Ashten’s Chef Wins Award During the 10th Annual NCRLA Chef Showdown
Matt Hannon, head chef of Ashten’s Restaurant in Southern Pines, just faced off in the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association’s 10th annual Chef Showdown. The competition encourages the use of ingredients from the state while celebrating N.C. agriculture. The multi-round showdown began with 102 chefs, but Wednesday night’s final round came to 15 savory chefs, five pastry chefs and five mixologists. Matt took home the Diary Alliance’s “Dairy Does More” award.
His winning dish was a lamb barbacoa (from Wooly Bully Sheep Ranch in West End) with a summer bean salad (from Johnson’s Family Produce in Carthage) served with a whipped burrata (from Siano in Charlotte) and purple honey (from Midnight Bee Supply in Vass).
Matt is proud to be able to represent Moore County’s farms and restaurant scene. “It’s really fun to get up there and put our name on the map in front of the big folks in Charlotte, Raleigh and Asheville,” he says. “This competition brought together over 1,000 farms. Its really big for farmers, community and keeping that dollar in the local economy.”
Matt has been with Ashten’s for 14 years and says Moore County is becoming more and more of a foodie destination. *Cue the happy tears.* For those wondering, he says a version of his winning dish may pop up as a special at Ashten’s sometime soon. So, if you stop by, be sure to tell him congrats.
