By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(Oct. 23, 2025) Chefs from the Eastern Shore restaurant Roadie Joe’s represented Berlin last week at the World Food Championship in Indiana, where they competed against cooks from around the world and learned a few new techniques to bring back to Maryland.

Josh Morrison, the head chef of Roadie Joe’s Berlin, and Daniel Burke, the chef from Roadie Joe’s Salisbury, sparred off against roughly 20 other teams in the tournament’s general chef category at the World Food Championships (WFC), one of the largest-ever live cooking competitions that took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, Oct. 16-19.

The Roadie Joe’s pair’s stellar duck dish earned them eighth place, landing them less than a point away from moving to the final round, a feat that Morrison said is “awesome” for their first large-scale contest.

“Scoring eighth place in your first-ever serious competition is big, and now we get to learn from that,” Morrison added.

The two chefs and a few owners and representatives of Roadie Joe’s flew to Indianapolis last week to watch Morrison and his chosen teammate, Burke, prepare and present a dish live, in under an hour and a half.

The creation that landed the duo in the top half of competitors was a pink peppercorn crusted duck breast. Morrison said that to take it over the edge, the meal included miso roasted pumpkin seeds, fondant potatoes, a sweet, caramelized beet and fig glaze, with Eastern Shore pumpkin seeds and microgreens. To give it a local flair, pumpkin seeds were tossed in duck fat and Old Bay to top off the dish.

While Morrison and Burke were just shy of earning a spot in the final round for the chance to win thousands of dollars, tournament organizers did reach out after the first match, offering them the opportunity to go head-to-head in a “super qualifier” to secure a spot to compete in next year’s WFC. The Roadie Joe’s team was just one of a select few given the honor to vie for the ticket.

Morrison said that in the “super qualifier,” they prepared a pistachio and Old Bay crusted white fish over a “silky smooth” beet and taro root puree, Anaheim pear gastrique, and apple fennel citrus slaw, topped with crispy prosciutto and microgreens.

Unfortunately, the Roadie Joe’s pair were not given a guaranteed spot for 2026’s event, but Morrison maintained that they are hopeful they can make it to other qualifier events that take place around the country, many in Maryland, throughout the year leading up to the multiday WFC in October.

“It was beautiful,” the Berlin chef said. “We were not a winner, but to create a dish in less than an hour and a half is awesome. It was really cool to be one of the ones to go in there and create a dish. It was a really fun experience. Hopefully we get to do it again.”

Part of what made the experience so worthwhile, Morrison noted, was having the opportunity to learn from peers across the United States and the globe. Contestants were from places like California, Texas, Ohio, and Japan, among others. The Roadie Joe’s crew can now take things that they learned at the WFC back to the Berlin and Salisbury establishments.

One such skill, Morrison said, was shaping and cultivating puff pastry. Morrison added that his abilities do not typically fall within the baking side of culinary arts, but a general chef participant, whom he competed against, crafted pastry dough around a metal bowl to create a cool, presentation-forward effect. The Berlin professional said it was something new he witnessed that he can add to his repertoire.

Additionally, the general chef category winner, who was from Japan, prepared a “phenomenal” Beef Wellington and demonstrated a few new techniques to Morrison and Burke.

Morrison added that the networking and educational aspects were the highlight of the competition.

“It was just so cool getting to meet people, getting to see how they go about doing things,” Morrison said. “We were surrounded by people who have been there five, six, seven, eight years and have competed so many times. There were some awesome people we got to know, and I exchanged information with some of them…We got to learn patience. We got to see how bakers do it, appreciate the artistry, and see how the barbecue chefs do it. It was amazing.”

The Roadie Joe’s chefs were given the opportunity to attend the contest after a qualifying event at the Berlin Farmers Market in August. During that preliminary match, local Berlin chefs, including Justine Zegna of Blacksmith Berlin, Toby Gilbert of Gilbert’s Provisions, Yancey Carapico of The Cap’ns Slice, and Morrison of Roadie Joe’s Bar and Grill, participated in a Guy’s Grocery Games-style competition.

The victor of that challenge was promised a ‘golden ticket,’ or a guaranteed spot to attend last week’s WFC. According to Roadie Joe’s owner and executive chef, Jason Myers, technically, Zegna of Blacksmith Berlin was the winner of the farmers market occurrence. However, because she was unable to attend the Indiana tournament, the honor to represent the Eastern Shore was passed to Morrison. Morrison was allowed to bring a partner and chose Burke, Roadie Joe’s Salisbury’s head chef.

The Roadie Joe’s team hopes to return to the WFC in the future, but for now, they will take what they learned back to the beloved Eastern Shore eateries.