Saturday Matchups:

11:00 am Chef Chuck Nelson vs. Chef Marietta DeBriere

                     secret ingredient: striped bass

 2:00 pm Chef James Welch vs. Chef Bill Greene

                 secret ingredient: sweet corn

 5:00 pm Chef Michael Barbato vs. Chef Guy Branaman

                 secret ingredient:greens

 8:00 pm Chef Dominic Geraghty vs. Chef Guy Thomas

                 secret ingredient: honey

Sunday Final:

2:00 pm Chef Dominic Geraghty vs. Chef Bill Greene

                 secret ingredient: Carolina blue crab

Both chefs received 255 points from the judges- an unprecedented tie! Will there be a rematch? We will let you know as soon as we do!

“Fire on the Rock” Chef’s Challenge is a battle between the area's best chefs! They will duke it out on Saturday, April 18th and Sunday, April 19th in an "Iron Chef" style competition. Each team will be given a secret ingredient that must be featured in their culinary creations. There will be 3 judges, including one celebrity chef to be determined in the future.

Here's how it works: Eight chefs will pair off in four head-to-head competitions (heats) on Saturday. The judges will score their culinary creations. The two chefs with the highest overall scores will compete on Sunday for the title of Best Chef.

Tickets to Saturday heats are $5.00 each or $10.00 for all four showdowns; heats are at 11:00am, 2:00pm, 5:00pm and 8:00pm.  The final showdown is at 2pm on Sunday, and tickets to this event are available for $7.00. 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE

New This Year!  At each of the Saturday and Sunday events, a special seating or "Chef's Table Seat" is available for $50 per ticket.  With only four seats in the front row, attendees will be the special guests of the competing chefs and will sample each dish at the competiton.  These special guests will also be recognized by the master of ceremonies. These tickets are only sold at the Hayes Center Box Office.

The Blowing Rock Fire & Rescue Departments will be facilitating the event. Local firemen have always been community-minded and are excited about getting involved with the Blue Ridge Wine Festival through management of the event while providing fire watch protection during the competition. The fire department will be selling t-shirts with proceeds benefiting local fire and rescue services.