Northeast Florida’s most prestigious culinary competition returns to the gorgeous TPC Sawgrass Clubhouse in the spring of 2018.

The eighth annual Great Chefs of Jacksonville returns Thursday, March 29 at the TPC Sawgrass Clubhouse. In an effort to keep the event fresh and delicious, we’ve made some exciting changes and additions to the evening’s program. Patrons will still get to pick whose cuisine reigns supreme, but the format of the competition has been altered from teams to five individual courses including dinner. Plus we’ve added a fun new wrinkle.

Just like previous Great Chefs events, the event opens with a cocktail hour featuring two dueling mixologists who will craft specialty cocktails to be sampled by guests—who must then pick one as their favorite. This year’s cocktail hour will take place outside, on the Clubhouse’s gorgeous back lawn. And what does every great lawn party need? Food trucks!

Three local food trucks will prepare small bites for patrons who, following the Great Chefs theme, will select one as their favorite. So, after a couple of cocktails and noshing on some delish street food, the party heads inside the TPC Sawgrass ballroom for a sit-down dinner for 150. Also adding to the magic of the evening is live music accompanying dinner, a fundraising silent auction and a Mystery Bracelet Pull hosted by sponsor Global Diamonds.

Here’s how it works: Guests have the opportunity to purchase one of the beautiful silver boxes, each containing a bracelet. But don't open it yet! At the conclusion of the evening, every guest is prompted to open their box. One lucky guest will have the "Winner" label inside and get to take home a stunning piece of jewelry.

The night’s featured chefs include: Joshua Agan from Coop 303 and Craft Pizza Co.; Eric Encinosa from Mezza; Jay Mendoza from Azurea at One Ocean Resort, and Azhar Mohammad from TPC Sawgrass. The food trucks already committed to attending are Mama’s Food, TacoLu and Blazin Azn. Our participants in the Cocktail Shakeoff are Sidecar and The Flying Iguana. Dessert is provided by Alleycakes Bakery.

This year’s event beneficiary is the Monique Burr Foundation for Children. The nonprofit organization started by Edward E. Burr in 1997 on the one-year anniversary of the death of Monique Burr, his late wife, to continue her legacy of child protection and child advocacy. This year, MBF is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and their core mission has remained the same – protecting children through prevention education.

They offer prevention education programs in several elementary schools, middle schools and after school programs. The goal is to educate and empower students and all relevant adults with information and strategies to prevent, recognize and respond appropriately to bullying, cyberbullying, all types of child abuse, digital abuse and other digital dangers.