2025 Annual Celebration & Awards Ceremony - An Evening With Chef Smoke & his fellow Chefs

Join us for a fun evening with Chef Smoke and his friends.   
Meet the Chefs and enjoy the fine cuisine each will prepare.
American, Italian & Hispanic Cuisine and Signature Cocktails! 
Check back often as we introduce our final chef & the menu for the evening!   
Thank You to our Corporate Table Sponsors! 
Coastal Carolina Regional Airport - Fly EWN
Duke Energy
Flatlands Jessup Insurance Group
McCarthy Dental  
New Bern Military Alliance
Trent Buick GMC  
Our Entertainment for the Evening:

Justin Castellano, Instrumental Guitarist 
Has recently been recognized by Guitar World, Guitar Player Magazine and MusicRadar as One of the Top Acoustic Guitarists in the World!  Top Five Finalist for Acoustic Guitarist of the Year! 
Meet The Chefs! 

Chef James "Smoke" Boyd - American Cuisine 

James “Smoke “Boyd is no stranger to New Bern.  Born and raised in James City, North Carolina is where he “earned his nickname “Smoke”, not realizing the calling on his life.  After being exposed to cooking at Craven County Hospital he became more intrigued by the culinary craft and developed a passion for food.  
Later promoted to Sous Chef at the Sheraton in the 1980’s, he learned to be a very influential chef.  He quickly was promoted to Head Chef for many years.  Traveling the United States to open five-star hotels, Chef Smoke was able to cultivate an understanding of regional cuisines and the impact of fresh produce.  But all roads lead his heart back to New Bern.
In 1990, Chef Smoke was able to acquire The Flame Restaurant in the heart of New Bern and make it his own.  He established himself as a “Grill Master” and holds this title today.  But his passion was to move beyond the restaurant doors so he established The Flame Catering as a full service mobile caterer.  Currently, The Flame Catering serves over seven counties in Eastern North Carolina.   
Smoke has a passion for his community and finds countless ways to make an impact. Understanding the economic impact of the hospitality industry, he currently serves on the Craven County Tourism Development Authority and the New Bern Chamber of Commerce.  Recently, during the aftermath of Hurricane Florence that devastated Eastern North Carolina he felt the importance of feeding his community.   Daily he donated and prepared hot meals to feed anyone in need.    
Having spent his childhood in the James City, he fell in love with the Neuse River and this is where he spends his free time.  

Chef Humberto Guardiola - Hispanic Cuisine 

A third-generation hospitality professional, Humberto Guardiola has been in the hospitality industry for over 28 years. During those years he has worked in hotels as banquet chef and as executive chef. After his years in the hotel industry he owned various restaurants where he served fusion Caribbean cuisine and awarded top ten novel chefs in his native Puerto Rico. During his years as a young culinary professional he worked in Barcelona Spain, New York, California, Alaska, and Florida. Following his passion for hospitality and culinary he has done numerous consulting projects for restaurant firms where he helped develop menus, standard operating procedures, professional development for staff and even created HACCP plans. He has also done various consulting projects in the educational field as a culinary program developer for a University in Puerto Rico. In addition to these work experiences, he has also worked as a Culinary Instructor and a Hospitality Management Professor in various universities in Miami, Puerto Rico, Kennesaw, and Myrtle Beach. 

In his constant quest for learning and growth, he has achieved an AOS in Culinary from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in NY, a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management from Le Cordon Bleu University and a Master’s degree in Hospitality and Tourism management from SMP University in Lima Peru. For the past year he has transitioned to the food service industry as a Hispanic segment BDM/Specialist for Performance Food Company. He has applied all his experience and his passion to help our AM’s to acquire new accounts and grow their existing accounts. He is always looking to learn new ways to bring the highest quality service and products to our accounts and help this segment and the company to become the most trusted and successful company in the industry. 
New this Year:
The evening also includes an Awards Ceremony the winners have been chosen by fellow Chamber Members! 
  
Traditional Passing of the gavel: 
2024 Chair of the Board, Mr. Edmund Hughes. Lieutenant Colonel Veteran 
2025 Chair of the Board,  Dr. Ray Staats., President, Craven Community College