and mixology competition now spans nearly eight months of the year, from January to August. Instead of one night of competition, we now have seven different preliminary rounds, 4 different semi-final regional rounds and one truly stellar Grand Finale. WOW!

Keeping it Local

There are lots of local sponsors without whom, this event would not be possible, but the title sponsor is Got to Be NC, the official brand of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture.

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This state-wide competition is designed to promote and spotlight the talent of chefs, pastry chefs, and mixologists across North Carolina. And, I am pleased to say, hundreds of local farmers and producers as well.

As competitors prepare sweet and savory dishes and craft cocktails and mocktails, they showcase North Carolina proteins, produce and products on the competition plates and beverages they present to each panel of expert judges.

For these culinary and mixology competitors, it’s all about keeping it local, supporting as many North Carolina farms and producers as they can on each plate and in each glass. And then, from there, its about who can really taking it over the top.

In 2023 alone, our chefs and mixologists featured nearly 500 NC farms through the competition! Does a body good to see all that local love!

The August 26 Grand Finale – Don’t Miss It!

The Grand Finale is the only event of the series open to the public. TIckets will go on sale in July and you DO NOT want to miss it. At the annual ambulatory event guests enjoy an evening of eating and drinking locally. The 2024 NCRLA Chef Showdown Grand Finale will take place on August 26, 2024, at Bay 7 at the American Tobacco District in Durham, NC.

The competition’s finalists will all be there, ready to serve guests sample-sized portions of their semi final round competition dishes, desserts, cocktails and mocktails. 15 savory chefs and 5 pastry chefs will each be paired with an award-winning NC wine for a total of 20 fabulous food and wine pairings to eat your way through. And, at the same time, a half dozen NC mixologists, each paired with a local distillery will be offering guests sample sized portions of their semi-final round cocktails and mocktails.

And then, after all the food and drink, each of the coveted top titles will be awarded at the competition’s

Top-title winners will also go on to become members of the prestigious 2024-2025 GotToBeNC team of culinary and beverage ambassadors.

Introducing the competition for the 2024 NCRLA Chef Showdown

The Chefs:

But Wait, there’s more…

And, still more…

The 2024 NCRLA Chef Showdown Pastry Chefs:

The Mixologists & Distilleries:

And, even more….

The 2024 Action Starts Here

We kicked off our 2024 NCRLA Chef Showdown series competition on Monday March 25 in Asheville. You can read all about our judges dinner at Tastee Diner here.

These eight Asheville/NC Mountain area chefs competed with us in the teaching kitchens at AB Tech, and brought a ton to the table.

I can’t show you exactly what these chefs made on this day of competition. We don’t release any photos or details of the competition dishes until after all the preliminary rounds are over; but I can say that overall, our panel of judges was impressed. And you will be, too!

At the Judges’ Table for this first preliminary round of competition:

I was there, too, of course, with my partner-in-crime from the NCRLA, Inez Nicholson; and one of the showdown’s staunch supporters, Jason Allen from Carolina Cooker, a division of AgriSupply. Joanne & Elizabeth Risko from The Dairy Alliance, another longtime regional sponsor, supporting dairy farmers across the state, also came to check out all the action.

Cheers to AB Tech in Asheville

Its always fun to be at AB Tech in Asheville. We’ve partnered with the culinary school there for several years as one of our culinary competition venues. This place is no stranger to competition. In fact the 2024 Student Competition Team ( pictured here) helped us get things set up. Cheers to (from L) Abbey Franklin, Yajaira Sandoval, Avery Lathan, and their coach and culinary instructor, Chef Chris Bugher as they prepare to head to their own Southeast Regional Competition in Sarasota Florida on April 13 .

Shout outs to Ethyn Jester, also on the team and Culinary Instructor, Chef Stephen Hertz, both not pictured here.

Always fun to catch up with Chef Cathryn Strohm-Horton, Chair of the School’s Hospitality Management and Culinary programs, or as her chef’s coat says, “The Boss.”

Next round, we’ll be shaking and stirring

Coming up in April, both of our preliminary rounds of competition follow along with our coastal culinary round to take place at Carteret Community College in Morehead City, NC.

Ten of our mixology teams will be shaking things up in Raleigh at Vidrio restaurant on Monday April 8. The remaining ten will compete in their respective preliminary round on April 29 in Winston-Salem at Broad Branch Distillery.

Vidrio was home to our 2021 Chef of the Year, Saif Rahman and Broad Branch was our NCRLA Distillery of the Year in 2022.

While the public can’t attend any of these preliminary round sessions, you can follow the social media for a front row seat at each round of the 2024 NCRLA Chef Showdown culinary and mixology competition.

  • On instagram, follow @NCRLAChefShowdown and @HeidiBillotto
  • On Facebook, follow @NCRLA Chef Showdown and @Heidi Billotto Cooks
  • On X Follow, @NCRLAChef Showdown and @HeidiCooks

And, I’ll be posting updates of each round of the statewide 2024 NCRLA Chef Showdown competition on these digital pages with photos and details.

Plus, stay tuned for posts on tik-tok and pinterest, both coming soon.

About NCRLA

The North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association (NCRLA) NCRLA is the driving force behind the state’s $30 billion hospitality industry. The mission is to Protect, Educate, and Promote the North Carolina hospitality industry. To learn more information about NCRLA or its membership opportunities and cost-saving benefits, please visit www.ncrla.org.

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