Exciting things are afoot for fans of the Western North Carolina food scene. The culinary teams competing in the WNC Chefs Challenge, presented by WNC Magazine, have been announced. Not familiar with the event? Allow us to whet your appetite…
Starting Tuesday, May 18, regional chefs will go to battle at Asheville’s Flying Frog in a scene reminiscent of the Food Network’s Iron Chef — think “Iron Chef Asheville.”
Teams from some of your favorite restaurants will compete mano-a-mano every Tuesday, one pair each week, all the way up until the final event. The last two teams remaining will go head to head at the WNC Wine and Food Festival Grand Tasting, an event to be held on Saturday, August 14 at the WNC Agricultural Grounds Campus. Competing restaurants include the Admiral, Corner Kitchen, the Grove Park Inn’s Sunset Terrace, Cucina 24 and more. Click here for the full listing of competitors and the dates of the competitions. Breaking: the Red Stag Grill has agreed to join the competition.
Adding to the excitement is the opportunity for the audience to be the judge, not just a passive observer.
Here’s how it all works:
Each chef and team will have access to the same pantry, but will be given a secret ingredient on the day of the event that they will have to feature heavily in their dishes — if you’ve ever watched Iron Chef, you know the drill. The audience will sample three different creations from each of the chefs — whose identities will not be revealed until the final votes are tallied. The audience rates the dishes based upon factors like flavor and creativity.
The cost of attending each of these culinary events is only $39 per guest, not inclusive of drinks, tax and gratuity; reservations can be made online on WNC Magazine’s web site, or by calling the Flying Frog at 254-9411.
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