Raleigh chef drives away a winner in charity cooking competition

Dean Thompson, executive chef at Raleigh's Renaissance Hotel, is no stranger to competitive cooking competitions. He is a past winner of "Fire in the Triangle," and he's known to gather his team whenever the gauntlet is laid down, especially for the chance to put his skills to the test for a charitable cause.

The Cooking for a Classic series, which wrapped up Wednesday night at 1705 Prime in Raleigh, was the latest evidence of Thompson's culinary creativity. He claimed the 2018 title, finishing first in a field of 8 local chefs, and earned the grand prize: a restored 1949 GMC 5-window pickup truck.

Thompson's team, which included his brother, Matt Thompson, executive chef at the Embassy Suites in Cary, faced off against Matt Hannon, of Ironwood Café, in the final Cooking for a Classic battle.

Proceeds from ticket and drink sales all benefit the Lucy Daniels Center’s mental health programs for children in the Triangle.

The teams prepared three dishes apiece – and appetizer, and entreé and a dessert – based on three key ingredients: parsnip, flounder and passionfruit. Each dish had to feature at least one of the ingredients, with extra points for those that used more than one.

That led to some interesting efforts. Both desserts featured parsnip ice cream. More on that later.

The meal

Thompson led off the evening with a cheesy, smooth parsnip ravioli that diners found an excellent complement to the bread on the table. The aroma of parsnip preceded the plates as they were delivered from the kitchen.

Hannon answered with a taste of Italy of his own: parsnip and goat cheese gnocchi.

Diners at Table 1 were divided in their votes but agreed on what differentiated the two dishes. Thompson's ravioli blended flavors and textures, while Hannon's gnocchi allowed each ingredient to stand on its own.

Hannon's herb-crusted, shrimp-stuffed flounder was fork tender, but many diners left it unfinished. Through three courses, one diner said her favorite part of the night was her glass of wine.

Thompson's entreé description promised a lot: fired flounder, chorizo risotto, slaw, passionfruit aioli, and it delivered.

It was creamy, crispy, spicy all in one. Even those who left bites behind in the earlier courses were cleaning their plates and singing its praises.

The two chef teams took similar routes to dessert, crafting parsnip ice cream and pairing it with a sweeter cake element.

"I love the cake, I just don't know if I love the ice cream," one diner said of dessert A, Thompson's "Snickers" torte, a chocolate and peanut butter mousse. Her neighbor quickly scooped up what she tried to leave behind.

Hannon's preparation used the parsnip ice cream to balance tart passion fruit laced in an olive oil cake.

"I don't like the ice cream, but this one is better than the other," one diner said.

Three foodie judges rated each dish on a 30-question scale, while the rest of the room voted by app, simply choosing their favorite from each category.

Once the votes were tallied and sponsors thanked, Thompson was declared the winner.