VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - At Aloha Snacks in Virginia Beach, the vibe is good but the food may be better.
It's the pages of delectable dishes and hard work in the kitchen that landed owner, Jesse Wykle, a spot on the 'Beat Bobby Flay' show, an American cooking competition on the Food Network.
"You go on into the kitchen stadium, right? And you go against another Chef and if you beat this other Chef with a mystery ingredient then you go on to face Bobby," he said. "[For our dish in the first round] we decided to go with Lumpia and we have a fantastic pork belly. We use some local pork belly from Cartwright Family Farms and Autumn Olive Farms in Waynesboro. It’s basically a Filipino style egg-roll with some secret sauces. It's fantastic."
To see how he does on the show you'll have to tune in on January 21st, but there's more.
Wykle is selling $10 raffle tickets and if you tune into his Facebook or Instagram "LIVE" when the show starts, he will be raffling off prizes during commercial breaks. The community is also welcome to go to Aloha Snacks for the premiere and sit socially distant on the outside patio.
Wykle said all of the money raised from the raffle will be matched by The Noblemen in Virginia Beach and go towards buying adaptive bikes for local kids with special needs.
"I think [The Noblemen] do the best job for children in Virginia Beach, whether it's presents during Christmastime or these adaptive bikes to give these kids some freedom, you know, to live a little bit that's important for me," Wykle said.
As for the raffle prizes, t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, gift cards and more will be up for grabs. Other local restaurants in the Artery District may also be participating. Raffle tickets will be available at Aloha Snacks starting on Tuesday.
So whether you buy a ticket to help the kids or a snack to help the restaurant, everything makes a difference.
"It's the Aloha way, it's the Ohana way [and that's] giving back to our community. It's been very important for me at Aloha Snacks to build up our community here," Wykle said.
