Brandon Stark, chef at Michael’s Seafood Restaurant in Carolina Beach, will compete Feb. 3 in the first round of competition for the Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series Triangle Tournament. Stark will battle chef Benjamin Guaman of Governors Club in Chapel Hill for the chance to advance to the quarterfinals.

Stark will travel to Raleigh to participate in the Triangle series due to the fact that the competition has decided not to host events in the Wilmington or Asheville markets this year. Fire on the Dock and Fire on the Rock have been removed from the schedule to focus attention on enhancements to the competition, said event spokeswoman Charlotte Pallace.

“We’ve invited chefs from all across the state, including the coastal and mountain regions, to participate,” founder and host Jimmy Crippen said. “And in fact this is a great way for them to gain exposure to a new clientele who are likely to seek them out when they travel to the coast or mountains.”
 
In each of the dinner battles, 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 one hour before the start of the competition and must be included in each course. Guests are served the six courses without knowing which chef prepared each dish. Alongside guest judges, diners rate each dish using an interactive app, ultimately determining the champion.

This will be Stark’s first culinary competition. A graduate of Johnson & Whales in Charlotte, Stark has worked his way up from dishwasher to executive chef at Michael’s over the past 10 years. When asked whether he’d rather be competing with local chefs versus traveling to take part in the Triangle series, he said that either way it’s a chance to compete with fellow chefs, to learn and to become better at his trade. Stark is still working on putting together the team that will assist him in the first round of competition.

For more information on the Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series, click here.

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