Out and About

Chefs revealed for second Fire in the Triangle

Sixteen local chefs will compete in the first Fire in the Triangle dining competition this summer, and you get to pick the winner!

Posted Updated

By
Kathy Hanrahan
and
Caitlin Zanga
RALEIGH, N.C. — It is time to feel the heat. On Monday, Fire in the Triangle announced the 16 local chefs competing in this year's dining competition. 

The bracket pits chefs against one another in "Iron Chef-style" battles with a twist – the audience/diners get to eat and vote! And their votes make up 70 percent of the total score, with the judges' panel only counting for 30 percent. 

To make voting even easier this year, Competition Dining has released its own app for iPhone and Android users. Diners just use the app to scan the QR code at their place setting. Paper and pencil voting will be available for those who don't have a smartphone. 

Jimmy Crippen explains how the new voting app works for Fire in the Triangle.
The format for the competition is simple: Chefs arrive to 1705 Prime, 705 E. Millbrook Road in Raleigh, the site for all battles, around noon on competition day. They find out the secret ingredient and must get to work with their two assistants to create three courses featuring that ingredient. They all have access to the same pantry and the same ingredients. They are also prohibited from making anything from their restaurants. 

Their menus are due by 3:30 p.m. and diners start arriving at 6:30 p.m. Dinner is served at 7 p.m. 

Competition Dining's Jimmy Crippen welcomes 2012 Fire in the Triangle winner Ryan Payne of Weathervane.

Secret ingredients last year ranged from frozen Butterball turkey to Cheerwine. 

Tickets for all first round battles are $59 per person (excluding beverage, tax and tip and can be reserved online.

It a single-elimination contest with the winner being crowned on Aug. 19.

Here are the first round match-ups: 
July 8: John Childers (Herons) vs. Jake Wolf (Capital Club 16) - SOLD OUT
July 9: Jason Cunningham (Washington Duke Inn) vs. Brian Battistella (Battistella's)
July 10: Regan Stachler (Little Hen) vs. Serge Falcoz-Vigne (518 West) - SOLD OUT
July 15: Dean Thompson (Flights) vs. James Clarke (The Carolina Inn)
July 16: Scott James (Midtown Grille) vs. Lemar Farrington (La Residence)
July 17: Chris Hill (The Oxford) vs. Dan Yeager (Bia)
July 22: Chad McIntyre (Market Restaurant) vs. Sokun Slama (New Southern Kitchen)
July 23: Sean Fowler (Mandolin) vs. Steve Zanini (Jimmy V's)

Some chefs competed last year – Oxford, Midtown Grille, Washington Duke Inn, Herons – while others are new to the competition. For the first time, there is a female chef competing in Fire in the Triangle. Sokun Slama is representing Whiteville's New Southern Kitchen.   

WRAL's Out and About is the official blogger for this year's Fire in the Triangle, so check back each week for interviews, recipes and other exclusive content! 

Fire in the Triangle is part of the Got to Be NC competition dining series. The winner from the Triangle will go on to the finals to compete against the winners of the Fire on the Rock, Fire on the Dock, Fire in the Triad and Fire in the City competitions. The last chef standing wins $2,000 and the coveted red chef’s jacket. The runner-up will get $500.
Last year's winner, Ryan Payne from Weathervane, was on hand Monday and said that he and his team strategzied for every possible secret ingredient. While teams might not have enough time to do that, they might be able to take some of Payne's other advice - always do dessert! 

Hear more from Ryan below: 

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