Show Notes

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 fr

“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

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 cu

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 me

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