Nine years. That’s how long I’ve been the executive producer of the NCRLA Chef Showdown, and you’d think by now I’d be immune to the magic. But every August, I watch the best chefs, pastry chefs, and mixologists from across North Carolina step into that competition kitchen, and it still feels electric.

If you’ve been following my Chef Showdown journey since spring, you already know we’ve been on quite a ride. From the first sizzle of April’s preliminary rounds to the clinking glasses at July’s semifinals. I’ve zigzagged across the state, tasted hundreds of plates, and probably consumed my body weight in North Carolina–grown goodness.

With So Much Love & Gratitude…

I can’t go any further here without a big Thank You to everyone who made it all possible, from all the sponsors, to the lodging and competition venues across the state, to the amazing team at the NCRLA, my two right hands through this season – Robin Gavin and Beth Thompson-Peace; and to my sweet hubby Tom Billotto.

To Van Eure and Steve Thanhauser, owners of the Angus Barn, and hosts at the Bay 7 Venue, thanks for all of your support and for your amazing team at Bay 7. So many thanks to Lynn Minges, CEO and president of the NCRLA, who had the Chef Showdown idea in the first place and has truly made it all possible. Cheers to Chris Mackey, Nate Roberts and the team at the NCRLA for all of their time and hard work. And to my dear friends, Chad Blackwelder of Got To be NC and Jason Allen of Carolina Cooker who came to nearly every round, helped set up banners, appeared in videos and more boomerang photos than they’d perhaps, like to remember, I thank you, more than you know!

My Front-Row Seat to North Carolina’s Culinary & Mixology Competition Fireworks

For nine years now, I’ve had the privilege of producing this whirlwind of food, drink, and friendly competition. And every year, I think, “This one will be hard to top.” Yet somehow, the chefs, pastry chefs, and mixologists of North Carolina prove me wrong in the most delicious ways possible.

This year’s Grand Finale, held August 4 at Bay 7 in Durham, catered to a sold-out crowd of local food and drink enthusiasts. Twenty-six finalists: 15 savory chefs, five pastry chefs, and six mixology teams all came ready to prove why they’d made it through months of preliminaries and semifinals.

Let’s just say… they did not disappoint.

Check out the official video, produced by Digital P Marketing in Cary NC, here; and enjoy all of the photos I’ve included in this post – most of them with credits to Emily Bennett Creative.

And watch several other great videos from our Exclusive Cast Iron Cookware sponsor, Carolina Cooker, here and one that features me (!) here!

You can read more about each of 2025’s 26 finalists here.

And the 2025 NCRLA Chef Showdown Champions Are…

Our 2025 NCRLA Chef of the Year is Mauricio Huarcaya from Gustu Peruano in Wilmington, NC. I’ve watched Mauricio compete for several years now. He’s worked hard to get here and this win comes as no surprize.

Pastry Chef of the Year went to Luis Rojas from Charlotte Marriott City Center, Luis is the creativity behind the dessert menu at Stoke – the restaurant in this uptown Charlotte hotel.

Our new Mixologist of the Year is Sarah McCabe of The Longleaf Hotel in Raleigh, whose creations are as beautiful as they are delicious. She partnered with Cook’s Mill Whiskey, represented by Kelly Murphy (also in Raleigh), who took home Distillery of the Year.

Have to say, my hubby Tom, who is not a brown liquor drinker, at all, could not stop sipping on her pepper jelly inspired competition cocktail!

And for those who prefer their sips without the booze, Travis James of Julep Contemporary Kitchen in Greenville snagged Mocktail of the Year. He found these amazing black tomatoes, and originally based his drink on that. Then topped it off with a blueberry studded hand crafted marshmallow, oh my!

Chef and Pastry Chef First Runners-Up

Runners-up? Make no mistake, their competition plates were just as impressive.

Chef Kevin Stratton from The Depot on First in Knightdale took first runner up honors for Chef of the Year. Kevin featured local game in both of his preliminary round and semifinal round competition dishes this year.

And Chef Josh Dobson from Peppervine in Charlotte came in as first runner up for Pastry Chef of the Year.

People’s Choice: Powered by the Crowd (and Sysco)

Attendees voted with their taste buds, and on a digital app and the results were delicious:

• Mocktail: Natalie Takacs, End of Days Distillery, Wilmington
• Cocktail: Natalie Takacs, again (yes, a double win!)
• Dessert: Luis Rojas, Charlotte Marriott City Center, Charlotte
• Savory Dish: Mauricio Huarcaya, Gustu Peruano, Wilmington

The Most Dairy Delicious

The team from The Dairy Alliance joined us in full force and their VP of Strategic Marketing, Joanne Englehardt Risko joined Lynn Minges and Chad Blackwelder to hand out its annual Undeniably Dairy Awards, celebrating the chefs and mixologists who used NC dairy in the most inventive ways:

• Savory: Bobby McFarland, Glasshouse Kitchen, Durham
• Dessert: Michael Beers, River Run Country Club, Davidson
• Cocktail: Natalie Takacs, End of Days Distillery, Wilmington
• Mocktail: Natalie Takacs, End of Days Distillery, Wilmington

You can read more on the competition’s Grand Finale on The Dairy Alliance blog, here, and more about the Dairy Award winners, here. They also ran a post about all of our 2025 finalists and you will find that article here.

Charlotte Represented in Style

As a Charlotte-based food writer, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tip my chef’s hat to the Queen City’s impressive showing in this year’s finals. Charlotte-area talent was everywhere you turned at Bay 7, including:

• Oscar Johnson – the 2023 NCRLA Chef of the Year, back this year competing as a pastry chef!
• Whitney Thomas (formerly of the recently closed Mazi)
• Myles Scaglione, Dot Dot Dot

• Lauren Burkett, Free Range Brewing
• Great Wagon Road Distillery
• Josh Dobson, Peppervine
• Tche Carter, Community Matters Cafe
• Luis Rojas, Charlotte Marriott City Center
• Chris Childs, Kaioken Labs
• Southern Artisan Spirits – makers of Cardinal Gin
• Sean Teague, Chiefs

And let’s talk pastry power: Charlotte pastry chefs took a sweet sweep in three different awards categories, thanks to Chefs Michael Beers, Josh Dobson, and Luis Rojas. Throw in Chef Oscar Johnson flexing his pastry skills, and you’ve got a dessert lineup that could take on any city, anywhere.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Raleigh, Durham, Wilmington, the Triad, the coast, the mountains and the rest of the state brought some serious heat. But Charlotte? It’s my home base and this year, Queen City chefs, pastry chefs, mixologists & distilleries definitely brought the sugar, the sparkle, and maybe just a little bit of bragging rights.

Why This Event Still Gives Me Goosebumps

Since April, these 72 original competitors have been battling it out across 11 preliminary and semifinal rounds, showcasing over 650 varieties of local proteins, produce, and products from more than 600 NC farmers and producers. By the time we hit the Grand Finale, it’s not just a competition, it’s a celebration of North Carolina’s food system, from soil to plate to glass. And this year, over 500 Grand Finale attendees came to taste for themselves.

On the beverage front, NC Beer was well represented by our good friends and longtime supporters at Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, NC.

And, this year, for the first time, we had our own featured NC Wine Bar, with pours of medal-winning wines, mead and ciders from the 2025 NC Wine Competition, thanks to the NC Wine & Grape Council.

Until Next Year…

So there you have it! Another NCRLA Chef Showdown in the books, full of creativity, local pride, North Carolina spirits and enough butterfat to make a dairy cow blush. It’s taken me a month to write about it all, only because there have been so many media posts and articles covering the event, that I’ve been busy reposting everyone else’s recaps.

Every corner of North Carolina showed up big and brought home a pretty dazzling share of the glory this year. I’m so proud to have played a part in it all and can’t wait to do it all over again next year. Sweet sweeps, bold bites, the best people and cocktails worth writing home about… I’ll raise a glass to all of that any time.