Fire in the Triangle: Battle Corn and Grits

Thompson said he felt good when he saw the secret ingredients. "I just went right in there and started working," he said. Things apparently got a little crazy in the kitchen – he accidentally cooked one cake too few! – but his team was able to push through. 

The Carolina Crossroads crew took a consistent approach. "We planned on sticking to what we do, and simplicity will prevail," Clark said.

The crowd was upbeat and full of energy, and the excitement was contagious. Jimmy Crippen, the owner of Competition Dining and emcee of the evening, said he was pleased with the evening's diners.

"They were excited and got crazy, but they were attentive when it came to the chef bios and other messages," Crippen said.

Here's a rundown of each course, reviews and results. In each round and overall, diners (the Joes) and local media foodies including WRAL Out & About (the Pros) grade the dish on aroma, presentation, creativity and other factors. All scores are out of a possible 30 points.

The bisque was very light and the shrimp was cooked and seasoned perfectly. One of my table-mates said some fresh bread would have been great to scoop up the rest! Unfortunately, the bisque was barely warm.

Clark used a different type of corn for this bisque, which resulted in a heavier consistency. It wasn't as sweet as the first bisque, but the grits cake was yummy and almost like a polenta. One of my fellow judges liked the dish, but felt that "the smoked duck didn't mesh well." 

There was so much going on with this plate, it was almost two dishes in one! My table agreed that it had a good amount of spice, and the pork belly was cooked so well.

This was one of my personal favorites of the night. The mahi was cooked to perfection, and the andouille grits added the right kick. Some diners from the next table over felt the dish had some heat but lacked seasoning.

"The fish itself was cooked very well, to the perfect temperature, but it could use some more seasoning," said Candy Hughes and Hansel and Pamela Bosart.

The desserts are typically crowd favorites at these events, and this corn cake didn't disappoint. While the ice cream did contain grits (a complete contradiction), it was actually pretty smooth and yummy. I liked it best when combined with the peanut bacon brittle.

Mark Heath of Carolina Brewing Company remarked that he "needed about 40 pounds of this brittle." It was that good! 

This was one dish that proved every plate matters.

"One dish will make you or break you," said Crippen.

The pound cake was very dry and I heard another diner say that the blueberries with lemon were too tart.

It was a very tight race until the last course, where Clark's roasted corn pound cake just wasn't up to par.

"We missed the mark on the pound cake," Clark said. "I'm disappointed, but I hope to come back next year." 

Crippen pointed out that when cooking under pressure in these foreign conditions, anything can happen. Hopefully the team from Carolina Crossroads will participate in Fire in the Triangle 2014 to try again!

Thompson will go on to the next round and battle Chef Falcon-Vigne of 518 West on July 30.

Owner and emcee Crippen said that all the kinks have been worked out in the first week, so now the competition should go by smoothly, if you're attending a battle in the coming weeks.

"We adjusted the speakers, so now the sound isn't coming out at ear-level," Crippen said. "The kinks are all worked out."