CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte chef will go head-to-head with famed, world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay in a July Fourth showdown.
Chef William Dissen, owner and head chef of the Charlotte restaurant, Haymaker, will compete with Ramsay after showing him part of North Carolina’s food culture.
Dissen was approached last summer about participating in a taping of Ramsay’s show, "Uncharted," on National Geographic.
"And I thought, well this is spam, and I kept spamming my emails,” Dissen joked.
Eventually, he realized the request was legitimate, and he had an opportunity to show Ramsay the Smoky Mountains and its culture.
“We went way up in the Smoky Mountains, and I took him up there to learn about the cuisine of the Smoky's and the amazing ingredients and artisan and indigenous recipes from the region,” Dissen said.
A press release from National Geographic states Ramsay, “Rappel[s] down a treacherous waterfall, kayak[s] through raging rapids, and trek[s] deep into the forest.”
At the end of the episode, Dissen and Ramsay compete in a cooking competition over open fires, high up in the mountain range.
But, Dissen was giving away no spoilers.
The show will air at 9 p.m. July 4 on National Geographic and will be available for streaming on Disney+ the next day.
It was Dissen's knowledge and experience with North Carolina food which led to the request to be on the show.
At his Uptown restaurant, Haymaker, Dissen makes sure to use his relationships with farms across the Carolinas to keep his food local and sustainable.
"We look at an opportunity to create this relationship, where we’re offering their local ingredients, but we’re able to support our community both financially, but also in a sustainable way,” Dissen said, gesturing to a large chalk display in Haymaker, showing off the names of providing farms.
He was determined to incorporate the farms into his restaurants.
"Before we opened, I spent a lot of time reaching out to these farms, asking them about what they grow, how they grow, where they’re located within the community,” Dissen explained.
Dissen's passion for food, born at the age of 15, led to a lifetime in restaurants.
In 2009, Dissen took over his first one in Asheville, and then opened Haymaker and another restaurant roughly three years ago.
"When I was 15 years old, I started working as a dishwasher at a country club in my hometown of Charleston, West Virginia,” Dissen recalled. "We had a cook not show up one day, which is very typical in a restaurant over the years. I got asked to make salads and sandwiches at the country club."
From there, he never looked back.
That 15-year-old kid would go on to become what National Geographic calls, “One of America’s 'Most Sustainable Chefs.'”
But being an ambassador for North Carolina food is nothing new to Dissen, whether it’s for Ramsay or the United States government.
He’s worked with the U.S. State Department for nearly six years.
"I’ve done a lot of different work with them to go around the globe to help promote U.S. food and culture, as well as different sustainability initiatives we do here in the United States,” Dissen said.
From New Zealand to Israel, Dissen has held demonstrations, seminars and expos on what it means to cook and work in America. His work is part of the American Chef Corps, a piece of the State Department’s culinary diplomacy programs.
COVID-19 has put a pause on his travels recently, but he’s hoping Ramsay and TV viewers are not the only ones to learn about North Carolina’s food scene this year.
"I think the beautiful part of it is that everybody learns through food. Everyone has to eat. And so, you can really tell a lot about the identity of a place through the food that’s created,” Dissen said, reflecting on why he enjoys his diplomatic work.