The Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series, a culinary tournament showcasing the best of the state’s food, agriculture and culinary talent, hosts its Final Fire series from Nov. 19 to Nov. 22 in Raleigh. Cape Fear Country Club’s Antoine Murray is among the five chefs from across North Carolina battling to take home the statewide championship.

Murray, who has served as executive chef at Cape Fear for four-and-a-half years, won Wilmington’s Fire on the Dock completion this past spring. It was his third year competing, having made it to the semi-final round twice before. 

In each of the Final Fire dinner battles, just as throughout the year-long Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series, two chefs and their teams prepare three courses centered on a secret ingredient from a North Carolina farmer or artisan. The secret ingredients are revealed to the chefs just one hour before the start of the competition and must be included in every course.

At each event, ticketed guests are served each course’s two dishes without knowing which chef prepared each dish. Alongside guest judges, diners rate each dish using an interactive app, ultimately determining the champion.

Murray is no stranger to culinary competitions. He and his executive sous chef Justin Mooney are members of the American Culinary Federation and have competed in several events around the country.

His team for this final round will consist of Mooney as well as pastry chef Rebeca Paredes of Manna.

Murray says he stopped trying to guess a long time ago what the secret ingredient might be.
“Every time I’ve tried to do that in the past I’ve been so far off base,” he said. “Now we just make sure our knives are sharp and we have all our equipment with us.”

Murray said he’d love to work with ingredients like Heritage Farms pork or sweet potatoes because there are so many flavor profiles that work well with those ingredients. On the other hand if there’s one item he hopes to avoid it’s Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

“Krispy Kreme doughnuts are delicious and all but I don’t want to cook with them,” said Murray.
When it comes to standing out among the completion, Murray thinks the diners are looking for the little extras in each dish.

“Those little extras are what separate you from everyone else,” he said.

At stake in the Final Fire series is a grand prize of $4,000, two handmade chef’s knives from Ironman Forge and a trip to the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley, California, compliments of Kikkoman and the Pro Chef Program.

“I’m so thankful for the support of Cape Fear Country Club, both the staff and the members,” said Murray. “It really makes a big difference going into competition knowing that they’re behind me.”

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