Wilmington Chefs Prepare for NCRLA Chef Showdown Finale

Wilmington’s culinary community will once again be represented on one of North Carolina’s biggest competitive stages.

When the N.C. Restaurant & Lodging Association’s (NCRLA) Chef Showdown Finale takes place Sept. 2 at Bay 7 in Durham, four local culinary professionals will be vying for statewide honors. James “JP” Patterson, executive chef and food and beverage director at Porters Neck Country Club, is one of the local chefs who competed in the semifinals to earn a spot in the championship round. Joining him is Porters Neck executive pastry chef Becky Keil, who advanced to the pastry finals alongside Wilmington’s Charmaine Lizette Eclarin Devine, of Sugo Italian Steakhouse, and Makala Beaver, of King Neptune in Wrightsville Beach.

In addition to crowning the Chef and Pastry Chef of the Year, the finale will also recognize the state’s top mixologist and best mocktail.

For Patterson, advancing to the finals is gratifying, but overall, it’s about more than bringing home a trophy, he said.

“It’s not so much about the competition for me as it is to be around other chefs and peers,” Patterson said. “Yes, it would be nice to win, but that’s not the only thing that drives me.”

A Wilmington native who returned home in 2021 to lead the culinary program at Porters Neck Country Club while also serving as corporate executive chef for McConnell Golf’s 19 properties, Patterson has competed in Chef Showdown several times over the past decade. He said he’s enjoyed watching the event evolve but added that one thing has remained constant: the emphasis on North Carolina ingredients.

“We’ve got such quality ingredients in North Carolina, and this is a chance for us to find out more about what’s out there and how other chefs are utilizing it,” Patterson said.

Keil competed in the Chef Showdown for the first time last year.

“JP thought it would be something fun for me, and I really enjoyed it last year,” she said. “I didn’t make it to the finals, but I knew I wanted to try again this year.”

The executive pastry chef has spent nine years at Porters Neck Country Club, beginning as a banquet server before attending pastry school and eventually moving into the kitchen.

At Porters Neck, the duo works closely to plan the ever-evolving menus for the wide range of events they host each week.

“Club dining is different from a restaurant in that one minute we’re working on a wedding, the next minute we’re working on an Italian buffet, the next day we’re doing a birthday party, and then you’ve got your normal dining menus on top of that,” Patterson said. “So we’re always pivoting from one thing to the next and having to come up with new ideas, which gives us opportunity to try new things and keep challenging ourselves.”

Keil credits Patterson with encouraging her to stretch beyond her comfort zone.

“He really pushes me to go outside the box and keep trying new things,” Keil said.

The dessert that earned Keil her spot in the finale was a playful take on peaches and cream featuring a brown butter pecan pizzelle taco shell filled with a bourbon peach compote made with End of Days distillery bourbon, honey chevre from Goat Lady Dairy in Climax, NC, and a honeycomb candy crunch. The dessert was finished with a local honey from Castle Hayne drizzled by the judges themselves.

Patterson served a pan-seared North Carolina gag grouper over a sweet corn velouté with buttermilk cornbread, summer succotash and smoked tomato water.

Now comes the biggest challenge of all.

Unlike the semifinal round, where competitors cooked for just a handful of judges, the finale requires chefs to recreate the same dish for roughly 600 guests.
For Patterson, that means figuring out how to perfectly cook and serve hundreds of portions of grouper in a temporary event space.

“Cooking 600 pieces of grouper and having them served hot but not dried out – that’s gonna be a little bit of a challenge,” he said.

Despite the logistical hurdles, both chefs say the competition pushes them creatively.

“It’s truly more of a competition with myself to do something that I’m not comfortable with,” Patterson said.

Whether or not either chef takes home the title, both say representing Wilmington and showcasing North Carolina’s farmers, fishermen and producers is the real reward.
As Patterson pointed out, Wilmington’s strong showing says something about the city’s growing culinary reputation.

“It’s an honor to represent Wilmington and New Hanover County,” Patterson said.

For more information on the NCRLA Chef Showdown Finale, or to purchase tickets, click here.