Click to Listen Blake Gotliffe doesn’t stop. After he regained consciousness from a heroin overdose, only to find himself in his mother’s arms and alive, he regained control of his life. His near death experience was the catalyst for him to be able to juggle so many businesses and activities. Whether Blake is curing meat to end up at your next dinner party or perhaps on your sandwich order from Meats and Pickles, he doesn’t stop. Blake might be pickling vegetables picked from his own garden so that he can use that in a future Under the Oak Farms dish. It doesn’t end there as Blake might be helping his expecting wife Megan create a new icing for her I Do Cakes business or me might be reachi

“Cheap seafood ain’t good & good seafood ain’t cheap!” - Keith Rhodes Listen to the silky tones of the Steward of North Carolina Aquaculture aka our original fan, Top Chef contestant Keith Rhodes explain that statement. Chef Keith walks the walk and talks the talk. He literally eats, breathes and sleeps (in that order by the way) the North Carolina food culture. Rare is it to find such humility, passion and sincere zeal for others’ success, in such an accomplished chef. Chef Keith Rhodes is a 3 time best chef Wilmington award winner and a James Beard Award nominee for best chef in the Southeast. Keith discuses the high level of work, dedication and focus it takes to be successful in the res

The future Mayor of Wilmington, North Carolina must be Billy Mellon. Billy is a driving force behind putting Wilmington on the culinary map. Manna is one of the culinary beacons of North Carolina, east of interstate 95. Thanks to his stick-to-itiveness, resiliency, innate sense of hospitality and his attention to detail, Manna is thriving. In addition to building a restaurant, Billy shakes hands, kisses babies, finds up-and-coming musical acts and also directs the 40 Eats culinary collaborative. He literally does it all from helping to raise his son, curate the wine list, oh and now he’s writing a book. Billy is not only the future mayor of Wilmington but he is also the angel feeding the pe

CLICK TO LISTEN Walk up the down staircase a few times in your life. Going in the opposite direction will give you perspective and give you insight into the minds of Dean Neff and Lydia Clopton. Dean and Lydia’s journey took them from Athens, GA to Atlanta through Asheville, NC to finally settle on the coast in Wilmington, NC. Some Chef’s come in with pre-conceived notions of what a restaurant in going to be but not Dean and Lydia, they let the place and space dictate the menu. Some might say they listened to the waves. Pinpoint takes fresh and local ingredients and turns them into sophisticated yet crowd pleasing food. We learn how local catfish can be elevated into an ethereal dish and ho

Click to Listen Would you like to be wealthy? Listen closely to Chef Ben Barker's wisdom and you will be rich with stories of humility, North Carolina history and family values. Chef Ben Barker is literally a living legend of NC, he has won the James Beard award for best chef in the Southeast and has been nominated six times. His restaurant Magnolia Grill was the epicenter of North Carolina Cuisine for decades. The coolest part of Ben’s story goes beyond the man. Karen Barker, Ben’s wife is also a James Beard award winner for Outstanding Pastry Chef in 2003. On top of all their success, the Barkers are still in the game as they are intimately involved in their son Gabe’s restaurant Pizzeria