Competition Dining to hold battles in Raleigh, Durham

After expanding into South Carolina last year, the series is taking it back to the Tar Heel state for all battles. There will be six cities, including Raleigh and Durham, hosting competitions.

Another change, the three-member teams competing don't necessarily have to come from the same restaurant. The only requirement is that team members are professional employed by, or in business as, a food service establishment. This opens the door for chefs from multiple restaurants to form "Dream Teams."

Durham, Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Wilmington will host four team brackets. Raleigh and Charlotte will host two brackets of four teams.

Here's a list of the host cities and dates for battles:

The series pits chefs against one another in "Iron Chef-style" battles with a twist – the audience/diners get to eat and vote. The diners and nightly celebrity judges help choose the winners each evening and ultimately who will take home the title in each city.

Voting is done through smartphones. Diners just download the Competition Dining app on their phones and scan a QR code. Paper and pencil voting is also available for those who don't have a smartphone. You vote on each course, but have no idea what chef made which dish.

The format for the competition is simple: Chefs arrive to venues around noon on competition day. They find out the secret ingredient and must get to work with their team 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.