By Dathan Kazsuk
On the afternoon before the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association’s biggest event of the year, Allen Thomas and I stood inside Bay 7 at Durham’s American Tobacco Campus as the room slowly transformed around us.
Tables were being set. Displays were going up. Staff moved through the space preparing for the 10th anniversary of the NCRLA Chef Showdown. The following evening, 26 finalists would fill that same room with dishes, desserts, cocktails, and North Carolina spirits after a seven-month competition that began with a record 102 competitors.
Before the doors opened and the first plates were passed, Thomas—in his first year leading NCRLA—talked about where he came from, what drew him back to North Carolina hospitality, and what he believes the industry needs from the organization representing it.
For Thomas, hospitality is not a new industry. In many ways, it is where he started.
A North Carolina native born in New Bern, Thomas grew up around a family hotel and its restaurant. He remembers the sounds and smells as much as the work: dishes clanging, people laughing, food coming from the kitchen and a constant stream of guests.
“I don’t know a stranger,” Thomas said, something he credits in part to growing up in that environment.
His career eventually took him well beyond restaurants and hotels. Thomas earned a business degree from East Carolina University and an MBA from UNC-Chapel Hill. He co-founded healthcare technology company IQMax, which grew to serve 160 medical facilities in 36 states, and later led the North Carolina Global TransPark and worked as an executive with Kinston-based flyExclusive. He also served three terms as mayor of Greenville before becoming Southeast regional administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Earlier in his career, a job with the N.C. Department of Commerce gave Thomas another kind of education in North Carolina. He recalled crisscrossing the state in the pre-internet era, exploring communities—and plenty of places to eat—from the mountains to the coast.
Thomas said his relationship with NCRLA deepened while working with former president and CEO Lynn Minges following Hurricane Helene. His SBA work involved disaster recovery and helping businesses access capital, while NCRLA was assisting hospitality workers and businesses in western North Carolina.
When Minges told him she planned to retire, she encouraged him to look at the position. NCRLA ultimately selected Thomas following a national search in 2025, and he transitioned into the role alongside Minges before taking over as president and CEO.
“This just gives me energy,” Thomas said.
Thomas sees NCRLA as both an advocate and a connector.
The association represents more than 25,000 North Carolina hospitality businesses generating more than $36.7 billion in annual sales. Much of its work happens away from events like Chef Showdown, through advocacy, regulatory support, workforce initiatives, and resources for restaurant and lodging operators.
But Thomas also wants more opportunities for the people within the industry to sit down together. In 2026, NCRLA rolled out its Hospitality Summit Series with stops in the Outer Banks, Greensboro, Charlotte and Asheville, followed by an AI-focused hospitality summit in Raleigh.
Thomas described the concept as a “collision space”—places where operators can compare challenges, exchange ideas, and build relationships.
“It’s challenging times out there for some folks,” he said. “And that’s when you really come together.”
Chef Showdown may be NCRLA’s most visible example of that idea.
The 2026 competition marked its 10th anniversary, with 11 preliminary and semifinal rounds before the field narrowed to 26 finalists. Throughout the season, competitors showcased nearly 1,000 locally produced North Carolina ingredients, putting farmers, producers, distillers, and other makers on the same stage as chefs and mixologists.
Thomas also believes the competition itself matters. Many judges are former participants or champions, and he enjoyed listening to the exchanges between judges and competitors during earlier rounds—even when the feedback was tough.
“They really sincerely are pulling for you,” he said. “Everybody walks in there, when they take that first taste, that first bite, they are expecting and hoping and wanting the best.”
For some competitors, the Showdown has become a launching pad, introducing diners to restaurants in other parts of the state and giving chefs and beverage professionals statewide exposure.
Thomas called it “a beautiful collision space of tastes and ideas.”
Thomas isn’t arriving with plans to reinvent an event that already sells out.
Borrowing a line from Dolly Parton, he said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
That doesn’t mean standing still. Thomas wants NCRLA and Chef Showdown to continue growing, but he also understands that bigger isn’t automatically better. The goal is to keep the right mix of people, food, drink and opportunity while preserving what makes the event memorable.
And for anyone attending a future Chef Showdown, the new NCRLA president has one practical piece of advice: pace yourself and dress comfortably.
Thomas joked that his tombstone may someday read, “Here lies Allen Thomas. He ate well.”
After spending an afternoon with him inside a room about to be filled with some of North Carolina’s best chefs, mixologists, and locally made food and drink, that feels about right.
For more bites, pours, pairings, and local food-and-drink finds, visit our Sip & Savor page.
