Dunes Club staff snags five restaurant awards

Credit: Dunes Golf and Beach Club

Chef Rourk, one of a handful of staff members who took home honors at the Hotel and Motel Restaurant Show in Myrtle Beach.

By: News Release | SCNow
Published: February 22, 2012

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. --

Executive Chef Corbett Rourk, who has been with the Dunes Golf and Beach Club since 2006, earned a gold medal for “cold food salon” and took first place in the overall competition at the recent Hotel and Motel Restaurant Show held at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. The local chapter of the American Culinary Federation hosted the Show.

Rourk also took a silver medal in the hot food “mystery basket” cook-off from among 60 rivals in the three-day competition that has been held in Myrtle Beach for more than 10 consecutive years.

“The cold food competition is completely different. You get time to prepare,” said the 39-year-old Rourk, who heads a 13-person staff at The Dunes. “The hot food is pretty touchy. Anything can happen. It’s a little nerve-wracking. You’ve got judges looking over your shoulder and other chefs to the left and right in the same kitchen. It’s an intense hour.”

Rourk’s staff also faired well in the recent Show, with Nicholas Huckabee and Michael Willis winning silver medals in the hot food competition, and Sarah Thomas winning a bronze medal in the dessert competition.

Rourk is no stranger to cooking competitions. He won last year’s state “Seafood Challenge” and earned a chance to take part in the national competition in New Orleans last August.

“I love seafood,” says Rourk. “I grew up on the coast in Charleston.”

He has always held a love for cooking, and held his first job as a cook at age 10. He was, however, already 28 when he started his apprenticeship at The Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia. But following a rigorous three-year tutelage he came home to the Low Country and slowly has worked his way up the coast. He spent a year in Savannah and another in Hilton Head as executive chef before accepting the head chef position at The Dunes.

Dunes Club staff snags five restaurant awards

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