By Chris King
This past July, Clubhouse Manager Patrick Necessary approached the Champion Hills Golf Club kitchen staff about entering the 2024 Culinary Innovation Challenge, a nationwide recipe contest.
The invitation intrigued the Hendersonville, N.C., private club’s saucier, Caroline Juba. She answered the challenge to craft a recipe that demanded creativity, diverse ingredients, and precise cooking techniques.
Two years removed from culinary school, her passion for food and creativity quickly made her a valuable member of the Champion Hills family, and those traits were at the heart of her desire to participate in the contest.
While attending a funeral, Juba outlined ideas on her iPad. Her recipe evolved into a lentil-stuffed mushroom with tomato romesco and arugula oil—a vegan dish inspired by her sister and her work at Curate, a Spanish tapas restaurant in nearby Asheville,
Juba submitted her recipe, photos and the accompanying paperwork an hour before the July 31 deadline, and largely forgot about the contest until Necessary pulled her out in front of the house lineup. He informed the Champion Hills team that Juba had prevailed against entries from throughout the Troon network and would be representing Entegra.
A Trip to Texas
The journey to Frisco, Texas, for the finals at the 500-room Omni PGA Frisco Resort this past on Sept. 25 was a whirlwind. Juba received VIP treatment as she prepared for her 45-minute cooking competition against Jon Dubrick, an executive chef from a test kitchen in Los Angeles.
Once a reticent public speaker, Juba comfortably interacted with the judges, including Iron Chef Jose Garces, as she worked until the buzzer preparing her dish. Dubrick, who made maple-miso glazed sweet potatoes with beluga lentils and minted yogurt, was ultimately declared the winner in a narrow decision. But a runner-up , finishi hardly dampened her experience.
While Juba was in the Lone Star State, Hurricane Helene was closing in on the Asheville region. She made it back to her apartment in the mountains hours before the worst of the once-in-a-millennium storm ravaged the area.
Back to Serve the Community
Instead of celebrating the high point of her still young professional career, Juba pivoted to begin helping neighbors. When the rain stopped, she used a community grill and prepared food for residents of six nearby apartment complexes as everyone pulled together.
When the roads allowed, she returned to Champion Hills.
“I had no idea what was happening, so I showed up in my chef coat and got work,” Juba said.
Along with the rest of the staff that was able to get to the club, she hit the ground running as nearly 200 people attended a community dinner, and it showcased Champion Hills at its finest.
They improvised on the fly during those harried days, cooking whatever was available, using food to provide comfort during the most difficult of circumstances.
Even more so than being a finalist in the Culinary Innovation Challenge, the aftermath of the storm highlighted Juba’s passion for cooking and its role in bringing people together, no matter the circumstances.
“People were so gracious and thankful,” Juba said of the dinners she helped prepare in the aftermath of Helene. “It was really nice to see because that was definitely one of the biggest things with this storm is the sense of community (it fostered).”
Whether members of Champion Hills are pulling together in the face of a natural disaster or enjoying a round of golf on the award-winning Tom Fazio-designed course, the club’s spirit of togetherness is what sets it apart.
www.ChampionHills.com.
Photo: Caroline Juba (Champion Hills)