PCG Sweeps Queen City Food Fight
In a battle of chefs-on-chefs, Piedmont Culinary Guild bested their counterparts from the NC Chapter of the American Culinary Foundation in the first annual Queen City Food Fight.
Three judges, Matt Morano / TWC News, Kathleen Purvis / The Charlotte Observer, and George Smith / Copper Barrel Distillery tasted and tallied – and when all was added up, it was PCG 25.2 – ACF 21.5.
Each of the winning PCG Chefs will have the winning prize belt displayed at their respective restaurants over the next several weeks.
Ashley Boyd | 300 East | August 31 – September 6
Marc Jacksina | Earl’s Grocery | September 7 – September 13
Paul Verica | Heritage | September 14 – September 20
Blake Hartwick | Bonterra | September 21 – September 27
Jon Fortes | Flipside Cafe | September 8 – October 4
Attendees were asked to vote for their favorite dish. In a very tight vote, the PCG Entrée – Five-Spiced Heritage Farms BBQ Pork Belly “Deconstructed” Porchetta, Red Kuri Squash-Wrapped Loin, “Deviled” Ham, Crispy Pork Rinds, Roots, Green Tomato Chimichurri – narrowly beat out the PCG Dessert for the People’s Choice Award.
In addition to all the great food, there were plenty of libations to go around as PCG member Kevin Gavagan of Haunt Bar crafted two cocktails specifically for the event, featuring North Carolina’s own Copper Barrel moonshine. Beer was supplied by Salud Beer Shop and Benford Brewing.
North Carolina wineries Childress Vineyards, Jones von Drehle Vineyards & Winery, RayLen Vineyards & Winery, and Divine Llama Vineyards created pairing for each course.
Jimmy Crippen of Competition Dining served as Master of Ceremonies, and also generously supplied the voting mobile app. Charlotte food personality Heidi Billotto served as Judge’s Concierge.
If you missed it, you really missed it. But as they say on all sports .. “There’s always next year!” See you then!