The North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA) hosted its ninth Chef Showdown on August 4, 2025. Presented by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, this annual competition promotes and spotlights the talent of chefs, pastry chefs, mixologists, and the local products available across the state of North Carolina.

The 2025 preliminary rounds of culinary competition featured talented North Carolina chefs and pastry chefs vying for high honors in this year’s Showdown. In the preliminary rounds, chefs and mixologists compete in culinary and mixology preliminary competitions. Chefs whip up savory or sweet creations, while mixologists, each paired with an NC distillery, blend craft cocktails and mocktails with flair. Then there were the semi-finals, which were determined by scores from the preliminary rounds. There, eighteen chefs and eight pastry chefs competed in one of two regional culinary semi-final rounds. Only twelve mixology teams moved on to the semi-finals to compete for a shot at one of six spots in the Grand Finale.

Following the preliminary and semi-final rounds, 20 of these chefs – 15 savory chefs and five pastry chefs – were finalists, as well as 6 teams of mixologists and distilleries. The Grand Finale culminated on August 4 at Bay 7 in Durham, North Carolina. This is the only round of competition that was open to the public, often drawing 500+ attendees eager for a taste of local cuisine. From these finalists were named the NCRLA Chef of the Year, Pastry Chef of the Year, Mixologist & Distillery of the Year, and Best Mocktail of the Year.

Two additional sets of awards were announced at the Grand Finale: the People’s Choice Awards and the Undeniably Dairy Awards. The People’s Choice Awards, Powered by Sysco, recognized fan favorites for Best Savory Dish, Best Dessert, Best Cocktail, and Best Mocktail. The Undeniably Dairy Awards presented by The Dairy Alliance honored competitors who creatively use North Carolina real dairy products in their dishes and drinks. While dairy use isn’t mandatory for general entries in the Showdown, those incorporating it could win one of four awards presented by The Dairy Alliance at the Grand Finale: Best Savory Dish, Best Dessert, Best Cocktail, and Best Mocktail.

Here are the recipes and creators awarded the Undeniably Dairy Awards in 2025.

2025 NCRLA Undeniably Dairy Award for Best Savory Dish

Chef Bobby McFarland of Glasshouse Kitchen, Durham

McFarland’s entry is a take on a New Jersey “Seaside Tony” cheesesteak made with steak tartare, a Tidewater Grain Company fermented rice sourdough milk bread, house-cultured butter, lacto-fermented vegetables, mushroom duxelles, and deep-fried house-made American cheese.

2025 NCRLA Undeniably Dairy Award for Best Dessert

Pastry Chef Michael Beers of River Run Country Club, Davidson

Beers created his entry with Tidewater Carolina Gold Rice custard, buttermilk white chocolate cremeux, milk jam cajeta, peach curd, and milk crisp.

2025 NCRLA Undeniably Dairy Award for Best Cocktail

Mixologist Natalie Takacs of End of Days Distillery, Wilmington

Takacs created both winning drinks. Her Chaos Theory is a lemon olive oil and peppercorn salt-fat-washed Luna Bloom Gin and an herb olive oil fat-washed rye whiskey. This is combined with house-made plum liqueur, pecan and toasted neon eggplant syrup, lemon juice, and house-made clove bitters. It is topped with a heavy cream house-made blueberry liqueur, and vanilla foam and garnished with blueberry dust, eggplant twist, and a butterfly pea flower.

2025 NCRLA Undeniably Dairy Award for Best Mocktail

Mixologist Natalie Takacs of End of Days Distillery, Wilmington

Takacs’ Clari-tea is a North Carolina Yaupon dark blend tea with lemon juice and a brown sugar, local honey, molasses syrup with cardamom, cloves, orange zest, and lavender thyme mix. The drink is clarified using the milk punch method and garnished with an amarena cherry and shaved raspberry dark chocolate.

Congratulations to these winners and all the competitors in this year’s competition.