Charleston Culinary Tours Presents Charleston Chefs Showdown

MOUNT PLEASANT, SC, April 28, 2013 (Press-News.org) Charleston Culinary Tours' Charleston Chefs Showdown will take place on Thursday, May 9th from 6:30-9:30pm at the Maritime Center as South of Calhoun Chefs Ross Webb of Leaf Cafe and Steven Ollard of Amen Street are pitted against North of Calhoun Chefs Trey Stabler of Five Loaves Cafe and Shay MacDonald of HoM. As these competitors go head to head in a series of cook offs to determine who will be named champion, guests will be able to watch the exhilarating live competition and view the judging panel in action. Judges include Stephanie Barna of Charleston City Paper, Josh Keeler of Two Boroughs Larder and Ken Emery of Burwells.

Spectators can enjoy a variety of delicious Charleston delicacies offered by sponsoring restaurants that include Southend Brewery and Smokehouse, Leaf, Amen Street, Sweet CeCe's, Kaminsky's, Stars, HoM, Sugar Bakeshop, Lowcountry Bistro, Five Loaves Cafe, The MacIntosh, all while enjoying live music performed by The Bushels. With proceeds benefiting Chefs Feed the Need, tickets are $100 per person and available on eTix or by calling 843.259.2966.

"As we've enjoyed showing people around the restaurants and introducing them to some of the chefs in historic downtown and on Upper King Street via our culinary tours the last two years, we thought the Chef's Showdown would be a fun way for some of the chefs on our tours to engage in a little good natured competition," said co-owner Oscar Hines. "Making the competition North vs South points to the friendly rivalry emerging between the two downtown areas and shows just how dynamic the Charleston culinary scene is."

Charleston Culinary Tours is a two and a half hour tour that offers the best of Charleston history and food with four stops on each tour with small specialty meals prepared! Offering a journey that is informative, delicious and a fun source for food, Charleston Culinary Tours highlights the cuisine of many favorite locally owned and operated restaurants in the Holy City where guests have the opportunity to interact with proprietors and chefs.

With the support from the Charleston Restaurant Association Charleston, Chefs Feed The Need is a coalition of 52 local restaurants committed to one day of food service a year at four local nonprofits that include Tricounty Family Ministries, East Cooper Meals on Wheels, Crisis Ministries and Neighborhood House. Through the efforts of Chefs Feed The Need, over 20,000 meals have been served to Charleston's at-risk population and over $200,000 has been saved by nonprofits in donated food and expenses.

For interviews, chef bios, photos, press passes or sponsorship information, contact Lorrie Dixson of Eskimo Advertising at lorrie@eskimoadvertising.com. For additional information about Charleston Chefs Showdown, visit http://www.charlestonculinarytours.com/showdown.html.