ASHEVILLE – Western North Carolina’s Chef Taylor Montgomery showed up and showed out, earning the top award in the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association’s statewide cooking competition, the Chef Showdown.
On Sept. 2, Montgomery, co-founder and executive chef at Montgomery Sky Farm in Leicester, was named the 2026 NCRLA Chef of the Year at the 10th annual finals competition, which hosted on Sept. 2 at Bay 7 in Durham.
The state culinary win follows Montgomery’s first national James Beard Award win for Best Chef: Southeast last June…