A local chef is once again taking on some of the best culinary artists around.

Chris Williams, chef/owner of Irmo-via-Lexington barbecue destination Roy’s Grille, will be a competitor in the World Food Championships for the second year in a row. He will fly to Dallas Nov. 9-12 to take part in the event, where a $10,000 grand prize will be on the line when he competes in the sandwich division.

If he takes the crown there, he’ll move on to the Final Table competition in spring 2024, where first place will get $150,000.

“That's what I’m looking forward to the most, man, winning that $10,000 first prize, putting myself and the restaurant on the map,” Williams said.

Williams gave the Chronicle insight as to what he plans to bring to the competition explaining that his first round offering will be Thanksgiving-themed while the second will emphasize goat cheese.

He said that his first sandwich, named the Nanny Rose after his grandma’s, will be an open facing hoecake, with the hoecake itself being inspired by the stuffing you have in a turkey with flavors of sage, peppers and onions. The toppings for the sandwich will most likely include a fried turkey cutlet, whipped sweet potatoes, a cranberry chutney, some gravy and topped with thinly sliced and fried pieces of shallots and collard greens.

The second sandwich will be a rendition of the Carolina Korean Cheesesteak, a staple at his restaurant since opening in the place of departed Irmo cheesesteak haven Fire and Spice, and a sandwich that helped him to a Top 5 finish in the category last year. 

This year, Williams will incorporate goat cheese into the sandwich’s pimento cheese mixture.

The chef shared that he wasn’t originally planning on entering the sandwich category again, having wanted to switch to the burger category.

“I wanted to do the burger category, but this is my dilemma: I'm a family-first kind of guy,” Williams said. “My son plays high school football up at Irmo, that is going to be a playoff game, that should be the second round playoff. He's a senior and there's no way I couldn't be there for that game and they lose and it’s his last high school game and I’m not there.”

To be there for his son, it meant switching back to the sandwich category, since the burger category competition conflicted with that playoff tilt. Now, he’ll watch the game and then catch a flight to Houston.

Williams has also expressed interest in participating in the barbeque category, though he said he’d be more willing to go for that one if they changed the location of the competition.

As to preparing for the championships, he said you have to practice so that you can get the timing down, since time is limited. He said that he makes the Carolina Korean everyday, but for his first round sandwich, he’s less familiar and needs to internalize the process.

When it comes to the pressure of the competition, Williams said pressure is just the name of the game, adding that  if you're able to control it and handle it then you’ll eventually prevail and win.

He emphasized how much his upbringing pushed him to be the chef he is, recounting that he grew up in the small South Carolina town of Olar, where he lived on a farm with his grandparents. He grew up in  and around the Gullah Geechee traditions and culture, saying that they grew a lot of what they ate, and learned how to grow and cook the food from a young age. He started working in a restaurant at 15, moving on to food-related jobs in state government and with kids.

“Maybe if I would have gone to culinary school, I would have advanced further sooner,” Williams said. “Maybe I wouldn't have appreciated it as much as I do – you know, being able to make the mistakes that I made and learn what I learned.”

The Capital City/Lake Murray Country regional tourism board is sending two other local chefs as part of its contingent this year. Maegan Horton, the executive chef at Blue Marlin, is competing in the seafood category, and Michael Ellis, director of culinary services for Smoked, The Grand, The Main Course, Good Life Cafe, The Players Club and Peak Drift Brewing, will compete in the chef category.

“It’s an honor, it's a privilege, one that I don't take lightly because I'm not just representing myself,” Williams said of being included again. “I'm representing Irmo, representing my restaurant, representing South Carolina, my family, my ancestors, my children.”