Join The Dairy Alliance at the 2025 NCRLA Chef Showdown

The North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA) is hosting 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 the semi-finals begin, which are determined by scores from the preliminary rounds. There, eighteen chefs and eight pastry chefs compete in one of two regional culinary semi-final rounds. Only twelve mixology teams move 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 – will be finalists, as well as 6 teams of mixologists and distilleries. The Grand Finale culminates on August 4 at Bay 7 in Durham, North Carolina. This is the only round of competition that is open to the public, drawing 500+ attendees eager for a taste of local cuisine. From these finalists will be 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 will be announced at the Grand Finale: the People’s Choice Awards and the Undeniably Dairy Awards. The People’s Choice Awards, powered by Sysco, recognize fan favorites for Best Savory Dish, Best Dessert, Best Cocktail, and Best Mocktail. The Undeniably Dairy Awards presented by The Dairy Alliance honors 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 can win one of four awards presented by The Dairy Alliance at the Grand Finale: Best Savory Dish, Best Dessert, Best Cocktail, and Best Mocktail. We will be sure to highlight 2025 contestants and Undeniably Dairy winners using tasty North Carolina dairy foods in their dishes. 

For those attending, don’t forget to swing by the Carolina Cooker Cast Iron Raffle Table and enter to win one of the cast iron pots or pans contestants used in the 2025 Chef Showdown season. And new this year is the NC Wine Bar featuring award-winning wines, ciders, and meads from the 2025 NC Wine & Grape Council competition. 

This year’s competitors in the Grand Finale are: 

2025 NCRLA Chef Showdown Finalists 

Savory Finalists  

• Chef Tchnavia “Tché” Carter – Community Matters Café, Charlotte 

• Chef Richard Carter – Catering Works, Raleigh 

• Chef Chris Childs – Kaioken Labs, Charlotte 

• Chef Lance Cook – Forsyth Country Club, Winston-Salem 

• Chef Taylor Halley – The Wine Feed, Durham 

• Chef Keith Henning – Black Powder Smokehouse, Jamestown 

• Chef Khanh Hoang – Yo Xoi, Durham 

• Chef Mauricio Huarcaya – Gustu Peruano, Wilmington 

• Chef Olajuwon Mason – Viking Dining/Aramark, Elizabeth City 

• Chef Bobby McFarland – Glasshouse Kitchen, Durham 

• Chef Daniel Murray – Cypress Hall, New Bern 

• Chef Myles Scaglione – Dot Dot Dot, Charlotte 

• Chef Trenton Shank – Brier Creek Country Club, Raleigh 

• Chef Kevin Stratton – The Depot on First, Knightdale 

• Chef Whit Thomas – Mazi, Charlotte 

Pastry Finalists 

• Pastry Chef Michael Beers – River Run Country Club, Davidson 

• Pastry Chef Josh Dobson – Peppervine, Charlotte 

• Pastry Chef Oscar Johnson – Jimmy Pearls Chesapeake Kitchen, Charlotte 

• Pastry Chef Helena Larson – Indigo Road Hospitality, Raleigh 

• Pastry Chef Luis Rojas – Charlotte Marriott City Center, Charlotte 

Mixology (Cocktail and Mocktail) Finalists 

• Kayla Wenzel - Native Fine Diner, Greenville, with The Hackney Distillery, Washington 

• Lauren Burkert - Free Range Brewing, Charlotte, with Great Wagon Road Distilling, Charlotte 

• Natalie Takacs - End of Days Distillery, Wilmington, with End of Days Distillery, Wilmington 

• Sarah McCabe - The Longleaf Hotel, Raleigh, with Cook’s Mill Whiskey, Raleigh 

• Sean Teague - Chief’s Modern Cocktail Parlor, Charlotte, with Southern Artisan Spirits, Kings Mountain 

• Travis James - Julep Contemporary Kitchen, Greenville, with CRUSH Vodka, Greenville 

Congratulations to all! 

Visit the NCRLA event page for more information about Chef Showdown and how to purchase tickets. 

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