Description:

Food is “on fire” in Asheville. The richness of our culinary scene is multi dimensional with many contributing factors. Our location is rich in agricultural assets and our farming community is knowledgeable, cohesive and constantly striving to increase product yield and quality while still being mindful of the end user. Many grow organically in our region. There is a commonality of appreciation in our town for regional sourcing by chefs preparing our food, to the locals buying it for prep at home.

With all this as background noise, it is little wonder Asheville is a participant in Fire On The Rock. If you are a true foodie and could spend hours watching shows featuring celebrity chefs-this is the event you’ve been dreaming of! Cutthroat Kitchen, Chopped, Iron Chef, Bobby Flay’s Throwdown events have nothing on Asheville. Chefs from Strada Italiano, Lexington Avenue Brewery, Ambrozia Bar and Bistro, Isis Restaurant and Music Hall and King James Public House are the local talent in this competitive dining event.

Fire on The Rock, one of several state competitions canvasing our state from the Peidmont to the Mountains is sponsored by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, Our State Magazine and a host of others. It will pit one Asheville local chef against another regional chef each carefully preparing a three course meal. The chefs have their marching orders. They are to use a special North Carolina ingredient that they are not made privy to until noon of their cooking contest.

Diners, after ticket purchase, are served a six course menu (3 courses from each chef). Each course is presented anonymously to ensure the judging remains impartial. Each course is judged as separate components culminating when the last course is judged and the points are tallied. Now for the kicker….Those buying tickets to this extraordinary event….You…Are the judges! Hosted in the very beautiful Lioncrest Event Center on Biltmore Estate, those ticketed for this event will be served each course as the chefs, each with their own brand of culinary expertise, try to wow you to their side. Quite simply, at the end of the meal, one chef wins and it is the cumulative scores of all the diners that either send them on to the next round or send them home.

Details for Fire on the Rock: March 10-11, March 17-18, March 24-25 and March 31

Location: Lioncrest on Biltmore Estate

Who: Asheville Chefs vs. Regional Chefs
Price: $59 (not including beverage, tax or service fee) for preliminaries. $69 for Semi-final/Final Rounds (not including beverage, tax or service fee)