CHAD BLACKWELDER

Chad Blackwelder has been a foodservice professional since 1989. His career began when he attended Johnson and Wales (J&W) in Charleston, SC, and graduated in 1992. During his time at J&W, Chad was selected to do an externship at the Turnberry Isle Yacht and Country Club in north Miami, and he also won the 1991 Charleston Oyster Cook Off and placed second in a National Pork Producers’ Council contest.
Upon graduation from J&W, Chad remained in Charleston to work for pioneering Southern Chef Louis Osteen. After starting as a line cook, Blackwelder rose to level of sous chef and assisted Osteen in preparing a dinner at the James Beard House in New York City. Several years later, Osteen would go on to win a James Beard award for “Best Chef Southeast.” After four years in Charleston, Chad spent two years as the sous chef at the Pinehurst Country Club in Pinehurst, NC.
Blackwelder’s next stop was Magnolia Grill in Durham, NC, where he spent five years as a sous chef with Ben and Karen Barker, two luminaries of the Southern Food movement. Following Ben Barker’s nomination and win for James Beard award “Best Chef Southeast,” Chad found himself with the Barkers and cooking at the Beard House again. 
Chad went on to serve as an executive chef at various high-end eateries in and around the Triangle area, including Brightleaf 905, which Esquire magazine’s John Mariani named one of the Top 25 New Restaurants of 1999.
Chad has since owned and operated four restaurants, including The Wild Turtle in Chapel Hill, where The News and Observer food writer Greg Cox awarded him a four-star rating and review. Chad’s last restaurant, The Steele Pig in Sanford, NC, was featured in Our State magazine, on WUNC’s “NC Weekend,” included in Bob Garner’s Book of Barbecue, and featured in The Triangle Business Journal. 
After selling the Steele Pig in 2014, Chad spent several years as a consulting chef with various NC restaurants where he developed menus and concepts and assisted in staff training programs. During this time, he also worked as the chef for the Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series, which was sponsored by the NC Department of Agriculture. 
Blackwelder is currently the Foodservice Marketing Specialist and Chef for the NC Department of Agriculture’s Got to Be NC program. He works with local producers, farmers, chefs, and distributors to help make connections, find new markets for local goods, and promote North Carolina food products.