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Kelly Mc: Jimmy Crippen makes a sport of the traditionally upscale world that is "fine
dining."
Kelly Mc: Crippen's "Got to Be N-C Competition Dining Series" is selling out restaurants from Asheville
to Wilmington. It's sparking interests from pro chefs who aren't scared of head-to-head
kitchen combat
Jimmy Crippen/Founder, Got to Be NC Competition - It's a six course, blind dinner that the diner has to judge, and it's very cool. Where most restaurants, you're frowned
upon if you pull out your cell phone, we want you to pull your mobile device out because
all of the voting is done, high tech, right through an app on your smart phone.
Kelly Mc: A few dozen chefs apply for a fewer than twenty tournament slots. Reputation is
king and the Competition Dining committee does its homework.
Jimmy Crippen -- We look at everything. We look at their menus, their use of North Carolina
ingredients. We look at their Yelp reviews, their TripAdvisor reviews, their OpenTable
ranking, general "boots on the street" as far as the general reputation of these chefs.
Kelly Mc: The chefs hit the kitchen about noon on competition day. They're told the
night's secret ingredients and then ordered to keep quiet. There's NO contact with the
outside world. Referees watch the action and the Foodies online don't know what's happening.
Chad McIntyre -- Give -- We have to give our cell phones up and basically go off the grid,
you know, for the next six or seven hours. It's kind of nice because, in the immediate
sense, it brings a little bit of that secrecy - "What are these guys doing?" What is the
secret ingredient? How are they getting this stuff done?
Kelly Mc: Each chef prepares three courses. The evening's guests eat six courses. Food
requiring seven hours' of preparation must be plated, served, eaten and judged within
minutes.
Lawrence Willard --This is one intense gig. Guys get in. It's "Ball's in play" from twelve
o'clock on until we get it plated out.
This is the real deal. They're feeding 130 people, each doing 360 plates. It's a big
night so 720 plates out in an hour and a half, two hours max.
Kelly Mc: Raleigh chefs Steve Zanini and Chad McIntyre are on the hot-seat at tonight's
event. The secret ingredients are Texas Pete hot sauce and melons. They're part of every
dish served.
Mac Sullivan -- We've had everything from local roasted coffee and Krispy Kreme donuts
to North Carolina Caviar.
Chad McIntyre -- It's a very level playing field. They have no idea whose dish is coming
out. There is no heavy hand that can say, "Oh, this is Chad or Ah no, this is Steve."
But, it's really nice. It's all done to where it's anonymous, which is a great part of it.
Steve Zanini -- It's more about winning than there's a prize at the end and all stuff.
To me, it's more about winning and having people eat your food and actually enjoying
your food. To me, if you win then they say they like your food and that's important to
Jimmy Crippen - We kind of give you a crash course on how to be a food critic and what
to look for. And we explain what each category means, but the bottom line is we in the business
want to know what you -- the Diner -- really think.
Kelly Mc: The diners' job is to vote and Hits-Tech's Jason Loftin tracks every voter and every
ballot online.
Jason Loftin -- We can follow that, make sure everybody's vote counts and you'll see, at
the end of the night, as everybody's vote gets closed out, all the green will turn to
white; that's how we know who submitted their votes and committed at the very end who hasn't.
Jimmy Crippen -- As hard as it is to take criticism, you watch these shows and they
criticize the chefs, I cringe when I see that. This is a little bit less personal, you know?
It's a group of about 120 people who are giving you their opinion and you can see what they
think without necessarily having to get it right into your face.
Kelly Mc: This is a competition that declares a winner but you'd be hard-pressed to find
a losing side when a hundred guests leave satisfied and two chefs get direct access
to an audience that knows how to find the best cuisine in town.