Rex Healthcare chef takes Competition Dining Triangle title

The chefs had a challenge Monday night when taking on the night's secret ingredients - Certified Angus Beef short loin and Charlotte's Uno Alla Volta cheeses. Each ingredient had to be in two of the chef's three dishes.

As with all Competition Dining events, the dishes are served and no one knows who made what until after the scores are tabulated. Here's a rundown of each course, reviews and results. In each round and overall, diners (the Joes) and local chefs (the Pros) grade the dish on aroma, presentation, creativity and other factors. All scores are out of a possible 40 points. The score shown is the final weighed score for each dish.

Last year's Competition Dining Triad winner Tim Thompson, a pro judge for the evening, described the night's featured ingredients as a chef's dream. "These are two lucky guys," he said of the competing chefs.

Thompson was also a fan of the first course saying he was glad he wasn't cooking against it.

Diners were a little confused when the dish came out though because the original description, which was shown on large screens throughout the dining room, said the meat was being served Carpaccio or raw. Host and founder of Competition Dining Jimmy Crippen verbally corrected that to "charred rare" while diners were enjoying the course.

The parmesan brodo had a great flavor. The beef was one of the best prepared and served of the night and the Gnudi was a wonderful way to showcase the cheese.

The only complaint I heard from some diners was that the dish wasn't warm. Mine was lukewarm but many at my table said their meal was cold.

Two-time Competition Dining Triangle champion Dean Thompson, another pro judge for the evening, must have gotten a warm first course. He described it as a "well-rounded" and a good start to the evening.

This dish was a little bit of a let down after the first course. Tim Thompson noted inconsistencies among the elements and portion sizes of this dish at his table.

The crab salad and grits were the stars of this dish. The grits were good enough to turn several non-grit fans into supporters. While the cheese got its moment through the grits, the beef wasn't as well-seasoned as the first course.

By the time the third beef course hit the tables, many diners were having beef fatigue. Each dish seemed to have a chunk of beef.

Dean Thompson said the beef was cut too thick and undercooked.

While the salsa verde was praised by diners, the rest of the elements just blended together into a fondue stew in the bowl.

Couldn't the chefs have come up with a different way to serve this beef? After three courses of beef, diners were rejoicing when they saw this tenderloin cut up and braised.

But the flavors in this dish overpowered each other. The spatzle, a traditional German egg noodle pasta, was a nice accompaniment and great way to incorporate the cheese. The sprouts got a little lost for me, something I would have liked more since I am a sprout fan. The beef was good but the pickled onions, leeks and bacon were all just too strong. 

Diners didn't know it, but going into dessert - less than .02 points separated the chefs. As with many Competition Dining battles, it would all come down to dessert.

Finally, something without beef! This dish had so much potential. The polenta cake was a little too dry, but the souffle and compote were delicious. The ricotta, however, got lost under the mountain of chocolate.

Still a good dish, just not one that highlighted the secret ingredient.

"Another cornmeal cake?" some diners said. But this dish was able to showcase the cheese in a Cannoli cream and frozen custard or semifreddo. The cake wasn't as dry as the first dessert and benefited from the lemon-blueberry compote.

Overall, it was a solid dessert that helped propel the Rex team to victory.

Conklin won by three-tenths of a point. He attributed the victory to "keeping calm" and "putting good food on the plate."

"Win, lose or draw, there are no losers in this," Shelvey said. The former Marine said he loved meeting the other chefs and getting exposure for his restaurant.

Host and Competition Dining founder Jimmy Crippen praised Shelvey as the embodiment of "good sportmanship" and noted that he was always smiling back in the kitchen.

Conklin and his team were awarded red chefs jackets, $2,000 and a handmade Ironman Forge custom knife. Conklin and his team will compete against winning chefs from the Triad and Charlotte rounds in the Final Fire in late October.