The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Friday, March 29, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Hillsborough chef is semifinalist for national honors

4777_best_chef_ben_berryf.jpg
Chef Aaron Vandemark of Panciuto

While earning an economics degree from Emory University in Atlanta, local chef Aaron Vandemark balanced spreadsheets in the financial sector by day and filled wine glasses and ice bins by night.

“I’d run home after work and change into my nighttime clothes, take off the suit and go back to work at the restaurant,” Vandemark said.

He fell in love with the restaurant atmosphere and after graduation attended Johnson & Wales University to try his hand in the food world.

Now he’s being celebrated as one of the best chefs in the southeast.

Last week Vandemark, who opened Panciuto in Hillsborough, was announced as a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation award for the Best Chefs in America. He is also a nominee in the southeast region for Food & Wine magazine’s “People’s Best New Chef.”

“He is the soul of the restaurant,” said Lauren Vandemark, Aaron Vandemark’s sister and front house manager. “As young as the restaurant is, I want someone to recognize his work.”

In the summer of 2006, Aaron Vandemark opened his first restaurant in downtown Hillsborough, Panciuto, which features Italian cuisine made with Southern flavor.

And after years 65-hour workweeks, he is finally getting some attention.

The James Beard awards have been compared to the Oscars of the food world, and Vandemark is one of 20 finalists for the title in the southeast region.

For the People’s New Best Chefs contest, chefs from 10 regions of the country were evaluated by Food & Wine editors, chefs and other food insiders, said magazine spokesperson Rachel Chappa.

The chefs were required to have less than five years experience running their own kitchen and progressive, creative menus.

The chefs with the most votes by March 1 will advance to the national competition.

“(The awards are) great for PR, and it’s very nice to be included in that group,” Aaron Vandemark said.

But, he said, it would be difficult for him to win the contest because his client base is much smaller than his competitors located in larger cities, like Atlanta and Charlotte.

“I’m more concerned with the day-to-day business here and the product we’re putting out,” he said. “If the cards fall in our favor and lightning strikes and something really good happens, that’s great.”

And even with all of his recent success, Aaron Vandemark said he isn’t sure of how his role in the restaurant business might change in the future.

“If I can still bring the passion to it that I do now, and I was still confident that what we were doing was original and still good and had that energy behind it, I would stay with it,” he said.

“I know that I like this now,” he said. “I also know that this won’t keep me interested forever.”

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.