by Madison V. Fisler
Jan. 21, 2013. There are just three days left until the application deadline for the upcoming “Fire on the Rock” competition taking place in Asheville this year. The deadline for chefs to apply for the competition is on Friday, Jan. 24.
Born and bred in Blowing Rock, Fire on the Rock will take place at the Biltmore in Asheville this year to accommodate more diners into the competition. The Blowing Rock and Asheville competitions have been essentially combined into one event to incorporate chefs from all around western North Carolina.
“We are accepting applications now for this year’s competition,” said Kristen Baughman, public relations specialist for the Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series.
“The applications will be evaluated and the competing chefs will be ranked out of five on things like reviews on Yelp! and Urban Spoon, their social media presence and many other criteria. Then we will reach out to the chefs that are chosen to compete.”
The structure for the competition will be different this year, as Fire on the Rock is slated to become the premier battle for Western North Carolina bragging rights for chef talent. There will be a total of 8 chefs selected and a total of 7 official competitions beginning on March 10, Baughman said.
Fire on the Rock is one of many competitions across the state in the Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series, which showcases talent from all over the regions of North Carolina. The other affiliated events: Fire on the Dock in Wilmington, Fire in the Triad in Greensboro, Fire in the Triangle in Raleigh, Fire in the City in Charlotte and Final Fire in Raleigh strive to highlight local North Carolina chefs. The goal of the competition is to promote local North Carolina ingredients and talented chefs from across the state.
Each evening, two restaurants battle it out side by side in a single elimination, blind dinner competition. Diners will rate each dish and determine who moves to the next round and who goes home. At stake in each series is a grand prize of $2,000 and the coveted “Red Chef Jacket.”
Each regional champion will move on to the Final Fire-Battle of Champions in November.
Applications for the competition are available here. Applications must be received no later than Jan. 24. Participants will be notified of their acceptance no later than Jan. 31.
For more information, or to purchase tickets to any of the Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series events, click here.
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