Carteret County Community College hosts chef showdown

Carteret Community College hosted top chefs from around the area Monday afternoon in a competition exhibiting the best of culinary from around the state.

Eight top chefs competed in the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association Chef Showdown at Carteret Community College.

NCRLA leading chefs say, the purpose of the competition is to showcase the creativity of chefs across the state, and highlight the resources available to them.

The showdown is one of five preliminary competitions in the state. Three judges score each of the chef's dishes based on a variety of criteria.

However, Matthew Krenz, says what's most important is how the chefs incorporate North Carolina products into their dishes.

Krenz a past winner who now judges the competition.

"North Carolina is such a great state for bountiful ingredients. We have so many different ingredients that we have access to. We really want to highlight those and show them off because unlike so many places that really really really popular, we're unique and I think its important to celebrate that," said Matthew Krenz.

NCRLA partners with the Department of Agriculture to make the showdown possible. Monday's winner will become a Chef Ambassador for the department and will advance to regional competitions later this year.