Southern Living magazine is running a contest to let readers decide the "Tastiest Town in the South." Right now, Durham is in the lead with Memphis right beside. For much of the voting, it was between Durham and Asheville.

That dead heat convinced chef Justin Rakes to organize a dinner featuring chefs from both North Carolina towns. At 7 p.m. Sunday at Durham's Four Square Restaurant, diners can enjoy a six-course meal prepared by these chefs:

• Jacob Sessoms of Table in Asheville.
• Brian Canipelli of Cucina 24 in Asheville.
• Justin Rakes and Scott Martin of soon to open Salted Pig (Rakes is the former chef de cuisine at Four Square. Rakes is being tight-lipped at the moment about his next venture, the Salted Pig, but I will share details as I learn them.)
• Matt Kelly of Mateo in Durham.
• Shane Ingram of Four Square in Durham.

Tickets cost $75 per person. Wine pairings will be made available by Four Square
Sommelier Brandon Carr. Reservations can be made online at opentable.comor by phone 919-401-9877.

Be sure to cast your vote for your favorite Southern town. Voting ends Feb. 28. To vote, go HERE.

Last night, I judged the first competition in the Fire in the Triangle contest.

For those of you who don't know, Fire in the Triangle is a franchise of the annual Fire on the Rock contest started several years ago by Jimmy Crippen of Crippen's Country Inn and Restaurant in Blowing Rock, N.C. This year, Crippen paired up with the N.C. Department of Agriculture's Go to Be NC campaign to take the contest statewide. Fire on the Rock and Fire on the Dock in the Wilmington area have already happened. (Go HERE to read my earlier post.)

The contest pits 16 chefs against each other in a series of cooking contests where the public gets to enjoy the chefs' creations. For about $50, diners enjoy a six-course meal and get to vote on which chef should move onto the next round.

Last night, Fire in the Triangle got underway with Chef Shane Ingram of Four Square Restaurant in Durham battling Chef Adam Jones of The Twisted Fork in North Raleigh.

Click READ MORE to see the entire post.

Chef Jimmy Crippen, owner of Crippen's Country Inn and Restaurant in Blowing Rock, has brought his Iron Chef-style cooking competition to the Triangle starting June 11.

Crippen is the force behind the annual Fire on the Rock competition, which started seven years ago in Blowing Rock. This year, Crippen teamed up with the N.C. Department of Agriculture's Got to Be N.C. campaign to take the competition statewide. So now there are four contests across the state: Fire on the Rock in Blowing Rock, Fire on the Dock in Wrightsville Beach, Fire in the Triangle in Raleigh and Fire in the Triad in Greensboro.

Sixteen chefs have signed up for the Triangle contest starting June 11 with Four Square's Shane Ingram going up against The Twisted Fork's Adam Jones. The complete list of pairings was announced today at a press conference in North Raleigh.

Here's how it works: Two chefs with the help of two sous chefs each prepare three courses for about 100 people using a secret N.C. ingredient that is only revealed on the day of the competition. The chefs, whose cell phones are confiscated, have about six hours to plan their menus and cook their courses. That evening, the diners and a panel of guest judges will choose the winning dishes, not knowing which chef cooked which course. The winning chef moves onto the next round. The overall winner takes home $2,000, while the runner-up wins $500.

The public can buy tickets to the dinners. The cost is $49 excluding beverage, tax and tip for the preliminary rounds, and $59 for the semifinal and final rounds. Go HERE to purchase tickets. All events start at 6:30 p.m. at Rocky Top Hospitality's catering event space, 1705 E. Millbrook Road, Raleigh, which is the original Michael Dean's location.

The preliminary contests are these:

• June 11: Shane Ingram of Four Square in Durham vs. Adam Jones of The Twisted Fork in Raleigh. 
• June 12: Adam Rose of Il Palio in Chapel Hill vs. Josh DeCarolis of Jujube in Chapel Hill.
• June 13: Ryan Payne of Weathervane at Southern Season in Chapel Hill vs. Chris Harris of Fork and Barrel in Raleigh.
• June 18: Scott James of The Midtown Grille in Raleigh vs. Matthew Hannon of Ashten's Restaurant & Pub in Southern Pines.
• June 19: John Childers of Herons at the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary vs. Chad McIntyre of Market Restaurant in Raleigh.
• June 20: Reto von Weissenfluh of Mia Francesca Trattoria in Raleigh vs. Serge Falcoz-Vigne of 518 West Italian Café in Raleigh.
• June 25: Michael Lee of Sono in Raleigh vs. Dean Wendel of Flights at the Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel.
• June 26: Christopher Hill of The Oxford in Raleigh vs. Jimmy Reale of Chapel Hill Country Club in Chapel Hill.

The quarterfinals will be July 9-10 and July 16-17. The semifinals will be July 23-24. The final competition will be July 31.

A portion of  ticket sales will be donated to N.C.'s Office of the State Fire Marshal to support local fire fighters because cooking is the number one cause of house fires.

Chef Shane Ingram of Four Square Restaurant in Durham and [ONE] in Chapel Hill is opening his third restaurant, G2B, in Durham on May 26. (That is a hopeful date. I'll check in with Ingram next week to confirm the opening is still that day.)

Ingram describes the new restaurant as an "American-style beer garden." The menu offers appetizers all for $10 or under, entrees for $20 or under and three milkshakes among its desserts. I'm intrigued by the Chicken Under a Brick with mustard jus and a buttermilk-thyme biscuit. Go HERE to read the menu.

The restaurant is at the corner of Shannon Road and University Drive in a location that used to house Starlu and Restaurant Eden, which both closed in recent years. (The restaurant entrance is in the back of an office building and can be tough to see from the road.) Let's hope Ingram's restaurant mojo these days can overcome the location's history.

The James Beard Foundation announces its award finalists starting at 2 p.m. today, and seven Triangle chefs will learn if they made the cut.

Among the semifinalists for Best Chef in the Southeast are Andrea Reusing of Lantern in Chapel Hill; Ashley Christensen of Poole's Diner in Raleigh; Aaron Vandemark of Panciuto in Hillsborough; Chip Smith of Bonne Soiree in Chapel Hill; Scott Crawford of Herons at the Umstead Hotel in Cary; Scott Howell of Nana's in Durham; and Shane Ingram of Four Square Restaurant in Durham.

Durham's Magnolia Grill also is a semifinalist in the Outstanding Restaurant category. Its chef-owners Ben and Karen Barker are the state's only James Beard award-winning chefs.

James Beard was a cookbook author, cooking instructor and champion of regional American cuisine. The foundation  honors excellence in restaurants, chefs, wine service professionals, cookbook authors and food journalism.

To follow the announcement live, follow @beardfoundation and #jbfa on Twitter.

The list of James Beard Foundation semifinalists came out today and seven local chefs are on the list for Best Chef Southeast:

• Ashley Christensen, Poole's Diner of Raleigh
• Andrea Reusing, Lantern of Chapel Hill
• Chip Smith, Bonne Soiree in Chapel Hill
• Aaron Vandemark, Panciuto in Hillsborough
• Scott Crawford, Herons at Umstead Hotel in Cary
• Scott Howell, Nana's in Durham
• Shane Ingram, Four Square in Durham

"Nice! When it rains, it pours," said Vandemark, a first-time semifinalist who yesterday learned he was in the running for Food & Wine magazine's People's Choice Best New Chef 2011. (To read about that nomination and to vote for Vandemark, click HERE.)

Smith who has been named as a semifinalist several times before said he tries not to get too worked up about it. "We're just honored to be given a nod," he said.

Several of these chefs have been semifinalists before. This is Christensen's second year. Howell has been a semifinalist many times before. And last year Reusing (pictured left) progressed to finalist, as well as Bill Smith of Crook's Corner, but they lost to Sean Brock of McCrady's in Charleston, S.C.

Two other North Carolina chefs are semifinalists: Keith Rhodes of Catch in Wilmington and John Fleer of Canyon Kitchen at Lonesome Valley in Cashiers, N.C. That means North Carolina chefs made up almost half of the Southeast semifinalists.

The only other North Carolina semifinalist is Eric Solomon of European Cellars in Charlotte for Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional.

These chefs and Solomon will learn on March 21 if they are among the five finalists in their categories. The winners will be announced May 9 at a gala in New York City.

Durham's Magnolia Grill also was nominated in the Outstanding Resturant category. Its chef-owners Ben and Karen Barker are the state's only James Beard award-winning chefs.

James Beard was a cookbook author, a cooking instructor and a champion of regional American cuisine. The Foundation, founded after his death, honors excellence in restaurants, chefs, pastry chefs, wine service professionals, cookbook authors and food journalism. The awards have often been described as the "Oscars of the food world."

Chef Shane Ingram of Durham's fine dining destination, Four Square Restaurant, has opened a new restaurant, One, in Meadowmont in Chapel Hill. Ingram has mentioned this place to me in passing as having "spa cuisine." Here is a LINK to the menu.

The grand opening is TODAY. So Mouthful readers, please report back when you have dined there so we can know whether to try Ingram's new place.

Children cook with local chefs to learn the basics of good nutrition