The Triangle’s Top Chefs Go Head to Head in “Fire in the Triangle”

Want to try food prepared by some of the best Chefs in the Triangle? The Got To Be NC Competition Dining Series event, Fire In the Triangle, dining events kick off June 11 and conclude on July 31. The 15 dining events will be hosted at 1705 Prime, the area’s premier private event space owned by Rocky Top Catering at 1705 East Millbrook Road, Raleigh, NC 27609 (Map).

HOW IT WORKS
Paying guests will sample each course in a blind tasting alongside a panel of culinary and celebrity judges in a series of 15 dinner competitions. Each evening, two restaurants “battle” it out side-by-side in a single elimination, “Iron Chef”-style format. Guests savor a six-course menu (three dishes from each chef without knowing whose food they’re tasting) created around a “secret” or “featured” ingredient. For almost all dinners, the ingredient will come from a North Carolina source. The secret ingredient is revealed to the chefs only an hour before they start cooking, and it must be used in each of their three courses.

Diners, alongside culinary and guest judges, will rate each dish and determine who moves on to the next round and who goes home. At stake in each series is a grand prize of $2,000, a coveted “Red Chef Jacket,” and a hand-forged trophy by Gaines Kiker Silversmith in Blowing Rock, NC. The runner-up receives $500. Tickets for dinners cost $49 excluding beverage, tax and tip. The semi-final and final ticket prices are $59. Diners can attend as many dinners as they like. Tickets are on sale now at http://www.competitiondining.com Hurry. Seats go fast.

The final 16 contenders were recently announced at a press conference at 1705 Prime. The single-elimination competition brackets are below with the chef leading a team of three into the competition:

June 11
Four Square, Durham (Shane Ingram)
vs.
The Twisted Fork, Raleigh (Adam Jones)

June 12
Il Palio Ristorante at the Siena Hotel, Chapel Hill (Adam Rose)
vs.
Jujube Restaurant, Chapel Hill (Josh DeCarolis)

June 13
Weathervane Restaurant at A Southern Season, Chapel Hill (Ryan Payne)
vs.
Fork and Barrel, Raleigh (Chris Harris)

June 18
The Midtown Grille, Raleigh (Scott James)
vs.
Ashten’s Restaurant & Pub, Southern Pines (Matthew Hannon)

June 19
Herons at the Umstead Hotel & Spa, Cary (John Childers)
vs.
Market Restaurant, Raleigh (Chad McIntyre)

June 20
Mia Francesca Trattoria, Raleigh (Reto von Weissenfluh)
vs.
518 West Italian Café, Raleigh (Serge Falcoz-Vigne)

June 25
Sono Japanese Restaurant, Raleigh (Michael Lee)
vs.
Flights at the Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel, Raleigh (Dean Wendel)

June 26
The Oxford, Raleigh (Christopher Hill)
vs.
Chapel Hill Country Club, Chapel Hill (Jimmy Reale)

July 9
Battle between winner of June 11 and June 12

July 10
Battle between winner of June 13 and June 18

July 16
Battle between winner of June 19 and June 20

July 17
Battle between winner of June 25 and June 26

July 23
Battle between winner of July 9 and July 10 (semifinals)

July 24
Battle between winner of July 16 and July 17 (semifinals)

July 31
Battle between winners of July 23 and July 24 (finals)

The goal of the “Got To Be NC” North Carolina Competition Dining is to showcase North Carolina culinary talent and agricultural bounty. At each venue, a charitable donation will be made from a portion of the ticket sales to the Office of the State Fire Marshal in North Carolina to support local fire fighters, as cooking is the number one cause of house fires. Instructional tips about kitchen fire safety will be shared during the event.

Sponsors include The North Carolina Department of Agriculture (NCDA), Southern Foods/ Pate Dawson, OUR STATE Magazine, Crippen’s Country Inn & Restaurant in Blowing Rock and H.ITS Technology. Local sponsors include the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau and Independent Weekly.

For more information, contact Susan Dosier at 704.993.7871 mobile or susan@dkcommunicationsgroup.com

www.competitiondining.com offers event dates, ticket sales, and bios on participating chefs

www.facebook.com/competitiondining offers daily news and updates, photos of chef dishes and more

www.youtube.com/user/CompDiningNC shares videos of the winner after each competition, video bios on each chef and more

www.Twitter.com/compdiningnc use the hashtag #compdiningnc and join the fun