By Ben Moseley

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, Myrtle Beach - Winners in this week's Myrtle Beach ACF Hot Foods and Seafood Challenge competitions have been announced.

Participants competed in three separate events including a seafood challenge and an ACF mystery box where chefs were presented with an unknown protein just minutes before preparing their dishes and an ACF salon presentation. Click here to see winners in the salon category.

The mystery box competition had 28 chefs entered in the ACF sanctioned event where the chefs do not know what protein they'll receive until their competition time slot begins, and they all have a common pantry to use for the remainder of their dishes containing an entree, starch and vegetable.

The first place winner in this category is Chef Brian Campbell of Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte. His winning dish is Flounder with a Chive Mousseline, sauteed spinach and yellow squash, turned potatoes and tomato and leek butter sauce. He received a $1,000 check.

Second place and $500 in the mystery box went to Chef Kendrick Hunt of Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach, and third place plus $200 was awarded to Chef Charles Von Gardiner from the Inn on Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C.

Twenty chefs entered a separate Seafood Challenge where the first place winner advances to a southeastern regional challenge.

First place and $1,000 in the Seafood Challenge went to Chef Kevin Luque and Chef Chad Robey of the Hilton Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Resort. The winning dish is Pan Seared Mahi, applewood smoked bacon, corn machoux, spicy tomato sauce, fennel onion and blood orange salad. They now move on to represent South Carolina in The Great American Seafood Cook-off to be held this summer in New Orleans.

Second place and $500 went, for the second year in a row, to Chef Sean Thomas of Capriz Italian Feast in Myrtle Beach. A third place prize was not awarded in the Seafood Challenge.

Events were held at the 36th annual Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Supply Show of the Southeast in the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.  

Behind the seemingly endless booths of high tech appliances, new frying technologies and the latest favorite flavor of low calorie whiskey were the culinary competitions.

The ACF-sponsored event was coordinated by the Myrtle Beach chapter and was judged by some of the country’s most prestigious palates. The four judges were all Certified Executive Chefs and included: Roland Schaeffer, CEC, AAC; Charles Vosburgh, CEC, AAC; Ernst Gruch, CEC, AAC and Lou Perrotte , CEC, AAC. Show attendees - anyone in the hospitality industry could enter - were welcome to view the competition and observe the chefs' styles and techniques.

The competition ran all three days of the trade show - Tuesday through today - and featured chefs from Greg Norman’s Australian Grille, the Hyatt Regency of Greenville and the Prestwick Country Club, among several others.

The chefs were judged by taste, presentation, cleanliness and several other factors.