Bracket released for Final Fire in Raleigh

The Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series will present the Final Fire: Battle of the Champions from Nov. 20-23, 2013.

Posted 9:38 p.m. Oct 23, 2013 — Updated 12:43 p.m. Oct 24, 2013

Kathy Hanrahan

RALEIGH, N.C. — The sun is setting and it is time to light the fire! The final fire that is...

The Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series has announced the brackets for its Final Fire: Battle of the Champions at the Renaissance hotel at North Hills in Raleigh.

Final Fire is the culmination of a statewide dining competition that saw chefs from Asheville, Wilmington, the Triad, the Triangle and Charlotte face off in regional battles.

The winners from each region will be represented in the Final Fire Nov. 20-23 to determine the statewide winner.

Fire in the Triangle winner chef Dean Thompson of Flights is entering the competition with a "home field" advantage. His restaurant operates out of the Renaissance. And he ended up getting a first-round "bye."

Chefs drew knives to determine the preliminary match-ups. This is what the bracket looks like:

Nov. 20: Noble’s Grille, Winston-Salem (Chef John Bobby) vs. Mimosa Grill, Charlotte (Chef Jon Fortes)
Nov. 21: Flights at Renaissance Raleigh Hotel, Raleigh (Chef Dean Thompson) vs. winner of Nov. 20
Nov. 22: Persimmons Restaurant, New Bern (Chef Gerry Fong) vs. Red Stag Grill, Asheville (Chef Adam Hayes)
Nov. 23: Battle between winner of Nov. 21 and Nov. 22

The dinners will be the same format as the regional rounds. Each chef prepares three dishes using one or more local secret ingredients, then the diners get to vote based on criteria like taste, presentation, etc. No one knows who made what course. After the meal, a winner is crowned based on the scores tallied on site.

Tickets go on sale Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. through the Final Fire website. You can reserve your seat for $119, excluding beverage, tax and service charge. Diners can attend as many dinners as they want. The finals are expected to sell out within 24 hours, so you might want to get your tickets the minute they are available.

The Final Fire champion wins $4,000, a hand-forged set of knives from Charlotte-based Ironman Forge and a trip to Napa Valley, Calif., to the pro chef program at the CIA Greystone campus, compliments of Kikkoman. The runner-up receives $1,000.

Out and About served as the official bloggers for Fire in the Triangle we are happy to report that we are back again as the Final Fire official bloggers! Stay tuned for exclusive coverage of the finals, including interviews with the chefs and more!

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