ASHEVILLE - Western North Carolina's Chef Taylor Montgomery showed up and showed out, earning the top award in the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association's statewide cooking competition, the Chef Showdown.
On Sept. 2, Montgomery, co-founder and executive chef at Montgomery Sky Farm in Leicester
, was named the 2026 NCRLA Chef of the Year at the 10th annual finals competition, which hosted on Sept. 2 at Bay 7 in Durham.The state culinary win follows Montgomery's first national James Beard Award win for Best Chef: Southeast last June.
"With the James Beard Award, no one knew who I was in Asheville, even in North Carolina, because I had been in Greenville (South Carolina) cooking in the private sector of dining," Montgomery said. "This
allowed me to get out there and show these chefs in North Carolina I'm not just a fluke, and am able to produce some quality stuff."
Celebrating North Carolina's agriculture on a plate
The NCRLA is an advocacy organization developed to protect, educate and promote the state's hospitality industry and represents more than 25,000 businesses that employ 9% of the state’s workforce and generate more than $36.7 billion in annual sales.
The Chef Showdown showcases North Carolina-grown, raised and produced ingredients, highlighting the local farmers, artisan makers and producers. Nearly 1,000 North Carolina-produced proteins, produce, and products were featured during the 2026 competition series.
"The purpose of the Showdown is to put a spotlight on the hospitality industry and all the culinary and mixology talent that we have in North Carolina's hospitality industry," said Heidi Billotto, executive producer of Chef Showdown. "That is chefs, people who work a food truck, pastry chefs, the chefs who have all gotten Michelin nods and the chefs who are just dipping their toes in and taking on their first jobs."
At Montgomery Sky Farm, a 50-acre regenerative farm and home of the Final Run Rescue in the Turkey Creek Valley, Montgomery and his team host farm-to-table dining experiences in an outfitted barn that allow them to teach guests the stories behind the ingredients and dishes, teach the importance of diversified agriculture, and provide a better understanding of agriculture and preserving heritage through it.
He and his wife, Fran, founded the farm in 2018. The chef left traditional restaurants to focus on farm operations, including the harvest-driven bar dinners in 2024.
At the Chef Showdown, Montgomery's winning dish was a N.C. pork tenderloin with a Red Florence onion and chorizo roulade, as well as local pork cheek, malted corn in an Orchard Grass broth.
Montgomery said he sourced ingredients from his own farm as well as others in the state, including Whippoorwill cowpeas, a rare, at-risk Southern heirloom vegetable species grown at Montgomery Sky Farm, which were also used in the recipe, which the chef said served as a talking point to teach attendees.
Other ingredients sourced from his farm included Hillbilly tomatoes, endangered Amish paste tomatoes, the Red Florence onions, and Gochugaru peppers and herbs.
Who won the 2026 NCRLA Chef Showdown?
This year, the Chef Showdown's 11 preliminary and semifinal rounds were hosted across North Carolina, including at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, with a record 102 culinary and mixology professionals competing in different categories.
"The level of talent this year was outstanding. They really raised the bar," Billotto said.
Bobby McFarland of Wye Hill in Raleigh was named the first runner-up Chef of the Year.
Josh Dobson of Deepwell in Mooresville was named the first runner-up Pastry Chef of the Year.
Charmaine Devine of Sugo Italian Steakhouse in Wilmington is this year's Pastry Chef of the Year.
Ashley Sarkis of Yunta Nikkei in Charlotte is Mixologist of the Year, partnering with Muddy River Distillery in Mount Holly, which was named Distillery of the Year.
Margaret Boerner of Sovereign Remedies and Chemist Spirits in Asheville was also a runner-up.
At the finals, attendees sampled dishes, desserts, cocktails and spirit-free cocktails, which were also judged by a panel of industry professionals and past winners.
Montgomery said that the final dish was prepared to feed about 700 people, receiving assistance from his farm's culinary team, including Executive Sous Chef, Cat Beraud.
Competitors were scored on presentation, taste and their use of local North Carolina ingredients.
"They all appreciated what we're doing at the farm and what we're putting on people's plates," Montgomery said.
The audience also cast votes for their favorite food and beverage entries in the People's Choice Awards.
The 2026 People's Choice Awards winners are:
- Best Savory Dish: Roberto Barth, Vidrio, Raleigh.
- Best Dessert: Charmaine Devine, Sugo Italian Steakhouse, Wilmington.
- Best Cocktail: Zach Benson, Supperland, Charlotte/Outer Banks Distilling, Manteo.
- Best Spirit-Free Cocktail: Everette Young, Daingerfields at the Westglow Spa, Blowing Rock.
The Chef Showdown's four category winners and the two culinary runners-up will join the 2026-27 Got to Be NC team of culinary and beverage ambassadors, helping promote North Carolina’s rich agricultural and culinary heritage throughout the coming year.
For the Dairy Does More Awards, the Dairy Alliance, a nonprofit funded by dairy farm families in the Southeast, recognized competitors for their ability to creatively incorporate N.C. dairy into their dishes and drinks. The winners are:
- Best Use of Dairy in a Savory Dish: Chef Matt Hannon, Ashten’s, Southern Pines.
- Best Use of Dairy in a Dessert: Pastry Chef Makala Beaver, King Neptune, Wrightsville Beach.
- Best Use of Dairy in a Cocktail: Zach Benson, Supperland, Charlotte.
- Best Use of Dairy in a Spirit-Free Cocktail: Ashley Sarkis, Yunta Nikkei, Charlotte.
For more about the NCRLA and the Chef Showdown, visit ncrla.org.
What's next for Chef Taylor Montgomery?
It was Montgomery's first time competing in the Chef Showdown. In addition to bringing home his first physical trophy, he said he valued the connections he made with North Carolinian culinarians, other hospitality peers, and agriculture advocates.
Montgomery's upcoming events include speaking at the "Chefs Save the World" event at Climate Week NYC, hosted by Food Tank, the James Beard Foundation, and CARE International on Sept. 24 at WNYC-NPR Studios’ The Greene Space in New York City.
He was also selected to attend this fall's James Beard Foundation's Chef Bootcamp for Policy and Change, a program designed to train and inspire the nation's culinary leaders to mobilize in support of policy decisions that impact the industry and food system.
Montgomery Sky Farm was also the subject of the short film "The Soil Remembers," directed by Rioin “Rio” Oshiro, which was nominated for a James Beard Media Award in the Documentary Visual Media category.
View Montgomery Sky Farm's upcoming dining and event schedule at montgomeryskyfarm.com/The-Experiences. To learn more about Final Run Rescue, visit montgomeryskyfarm.com/Our-Non-Profit. For updates, follow @montgomeryskyfarm and @finalrunrescue on Instagram.
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Co., covering the food and beverage industry, including the James Beard Awards, Michelin Awards, restaurant openings, closings and other hospitality industry news and events. Tips, comments, questions? Email tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow @PrincessOfPage on Instagram. Sign up for AVL Bites and Brews, our weekly food and drink newsletter here.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Local chef wins top award in annual Chef Showdown competition
