Fire in the City approaching

FYI, the first faceoff (Aug. 18) is sold out in the Fire in the City competition dining -- and it'll be one of the more interesting ones, pitting Passion8's Luca Annunziata against Heirloom's Clark Barlowe. (Also FYI, Passion8's latest estimate for its move to Elizabeth is "September.")

The Sept. 29 final is also sold out. A recap of the lineup is below; here's how it all works, and ticket info, etc. is here.

Aug. 19: Tom Dyrness of Mama Ricotta’s vs. Brian Mottola of e2 Emeril’s Eatery.

Aug. 20: David Feimster of Fahrenheit vs. David Quintana of Southminster (a retirement community, not a restaurant).

Aug. 25: David Moore of Gallery vs. Ben Philpott of Block & Grinder.

Aug. 26: Brent Martin of The Summit Room vs. Jon Spencer of Epic Chophouse and Chillfire Bar & Grill.

Aug. 27: Chris Coleman of The Asbury (at the Dunhill) vs. Brian Williams of Upstream.

Sept. 2: Nicolas Daniels of The Wooden Vine vs. Paul Ketterhagen of Carpe Diem.

Sept. 3: Jon Fortes of Mimosa Grill (last year’s City champ) vs. David Sullivan of Fish Market Bar and Grill.

'Top Chef' chefs stop in Charlotte May 17

Charlotte is the first stop on the newest "Top Chef" tour of 15 cities. May 17, Hector Santiago (from Season 6, below) will face off with Nikki Cascone (Season 4, right) in live cookoffs, with judges from around here - and an audience, of course.

(For hardcore fans: If you go to the tour's Facebook page, you'll find a place to tell organizers whether you think the two should have to cook shrimp or pork in the cookoff.)

Also scheduled to be on hand, at 225. E. 7th St., across from the 7th Street Public Market: "a 'Top Chef'-themed Cornhole Toss," "a 'Top Chef' Horseshoe Toss" and "Tip the Scale," in which you'll have to arrange items by weight.

Shows will be at 10:30 a.m., noon and 1:30 p.m.

Info: bravo.ly/KaKZoW