Several St. Lawrence County restaurants will be on hand at the Dulles State Office Building, 317 Washington St., in Watertown on Saturday, Feb. 24, for the in-person portion of the Annual North Country Chili Cook-Off.

Restaurants expected to participate include:

• Silver Leaf Diner, 3231 U.S. Route 11, DeKalb Junction
• L.E.A’S Diner, 90 State Street, Heuvelton
• Ella’s On The Bay, 209 Main Street, Morristown
• Smuggler’s Café, 54 East River Street, Ogdensburg
• Hoof & Horn Butcher and Eatery, 32 Market Street, Potsdam
• Saint Larry’s Bar and Grill, 6 Elm Street, Potsdam

The Volunteer Transportation Center will host the event and proceeds will go to support the organization, which provides essential rides to health care appointments, grocery shopping, and other destinations for residents with no transportation alternatives. Funds raised through the cook-off are earmarked to provide transportation to Veterans and their family members, which make up roughly one-third of those transported by volunteer drivers through the VTC.   

The cook-off — which will feature a mixture of amateur and professional chefs competing for prizes — will begin at 11 a.m., with an opening ceremony held at 12 p.m. Mel Busler of WWNY-TV 7News/Fox28 will again serve as master of ceremonies. Attendees will be able to sample chili from each of the teams competing in the event until 3 p.m. when awards will be presented. Each entry will be scored in various categories by a panel of local judges and attendees will be able to cast their ballots until 2:30 p.m. for the People’s Choice Award.

Admission will be $6 for adults and $2 for children 12 years and younger. A family pass admission will be available for $15. This event is supported by Operation Yellow Ribbon, a volunteer-based committee that promotes visible signs of support for Soldiers and families. Therefore, military ID holders will receive a discount on admission.

This Saturday’s in-person event caps off nearly a month of what has been a hybrid version of the cook-off. The first three weeks of February have consisted of a restaurant-to-restaurant format, seeing competition among participating restaurants and businesses in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence Counties, which ends this Wednesday, Feb. 21.

The cook-off’s remote format again involved participating restaurants and businesses making available samples of their chili entries during regular hours of operation, with the public able to vote for their favorites.

The format took the place of the in-person event in 2021 and 2023 and, beginning last year, was paired with the in-person event’s return. This year, more than 30 locations from around the North Country have participated.