Fire in the City Bracket Announced!

Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series Reveals Local Chefs and Brackets for Regional Tournament, Fire in the City

Statewide Chef Competition Comes to Charlotte Offering 15 Fun, Interactive Dinner Events Starting Aug.18

Charlotte, North Carolina – July 17, 2014 – The Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series, a single-elimination tournament highlighting the best of the state’s food, agriculture and culinary talent, will pit 16 local chefs against each other in the upcoming Fire in the City events. The series includes 15 dinner experiences in which two chefs battle it out and attending community members serve as judges for a blind six-course meal. Tickets to the interactive Fire in the City battles, which take place Aug. 18 through Sept. 29 in Charlotte, are available now at www.competitiondining.com/events/fire-in-the-city.

Chefs from across the region applied to take part in the competition and final participants were selected based on culinary talent, menu development experience, training, personality, proven creativity and more. Fire in the City chefs and preliminary match-up battles include:

First-Round Brackets

·         Aug. 18 Dinner: Luca Annunziata of Passion8, versus Clark Barlowe of Heirloom Restaurant

·         Aug. 19 Dinner: Tom Dyrness of Mama Ricotta’s, versus Brian Mottola of e2 Emeril’s Eatery

·         Aug. 20 Dinner: David Feimster of Fahrenheit, versus David Quintana of Southminster

·         Aug. 25 Dinner: David Moore of Gallery Restaurant, versus Ben Philpott of Block and Grinder

·         Aug. 26 Dinner: Brent Martin of The Summit Room, versus Jon Spencer of Epic Chophouse and Chillfire Bar & Grill

·         Aug. 27 Dinner: Chris Coleman of The Asbury at the Dunhill Hotel, versus Brian Williams of Upstream

·         Sept. 2 Dinner: Nicolas Daniels of The Wooden Vine, versus Paul Ketterhagen of Carpe Diem

·         Sept. 3 Dinner: Jon Fortes of Mimosa Grill, versus David Sullivan of Fish Market Bar and Grill

In every Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series event battle, the two participating chefs each prepare three courses centered on a secret or featured ingredient that comes from a North Carolina farmer or artisan producer. Featured ingredients are revealed to the chefs only an hour before they start cooking that day and must be used in each course.

At the dinner events, ticketed guests savor the combined six courses without knowing which chef prepared each. Alongside culinary and guest judges, diners rate each dish using an interactive app, ultimately determining who moves on to the next round and who goes home.

“The Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series is part of a larger movement,” said Jimmy Crippen, Competition Dining Series founder and host. “Because we are all chefs, farmers or diners, our mission is to connect and celebrate regional communities through a dynamic, entertaining culinary experience. The events are interactive not only with guests grading the dishes through the app, but also connecting together. You walk around these events and table after table diners are socializing and debating with everyone around them, and people at home are following along through live Tweets (using the hashtag #CompDiningNC) – all with a central appreciation for the great foods from right here in North Carolina.”

The Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series is unlike any other dinner experience in the country. It hosts five regional tournaments throughout the year, including the surrounding markets for Wilmington, Asheville, Greensboro, Raleigh and Charlotte. For 2014, 16 of some of the best local culinary talent in each area will compete until a final winner emerges.

At stake in each regional series is a grand prize of $2,000, a handmade chef knife by Ironman Forge and the coveted “Red Chef Jacket.” Additionally, each regional winner moves on to the Final Fire Battle of Champions that will be hosted in Raleigh this November to crown a statewide winner.

Along with the preliminary battles listed previously, Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series’ Fire in the City events include:

Quarterfinals

·         Sept. 8 Dinner: Aug. 18 winner versus Aug. 19 winner

·         Sept. 9 Dinner: Aug. 20 winner versus Aug. 25 winner

·         Sept. 15 Dinner: Aug. 26 winner versus Aug. 27 winner

·         Sept. 16 Dinner: Sept. 2 winner versus Sept. 3 winner

Semifinals

·         Sept. 22 Dinner: Sept. 8 winner versus Sept. 9 winner

·         Sept. 23 Dinner: Sept. 15 winner versus Sept. 16 winner

Final Battle (Fire in the City championship event)

·         Sept. 29 Dinner: Sept. 22 winner versus Sept. 23 winner

All Fire in the City events are held at Bonterra Dining & Wine Room, located at 1829 Cleveland Ave in Charlotte. Tickets to attend a preliminary and quarterfinal battle dinner cost $59 excluding beverage, tax and tip. Tickets for the semifinals and the final battle are $69 excluding beverage, tax and tip. Community members can attend as many dinners as they like. Reservations are open now at www.competitiondining.com/events/fire-in-the-city.

About The Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series

The Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series is sponsored by the NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Pate Dawson-Southern Foods, Certified Angus Beef®, Pepsi Bottling Ventures, the NC Wine & Grape Council, Hits Technology and local partners in each region of the state. The goal of the series is to celebrate local North Carolina products and agriculture, and to showcase the culinary ingenuity and talent across the state. For more information, visit www.competitiondining.com or get in on the conversation at www.facebook.com/competitiondining and @CompDiningNC on Twitter or Instagram.