ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WITN) – Ripe for Revival is a Rocky Mount nonprofit with a fleet of pay-what-you-can mobile markets serving those facing food insecurity in eastern North Carolina.
The nonprofit is hosting its second annual Chef Rival fundraiser on June 18, 2024. Here to tell us about the event is Ripe for Revival’s operations manager J.T. Tyndall and chef Luke Owens of Native and Julep restaurants in Greenville.
Five retired campus buses will be converted into mobile grocery stores to go into food deserts throughout eastern and central North Carolina. They serve up to 18 sites and events per week from Beaufort to Wake counties. In Pitt County, the weekly stops are Wednesdays in Farmville and Grifton and Thursdays on West 5th Street in Greenville. They sell produce, dairy, meats, and canned goods. It’s offered about 30 percent below retail but we offer a pay-what-you-can model so people pay what they can afford.
The second annual Chef Rival competition will be from 6-8 p.m. at Factory 633 in Rocky Mount. Tickets cost $45 per person or $60 per couple. The evening will include live music, food and drink, a silent auction, and a culinary competition.
Chef Luke will be competing alongside Chef Malik Williams of LouReda’s in Rocky Mount and Chef Quentin Sidney of Tobacco Wood Brewing Co. in Oxford.
They will have about a couple of hours to create a dish using the ingredients available on the mobile market and have to include a secret ingredient in our final dish. A panel of judges will choose the winner. Attendees will be able to taste our final dishes. All the event proceeds will benefit the mobile market program.
Click here to buy tickets and find out more information about the event.