Ooltewah Barbecue Brawl
Individuals and teams vying to be king of the grill Saturday at Cambridge Square
When Steve Ray held his first barbecue cookoff in Ooltewah last year, he learned an important lesson: People want to eat the meat.
“It was an event for food to be turned into judges and people couldn’t buy barbecue,” he recalls.
When the second Ooltewah Barbecue Brawl is held at Cambridge Square on Saturday, April 15, that will be rectified. Visitors will be able to buy barbecue from the 10 competing teams.
“Each team will set the price for what they will sell. You’ll be able to choose from plates, sandwiches or a package of meat only,” says Ray. For example, his team sells seven burnt ends in to-go boxes for $10.
Competitors will set up and begin smoking and grilling on Friday. That hickory-smoked aroma wafting over the intersection of Ooltewah-Ringgold Road and Old Lee Highway will only build anticipation for Saturday’s event.
Opening ceremonies will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. The Ooltewah High School choir will sing the national anthem and a patriotic medley.
Mike McCloud, founder and chief executive officer of World Food Championships, will give the official start for the brawl at 11:20 a.m. and sales of barbecue will begin at 11:30 a.m.
“Visitors can watch them warm it up and see how they serve it on Saturday,” says Ray. “We encourage people to ask questions. This is an interactive event.”
But barbecue isn’t the only meat throw-down at the Square.
Twelve contestants are grilling steaks in their quest to be named King of the Cul-de-Sac.
Justyn Brown, Roger Burrows, Andi Cagle, Jason Coffey, Joe Gora, Cory Hinton, Ray Ivey, Chef Dao Le, Antonio Tate and Leeann Pulliam will be manning their grills Saturday afternoon. They include a mix of backyard barbecuers and pros.
Burrows is executive chef at Ruth’s Chris Steak House. Dao Le and Andi Cagle have competed in World Food Championships. Leann Pulliam is managing partner of LongHorn Steakhouse in Cleveland, Tenn.
People’s Choice and Judges’ Choice awards will be presented at 5 p.m. In addition to cash prizes for winners, McCloud will present first-place winners with Golden Tickets into the World Food Championship.
But this day of “eatertainment” offers more. Ray has involved his neighbors to truly make it a community event.
At 12:30 p.m., a children’s Easter egg hunt will be held on the grounds of nearby Ooltewah United Methodist Church, 6131 Relocation Way. There will be a $100 prize Golden Egg in the hunt.
Forty students from Ooltewah High’s culinary class are volunteering for the event, 22 of them serving as assistants to the barbecue teams.
“If they are interested in the restaurant business, this will give them a real taste of it. They’ll learn safe handling of food, proper temps for stored food, serving and cleanup,” says Ray.
Chattanooga Market vendors, usually in Cambridge Square only on Friday nights, will set up again Saturday to be part of the day’s fun.
Karl Sodergren will serve as sound engineer, providing music throughout the day. You won’t want to miss the start of the brawl when AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” pumps up the party.