Two Nashville-area restaurants will travel to Atlanta in late August to fight for Middle Tennessee’s claim of wing supremacy at the big Southern Wing Showdown at The Fairmont on Sunday, August 25. The contest, sponsored by Springer Mountain Farms in collaboration with Big Green Egg, will bring together 15 Atlanta chefs and 15 chefs from around the region including culinary hotbeds like Charleston, Savannah, Charlotte and Asheville to compete to win the People’s Choice award for the best chicken wings. The winning chef will also receive a Big Green Egg to take home with them.  

Our local contestants will be the talented chefs from Funk Seoul Brother in Franklin and HoneyFire Barbecue Co. in Bellevue. Funk Seoul Brother chef B.J. Lofback is renowned for his Asian-inspired flavors, and his take on Korean Fried Chicken wings may just be the best KFC in town. (Sorry, Colonel!) Shane Nasby, the pitmaster at HoneyFire, will bring his brand of sweet heat to the table as he prepares a thousand wings for the assembled crowd to taste and vote on. Always popular with the masses at these sorts of events, these two teams would be smart betting choices if you’re so inclined.  

If you want to be one of the judges, all you have to do is buy a ticket to the event at the Southern Wing Showdown website. General admission tickets include entry to the event at 2:00 pm with food, beer, wine and cocktail samples all included in the ticket price. In addition to all that food and drink, there will be live entertainment plus the chance to interact with all of the talented chefs as they prepare and serve their wings. VIP ticket packages are also available that include entry to the festival an hour before the general public so you can get a head start on your sampling and deliberations. The event ends at 5:00, so that extra hour could be crucial! Children under 10 get in free, and the event sells out early so don’t dawdle on buying your tickets.