Competition Dining: Fire in the City

Competition Dining is so much fun! I’ve been to three times and plan on attending many more. Tasting the different dishes prepared by the chefs is a treat in itself; getting to score them like the judges do on Iron Chef and Chopped is a blast! The atmosphere is lively and engaged and adds to the fun of tasting and judging the six courses prepared by the local chefs using local ingredients.

Ever wanted to be a judge on Iron Chef? Competition Dining Series is that chance!!! This series puts chefs head to head in a three course cook off in various cities, culminating in a head to head against all the bests from each region for a chance to win some $$s! Best part is, you are the judge! Each person puts in their scores for each dish based on Presentation, Aroma, Use of Secret Ingredient, etc.
My husband and I had the amazing opportunity to go to the Dogwood vs Mandrake competition one night. The competition took place at Bonterra. Never been to Bonterra before, but man, we will definitely return just cause of the wine list! You are seated at a table of other people attending the competition and we had the priviledge of meeting some awesome Unilocal people!
The secret ingredient for the night was arugula and Calvander Cheese from Chapel Hill Cremery. Calvander cheese is like an Asiago style cheese. Bonus, we sat with the ladies that owned Chapel Hill Cremery and learned so much about their business and cheeses!
As for the courses… all very delicious and super creative. It was just so cool to see how these chefs integrating the secret ingredients! Some of our favorites were a Calvander grit cake and the arugula ice cream! Both chefs used lamb as the meat for their second course… yummy!
6 courses and a few glasses of wine later, the chefs and teams came out for applauses and to introduce the winner!
The night was just so much fun! Great food, awesome company, so much smiles and laughter! Perfect date night. The second we left, we talked about making sure we RSVP for atleast one of these each year!

Want to dine like a rock star??! Follow these four simple steps
1) Buy a competition dining ticket
2) Roll up to the front door of Bonterra, hand your keys to the valet, wink at the paparazzi
3) Order some drinks or wine from the list of 200 and make it rain, as you’re seated and greeted by the talk of the town
4) Open an enormous can of Holy Crap NC Competition Dining Awesomeness and enjoy!
Tonight the Mandrake and Dogwood crews competed for bragging rights, entry into semifinals and a $ 2000 check. Each team made 3 courses: a starter, main course and dessert. And the secret ingredients were … drum roll… Organic Arugula and Calvander cheese from Chapel Hill Creamery. First you sample the ingredients in their purest «naked» form and then the dishes start flying out of the kitchen! After each dish you rate it on a smartphone app based on everything from Presentation to Aroma to Use of Secret Ingredient. Votes are tallied in real time, separated by the Pros and the Joes, celebrity guests and chefs like our own CM Nikki and people who just like to eat. At the end the teams come out and run through the crowds soaking in the glory, until one is crowned champion! Tonight Dogwood Southern took the prize handily. Both teams had some amazingly creative dishes with spectacular flavor combinations that included uses of the cheese in everything from grit cakes to ice cream, and the arugula in everything from Spaetzele to gelato! Wow! This is quickly becoming a «must do» annual event here in Charlotte!
Oh and almost forgot step #5 — «accidentally» swap valet keys for the Maserati parked out front and drag race on South Boulevard… just kidding! Or am I?

I go to a lot of events each year. Some good, some not so good. This is one of better ones. Not only is it fun and full of delicious food, but it’s just so well done and well executed.
Competition Dining is an Iron Chef-​type event that travels to five areas of North Carolina. It pits local chefs/​restaurants against each other with a secret North Carolina ingredient (s). Winners then move on to compete against the victors in the other regions.
Not only do you get to enjoy six fabulous courses… you also get to the judge! Each diner gets to vote on a wide range of factors for each dish. It’s all done on your smart phone.
I had the honor of attending two of these Fire in the City competitions. The Asbury versus Upstream and Mimosa Grill and Fish Market. It’s just amazing to see how these chefs work with the ingredients they are given. I just couldn’t imagine cooking a three course meal for 150 people.
Competition Dining makes for a great way to celebrate an anniversary or birthday. Different and unique from your standard let’s go out to dinner experience. Both nights I had couples celebrating anniversaries at my tables.
These events do sell out. My suggestion to you is to buy tickets as soon as they go on sale.
So, I had 12 courses of food. What was my personal favorite? Chef Chris Coleman’s (The Asbury) Cast Iron Certified Angus Beef Brand Ribeye, Yukon Gold Chevre Purée, Roasted Mirepoix Uncle Scott’s Root Beer Demi-​Glacé. Tremendous.
Kudos to Competition Dining on such a fantastic event series.