On Sept. 18, eighteen local chefs served their “lobster bites” to a crowd of over 400 hungry lobster lovers and participated in the competition for the Judges' Choice, People's Choice, and Chefs' Choice Awards at the third annual Claw Down in East Boothbay.

Dwayne Whitelocke, executive chef of Rocktide Inn was the winner of the Judges' Choice Award; The World is Mine Oyster Executive Chef Steve Richards took the People's Choice Award; and Jeremy Donovan from the Boothbay Harbor Country Club won the most votes from the chefs themselves, claiming the Chefs' Choice Award.

Now Richards and Whitelocke are gearing up for their next big competition — Harvest on the Harbor, in Portland on Oct. 24. This time the chefs will be competing against each other and eight others from all over Maine. The winner will earn the coveted title of Maine Lobster Chef of the Year.

And Margaret McLellan, executive chef of Water’s Edge Banquet Center in Edgecomb, entered her lobster recipe at the last minute and won over the judges, making her the third chef from from the Boothbay region to be in the competition.

Steve Richards has been the executive chef at Mine Oyster since its inception in 2011.

“After leaving another restaurant in town I approached Ralph (Smith) and said, 'I want to come to work for you.'” He was hired on the spot, and has never looked back.

Richards attributes much of his success to Smith.

“Ralph is a great boss and after working 90 hours a week at other places and getting so tired, I'm able to take a couple days a week off here. Without Ralph I wouldn't be sitting here right now.”

“It will be a huge thing for the restaurant if we can win Maine Lobster Chef of the Year. That would be my thanks to him.”

He also praised Smith's wife, Elena. “The hardest working person I've ever met in my life. She is an absolute restaurant machine.”

Richards said that the purpose of the Harvest on the Harbor competition, for him, is to challenge himself.

“We're taking a huge chance bringing this new lobster bite, untested, never been done before. “We stretch ourselves, we challenge ourselves, and it doesn't always work. But we're never going to get complacent and we're always going to push, push, push to get better and do different things.”

His lobster dish will be a cold smoked Maine lobster claw nestled atop a pumpkin-powdered lobster, mascarpone and chestnut crispy polenta bar with roasted fig gastrique, brown butter froth and a peppered pancetta chip

Cherie Scott, member services and event manager of the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce, and of the event manager of Claw Down, said Richards is a force to be reckoned with.

“When I first told him about the Claw Down event (three years ago) he said, 'Wow this is awesome because I'm a fierce competitor. I'm going to win it.’” He didn't win that first year, but he made up for it this year.

Dwayne Whitelocke is another force to be reckoned with, though you'd never guess it when in the presence of his quiet, unassuming demeanor.

From Jamaica, he has been in the United States for six years. Whitelocke divides his time between Boothbay Harbor and at Pelican Bay in Naples, Florida, where his wife and 8-year-old daughter live.

Whitelocke said he has cooked professionally for 11 years.

“I've really been cooking since I was a little boy, with my mom. That was when I realized that this was something that I do very well, and the people that I cook for always love my meals.”

“Whenever I think about doing something else, like nursing, I think I am meant to pursue a career in culinary arts.”

He said he went to a cooking school in Jamaica for a over a year while cooking at a hotel.

“But most of my experience and knowledge I gained while working in the industry.”

Whitelocke has been running the kitchen at Rocktide since May. He said he was ecstatic after winning the Judges' Choice Award at Claw Down.

“We had a blast that night. It was a wonderful moment for me. It was my first time being executive chef for the restaurant, and winning that competition was so great.”

He is looking forward to the competition at Harvest on the Harbor.

“I will be competing against nine of the greatest chefs here in Maine. I feel a little bit nervous, but I think doing this is my calling and I'm looking forward to it. It's like a dream come true, and I'm honored to be a part of it.”

Whitelocke said he will make the same lobster dish that he made for Claw Down: Skylar Blue Lobster Popover, with lobster, a blueberry cognac jam, mousseline sauce, and three cheese crumbles.

“(Whitelocke) is destined for great things,” Cherie Scott said. “He is a mega talent, but he also has a huge heart, and is a man of his word. You can have a million talented chefs in the world, but not many of them have a heart like his. I'm thrilled for him.”

Margaret McLellan said applying to the Harvest on the Harbor competition was a last minute decision.

“I was a little burnt out on cooking competitions, but decided to enter the Claw Down event this year. Then I got the bug again.”

McLellan won the title of Lobster Chef of the Year in 2008, and in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 she was appointed by two different governors to represent Maine in The Great American Seafood Cook Off in New Orleans.

In 2010 her son, Mac Arrington, took a third place in the event, with McLellan serving as his sous chef. Arrington also won the Maine Lobster Chef of the Year Award in 2009 and again in 2012.

This year her lobster bite will be a “Lobster BLT Bite.” It will consist of crisp pork belly, heirloom tomato confit, lobster with garlic and lemon aioli, pea tendrils and a garnish of black truffle “balsamic pearls.” It will be served on an edible spoon.

Any professional chef in Maine can enter the competition by submitting their recipe for a lobster dish. The judges don't know who the chefs are until their recipe has been selected to be one of the contestants.

“It is a very high level of competition. We couldn't be more proud of these guys. It's a career changing experience,” Scott said.

This will be the seventh annual Harvest on the Harbor. The lobster event will be a little different this year, according to Scott.

“They're looking to freshen things up a little and make it more exciting.”

Scott said that Jennifer Hale, the director of events at Harvest on the Harbor, came to Claw Down this year and was impressed with the way the competition was handled.

The two collaborated and Scott couldn't be happier about the outcome. They agreed that the two winning chefs from Claw Down would be contestants at the Lobster Chef of the Year event.

“Our Claw Down has become a platform to catapult these two chefs to the big league, competing with the best in the state, and elevating our culinary profile of the region, which is awesome.”

The Maine Lobster Chef of the Year event will take place at 1 to 3 p.m. on Oct. 24 at the Ocean Gateway in Portland. The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative is the official sponsor.

Scott and other Chamber members will be there, along with representatives from the competing chefs' places of employment, to support these three fabulous chefs, and Scott couldn't be happier.

“We have three of our chefs going, which is huge. Even if they don't win, they've won. What a way to put us on the map.”