OC `PIT MADAM' FIRED UP
Winnie Yee-Lakhani is ready to show what women can do on ‘BBQ Brawl’
The barbecue boom continues across our nation and Southern California has its share of stars, including Kevin Bludso, with restaurants in Los Angeles and Melbourne, Australia; and Daniel Castillo of Heritage Barbecue in San Juan Capistrano.
Now a new whippersnapper is heating up. Winnie Yee-Lakhani of Fullerton will appear on Season 3 of Food Network’s “BBQ Brawl” with superstar chefs Anne Burrell and Jet Tila to challenge the undefeated champion, Bobby Flay, for the title Master of Cue.
Episodes begin airing Monday, so we couldn’t pass up the chance to speak with YeeLakhani about participating. She was born in Malaysia, grew up in Orange County and got a degree at UCLA. She started pastry school at Cerritos College but got bored and dropped out. Eventually she worked at three franchise restaurants within the Anaheim Hilton before she started barbecue popups during the pandemic, reaching out to customers through social media as Smoke Queen BBQ.
Her style is East-West fusion with traditional barbecue and signature dishes like char siu pork belly with a dark bark and brisket bao buns. She’s at Smorgasburg Los Angeles every Sunday; watch her Instagram account for more pop-ups.
Yee-Lakhani’s star is on the rise with her role as a contender on this show, and as she looks forward to opening a brick-andmortar restaurant toward the end of this year at Cottage Industries in Garden Grove.
Q “BBQ Brawl” hasn’t started airing yet, so let’s talk about you first so viewers get to know you a little. One thing I noticed was that you prefer to be called “pit madam” to pitmaster. Tell us about that.
A The industry is very maledominated. But I want everybody to know that it’s not just a boys club. Barbecue is for all people, every race, gender, creed. It’s open fire cooking, and that’s what our ancestors have been doing for centuries.
Q Did you grow up in OC?
A My family immigrated to Orange County from Malaysia in 1987. So I’m an OC girl, been here since I was 6 years old. I can relate to both cultures because in summers my parents would take us back to Malaysia, and sometimes we would also go to China to visit our distant relatives.
Q Wow. How many languages do you speak?
A I speak Mandarin, I speak Hokkien, which is a different dialect, and I speak a little bit of Cantonese. So, I kind of converse in three different dialects in Chinese, but English is my main language.
Q What did you grow up eating?
A Middle Eastern, Mexican, Italian, because Orange County is a melting pot of culture. So I I’m used to eating all of these foods. But in my elementary school years, my parents didn’t know how to speak English. They learned when they immigrated here, so we were really fresh off the boat. Like, if you’ve seen that show? That’s us. My mom would pack dumplings for lunch and I would be embarrassed to eat that at school, because the name of the game was assimilating.
Q But times have changed, right?
A It’s kinda funny. Now I get to share my heritage with everybody because I guess people in L.A and Orange County are very open to different cultures. And they’re very interested in different taste profiles, too. So, I think it’s a great time to shine some light on Malaysian food as well, because that’s not very prevalent here in Southern California.
Q But it’s on our radar after that film “Crazy Rich Asians.” I think a lot of people are starting to look at Malaysian food and go, “Wow, what’s that? I want that.” But it isn’t familiar yet.
A Yeah. If you love Thai food, you’ll love Malaysian food. It’s like the cousin of Thai food.
Q It sounds delicious. Also, you’re a busy mom with two kids. How old are they now?
A I have a 4-year-old and a 9-year-old.
Q The other thing that I keep reading is that you’re tiny, but you’re mighty on the grill. How tall are you?
A I’m 5-foot-2.
Q It’s amazing that you push 500-gallon smokers around. You must be strong.
A Well, it’s mind over matter. I realized that you set your own limits and if you have a mentality that something is too hard or just impossible to achieve, you’ll never achieve it. And so I realized that if you tell yourself it’s easy and you make it a game, each step is really easy to take. Then you take multiple baby steps and you end up reaching your goals.
Q Tell me a little about the show without unleashing any spoilers. The superstar chefs pick their teams. I could see you on any one of them.
Like Anne Burrell, you made it in a male-dominated field; like Bobby Flay, you’re a barbecue guy; and like Jet Tila, you’re a master of Asian flavors. Can you reveal which team you’re on yet?
A No. But I can say there are some twists to the show. For example, the team captains agreed that if any team gets down to one competitor, that captain has the right to steal another one.
Q How old are you?
A I’m 40, turning 41 next month.
Q Oooh! That’s gonna be fun.
A Yeah. It was a really fun experience. I had the time of my life.
Q Jet Tila has an Orange County connection because his family had a restaurant here for many years. Did you know him going in?
A No, but when I found out that he was one of the team captains, I was very excited to meet him.
Q You were grilling and smoking for Rodney Scott and some other legends. Did you get nervous or did you just get stoked?
A When I first saw Rodney walk on the set — because we didn’t know who the judges were until the day we were filming — I was super-excited but also really nervous because he knows barbecue. Carson Kressley — if it was a fashion competition, I would be nervous with him — but I knew if I just put out good food he would like it. But Rodney’s got you. You can’t get anything past him.
Q Any other judges you wanted to impress?
A Brooke Williamson. She’s a super-badass chef. Can I say that? She knows execution. She knows flavor profiles.
Q I know the show is pretaped but we still want to wish you luck. Anything else you want viewers to know?
A I think it’s time to let them know that it’s an inclusive industry; women can barbecue too. It’s kind of funny that it’s a double standard, like women are expected to be in the kitchen, to be the housewife, right? And professional chefs are mostly men. So I think it could go both ways, like why can’t a pitmaster be a pit madam and vice versa? It’s not the gender that matters. It’s the heart and the passion.