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Carolina seafood so ‘Worth It': Buzzfeed web series filming in Wilmington soon

Chef Dean Neff and Seabird restaurant in downtown Wilmington will be a part of filming for the Buzzfeed web series 'Worth It.' STARNEWS FILE PHOTO
Chef Dean Neff and Seabird restaurant in downtown Wilmington will be a part of filming for the Buzzfeed web series 'Worth It.' STARNEWS FILE PHOTO

Since 2016, a Buzzfeed web series has visited chefs and restaurants comparing similar foods in different price points. It’s the show that puts a $4 onigiri against a $15 heirloom black rice dish and a $52 white chocolate risotto for a recent rice episode, for example.

'Worth It' has now filmed more than 73 episodes on topics like salads, desserts, pizzas, bagels, buffets and more in a range from affordable to extravagant. Now, for a Carolina Seafood episode, they’re filming in Wilmington at two popular local restaurants helmed by two of the area’s most well-known chefs.

“I’m a fan of the show and was interested to talk with them,” said Dean Neff, of Seabird restaurant in downtown Wilmington.

Some of the menu options at Seabird in downtown Wilmington.
Some of the menu options at Seabird in downtown Wilmington.

“We talked about local seafood and what we are doing here in terms of local food,” he said. “It seems that they are doing a bit of revamping of the show."

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They’ll be filming at the restaurant in early October. They’re also stopping to visit chef Keith Rhodes of Catch on Market Street.

Background:Wilmington chefs featured in YouTube video with a million views. Have you seen it?

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“I feel like we’ll be making crab cakes,” Rhodes said. “Which is something that we pride ourselves on.”

But he also talked with the 'Worth It' staff, which includes hosts Steven Lim and Andrew Ilnyckyj and cameraman Adam Bianchi, about oysters and other local seafood delicacies.

YouTube food blogger Mark Wiens recently posted a video about Wilmington-area seafood, with the help of chef Keith Rhodes. It has 1 million views and counting.
YouTube food blogger Mark Wiens recently posted a video about Wilmington-area seafood, with the help of chef Keith Rhodes. It has 1 million views and counting.

For Rhodes, the project is the latest in a series of appearances that include a Mark Weins travelogue, an upcoming Food Network project, and a James Beard educational program in Mexico.

“I think it just reinforces the idea that Wilmington is, and not just is becoming, a food destination,” he said.

The filming will be for Worth It’s 11th season.

Allison Ballard is the food and dining reporter at the StarNews. You can reach her at aballard@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Worth it: Buzzfeed series comes to Wilmington restaurants Catch, Seabird