Pastry chef Gerald Hawkins, Jr. is so close to winning the NCRLA Chef Showdown, he can taste it!

A native of Norlina, Hawkins has made a name for himself in the dessert world, particularly in the southern part of North Carolina and upstate South Carolina. Currently, he’s making tastebuds swoon at the Beach Shop and Grill in Topsail Beach, NC and The Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, NC.

At 31, his overall cooking experience in traditional and New American cuisine spans over a decade while his focus on pastries has been about eight years.

His take on desserts shows his love and admiration for local ingredients and is steeped in Southern tradition and African-American heritage while elevated with modern techniques and savory elements.

Some of his favorite ingredients to work with include pawpaws, muscadines, Ocracoke figs, Bogue Sound watermelons, and he does not shy away from experimenting with nontraditional flavors, like country ham or sunchokes and turning them into your new favorite dessert.

Gerald Hawkins, Jr. at work / Credit: Robert Fitz

“My Aunt Lib would create treat bags for everyone in the family including favorite candies, fruits, pecans from her tree, and more,” Hawkins reflects. “As we grew older, she would include more of the things you liked and less of those you didn’t like. I try to consider that tailored-for-you feeling in my dessert offerings. I truly just want to create what the community likes and enjoys with a little spin on it to encourage people to think outside the box.”

As a finalist in the NCRLA (North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Assocation) Chef Showdown, he is no stranger to this competition. This is his fifth time competing, and as always, Hawkins stands out among North Carolina’s most talented culinary professionals. This recognition is not only a testament to his skill and creativity but also a nod to the rich culinary heritage of the Carolinas that he so passionately represents.

With the competition underway, the community is rallying behind Hawkins, hoping to see him take home top honors. Regardless of the outcome, his work continues to elevate the art of pastry and be the cream of the crop.

One of Hawkins’s creations / Credit: Robert Fitz

The 2024 NCRLA Chef Showdown Grand Finale is Monday, August 26, 2024, 6-8:30 pm at the American Tobacco Campus in Durham NC. For more information, click here.

To enjoy the visuals of his creations, follow Gerald Hawkins Jr. on Instagram: @geraldhawkinsjr.

Since the initial news of a Littleton, NC revival courtesy of a wealthy benefactor, Chef Ashleigh Fleming has been someone the community has welcomed with open arms and inquisitive palates. Her brand of combining her Texan roots with North Carolina local produce and our own cuisine was something to be marveled. However, on July 23, Fleming announced she would no longer serve as the executive chef at Blue Jay Bistro in Littleton.

In case anyone missed the news the other night, I am no longer at Blue Jay Bistro in Littleton. I am super excited about what the future holds. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of you that reached out. The calls and texts and emails and messages were incredible. So many guests, so many friends, it was really amazing and I am so grateful to all of you. I know it’s sad news for a lot of my favorite guests and the farmers and families that partnered with me for so many years to help make incredible food. But don’t worry, our best chapter starts now and I’m looking forward to working with yall again soon. Have a good week everybody!! (except for people that serve tomatoes and asparagus out of season from other countries, yall have a bad week!) 😜

EDIT: I am not sure which post but I’m guessing this is the one that apparently in meaning or direction has been taken out of context and twisted somehow by some folks. Social media, you know? So that everyone is aware- this post was me notifying my followers of my career change. This post was a post of gratitude to all the people around me in our community that I built positive relationships with including and especially our farmers. As I posted it early in the morning on a Tuesday I was eating the last tomato I had from one of our farmers and it was incredible. I celebrate the fact that I bought local as often as I could in the last project and I am looking forward to working with all of our growers again soon as I intend to incorporate them as much as I can into all I do. And I stand by encouraging all of us to buy local and in season. It would be a game changer if all restaurants could do this. Not everything that someone posts is about someone or something else. Sometimes it’s just exactly what it says and nothing else. Sometimes it’s actually just about that damn good tomato I’m eating that never saw the inside of a refrigerator while I’m typing and wondering why anyone ever, Chef or otherwise, would want to eat that out of season.

In an Instagram story, she may have offered a glimpse of what is to come.

Fleming was recently featured in FSR Magazine as one who is “reviving small town fine dining.”