The “Got To Be NC” Competition Dining Series is unlike any other dinner experience in the country! Taste course-by-course during a series of 15 dinner competitions hosted in five regions of the state throughout the year. Each evening, two restaurants “battle” it out side by side in a single elimination, “Iron Chef”-style format. As our guest, you get to savor a six-course menu (three courses from each chef without knowing whose food you’re tasting) created around a “secret” North Carolina ingredient. The featured ingredient is revealed to the chefs at noon the day of their battle and it must be used in each of their three courses.

Here’s the twist: You decide the winner! 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 a coveted “Red Chef Jacket.” Asheville, Wilmington, Blowing Rock, Greensboro, Raleigh, and Charlotte host this year’s high-pressure series. Each regional champion will move on to the Final Fire-Battle of Champions in November. Tickets for each dinner cost $59 excluding beverage and tax. Tickets for regional semifinal and final rounds are $69 excluding beverage and tax. Pick your battles and join us for as many dinners as you like. Be sure to order tickets for the final dinners early as they will fill up fast. For more information on each series or to purchase tickets today, click on the individual event links to the right.

The “Got To Be NC” Competition Dining Series is a brand new event sponsored by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, Southern Foods/Pate Dawson, Crippen's Country Inn & Restaurant, Our State magazine and local partners in each region of the state. The goal of the series is to celebrate local North Carolina products and agriculture and to showcase the culinary ingenuity and talent across our state. Learn more about our sponsors.