One
of my favorite Food Network shows is Iron Chef. Two chefs battle it out in a timed event with all dishes
surrounding a secret ingredient.
Well, that extraordinary concept has been brought to North Carolina with
the Competition Dining series. The
Fire in the Triangle is the third in the Got to be NC series; the others were Fire
on the Rock (in the mountains) and Fire on the Dock (on the coast). I am so excited! Sixteen of the best chefs from the
Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill area will square off in a single elimination
tournament. With how amazingly it
went over in Wilmington and how quickly the Raleigh tickets have sold out, this
virtually guarantees many nights of epic dining. Best of all, in addition to the judges, the diners also get
to vote on the winners. 
My wife and I
bought tickets to two of the events.
Sorry, but the roughly $50 a person price tag can get rather expensive
if you want to attend all of the events.
We are planning on seeing the match-up of Matthew Hannon of Ashten’s in
Southern Pines against Scott James of Midtown Grill in Raleigh. Having been to both restaurants and
loving both experiences we are expecting an amazing feast of six dishes.
Because of our love of food, we are also going back on my wife’s birthday, July
10th for the winner of our battle on June 18th to face
the winner of the June 13th battle of Weathervane vs. Fork and
Barrel. Oh and all of the events
are held at 1705 Prime in Raleigh, that place looks great and is the perfect
venue for these contests.
I know roughly 32
chefs applied for the 16 positions in the competition, so I have no idea how
they chose who got to participate.
What I can tell you is that all of the tickets for all of the rounds are
sold out, so unless you already have tickets, you’ll have to wait for next
year. Trust me, with how popular
this is, it will be back.
So, I wanted to do
something different than all the other food bloggers out there. My wife and I have been to 14 of the 16
restaurants that are competing, so based on my knowledge of their restaurant,
chef, and dishes, I’m planning on creating the Vegas-style odds for the chefs’
chances of winning. (This is
strictly recreational and for fun only, I will not be taking any bets, nor should
you bet.) Without further ado, here is my odds of winning and reasons:
Chef John
Childers (Heron’s): Based on the fact that any round with
Chef Childers in it sold out first and the fact that Heron’s at the Umpstead
has the reputation as the Best 4-5 Star (depending on the source) restaurant in
NC, he has to be the presumptive favorite. Heron’s menu may be a bit pretentious, but it is fine dining
at its best. Odds: Even
Chef Michael
Lee (Sono): Chef Lee’s contemporary and
inventive style makes for great cuisine.
Plus, lately the trending toward high-class Asian food, gives Chef Lee a
big advantage, especially when blended with European techniques. With the right secret ingredient, he is
unstoppable, with the wrong one, he might be out of the competition early. Odds: 2-1
Chef Scott
James (Midtown Grill): Based on the times
we have been to Midtown Grill and the variety of local ingredients cooked
exquisitely, I think Chef James has a good chance of winning. Unfortunately for him, he has a tough
round one draw. If he can get out
of round one, then round three is almost a given. Odds: 3-1
Chef Matthew
Hannon (Ashten’s): Chef Hannon has already
won awards for Best Dish in NC and his menu is a blend of high-class fair with
mass appeal. If he can win as an
underdog in round one, the Chef Hannon has a good chance of being in the
finals. Odds: 5-1
Chef Ryan Payne
(Weathervane): Chef Payne’s use of local and southern ingredients at
Weathervane can give him a big advantage in any round. Also, he has a large following in
Chapel Hill who I can guarantee will be in attendance. It is a good thing for his opponent
that we don’t know which chef prepares which dish until the end. Odds: 8-1
Chef Chad
McIntyre (Market): In my one time at
Market, the food was very fresh, like right off the farm fresh. However, I felt that Chef McIntyre’s
healthy cooking mantra may have taken away some of the possibilities of his
dishes. He could go very far in
this competition due to his inventiveness, but since he has to face the
presumptive favorite in the first round, I’m sorry to say that he might be
one-and-done. Odds:
10-1
Chef Serge
Falcoz-Vigne (518 West): This chef could
be hit or miss. While Megan’s
grandparents love 518 West, our visit there met mixed reviews. Again, the overly Italian menu could
hinder Chef Falcoz-Vigne, but the right ingredients could be a hit. Who doesn’t love Italian anyway? Odds: 15-1
Chef Adam Rose
(Il Palio): By the time I am writing this, he has already won round
one. That said, while his food is
impeccable, I’m scared that if the secret ingredient is something not at all
found in Italian fare, he could struggle.
Also, the fact that the judges had him losing every round in his first
competition should say a lot. Odds:
15-1
Chef Shane Ingram
(Four Square): Chef Ingram’s menu at Four
Square is diverse enough that he has a fighter’s chance at winning. My experience there was above
average. He did win his first
round already, so that is a big plus, but he also made the only dish in the competition
so far that has a less than 50% approval rating, the Blueberry Pheasant Pad
Thai. Odds: 20-1
Chef Reto von
Weissenfluh (Mia Francesca’s): Chef von Weissenfluh’s restaurant is
again, overtly Italian. However,
he does have lots of international influences, which could make the difference.
This is one of the two that we have not been to, so I could be wrong. I bet his food is good, but I also bet
that 518 West’s is better. Odds:
20-1
Chef Chris
Harris (Fork and Barrel): Chef Harris’s
menu is fun and well made, but I just think it lacks the sophistication of the
other restaurants. With judges of
very discerning palates, and the opponent being the Weathervane, I think he
loses tonight. Sorry. Odds: 25-1
Chef
Christopher Hill (The Oxford): I’ve only
been to the Oxford once. It was a
fun experience, but probably more due to the company than the food. To me, the Oxford seems like jazzed-up
bar food. Don’t get me wrong, it
is good food, it is just not something that I foresee winning the Fire in the
Triangle competition. Odds:
30-1
Chef Dean
Wendel (Flights): The menu and food in my
one and only time at Flights just under-whelmed me. Let’s call Flights what it is, a hotel restaurant. It is no reflection on Chef Wendel, but
rarely do you see Raleigh diners heading to a hotel for dinner. Sorry Chef, I bet you have amazing
skills, but until you are headlining a stand-alone restaurant, I just don’t see
you winning. Odds:
50-1
Chef Jimmy Reale
(Chapel Hill Country Club): This is the
other restaurant that I have never been too. However, outside of 1970’s movies, I rarely see people
saying that they will be dining at “The Club”. Chef Reale may have mad skills, but then I think he would
have his own restaurant. Never the
less, he has one big advantage that others do not. Most likely, he is the chef most accustomed to making a
large quantity of the same dish at a high quality. Sorry, I just can’t see him winning though. Odds: 75-1
Chef Adam Jones
(Twisted Fork) and Chef Josh DeCarolis (Jujube) are both eliminated already so their odds of winning are Zero. Sadly, when I was thinking this out
ahead of time, I figured both of these chefs would easily win their first
round. Chef Jones prepares great
quality dishes and Chef DeCarolis seems like a mad scientist in the kitchen with his blend of Eastern and Western hemispheres.
Since I am 0 for 2 so far, perhaps I am
totally wrong about this entire competition. But that’s what makes it fun. Until the secret ingredient is revealed and the dishes are
plated, anything can happen. Best
of luck to all remaining contestants and I’ll see some of you in the near
future.
P.S. In case the
creators of the Competition Dining series ever do read this, I’m hoping the
June 18th battle has a secret ingredient of NC Scallops. Just hoping. Keep up the amazing work and contest. I love it.
