Celebrity Judging Panel
Five of the world's most decorated culinary voices will gather cliffside this December to crown Jamaica's next jerk champion — a panel spanning James Beard honors, Michelin stars, and a shared devotion to fire, smoke, and flavor.
Rodney Scott
James Beard Award Winner · Barbecue Hall of Fame
Leading the panel is Rodney Scott, one of America's most celebrated pitmasters and a Barbecue Hall of Fame inductee. Scott learned his craft as a child at his family's South Carolina pit before building the acclaimed Rodney Scott's BBQ restaurant group into a national name. His mastery of whole-hog barbecue has been chronicled on Netflix's Chef's Table: BBQ, and he returns regularly to Food Network's BBQ Brawl as a judge.
Andrew Black
James Beard Award Winner, Best Chef: Southwest
Jamaican-born Chef Andrew Black brings his journey full circle to The Cliff. He began cooking in Jamaica's resort kitchens before training in some of Europe's finest restaurants, eventually landing in Oklahoma City — where he earned the 2023 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest. His acclaimed restaurant portfolio is known for weaving European fine-dining technique through bold, global flavor.
Andre Fowles
Three-Time Food Network Chopped Champion
A Culinary Institute of America graduate whose career runs from Kingston to New York City, Chef Andre Fowles has cooked at the James Beard House and serves as personal chef to Bruce Springsteen. His debut cookbook, My Jamaican Table, celebrates the island's culinary heritage — the same heritage this championship was built to honor.
Dae Kim
Michelin-Starred Chef, Noksu
Chef Dae Kim brings a fine-dining lens shaped by Korean, French, Chinese, and Japanese tradition. Trained at the three-Michelin-starred Per Se in New York, Kim became the youngest chef in New York City history to earn a Michelin star at his own restaurant, Noksu — a rise documented in Apple TV+'s Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars.
Nicola Blaque
James Beard Award Semifinalist · Michelin Bib Gourmand
Jamaican-born Chef Nicola Blaque spent ten years in the U.S. Army before opening The Jerk Shack in San Antonio, earning national acclaim and a Michelin Bib Gourmand along the way. Her work has introduced authentic Jamaican jerk to a wider American audience — and now brings her back home to judge it.
Click here for For Tickets This link will take you to the Jerk Chicken Championship website
