Windy City Rib Classic Fills Lakefront With Sweet Smoky Meat
By Chuck Sudo in Food on Aug 13, 2012 7:00PM
The inaugural Windy City Rib Classic is in the books and if you concentrate you may still smell some of the smoke lingering along the lakefront. Attendance and teams competing in the event were respectable for a first-time fest, although there was some confusion as to why attendees couldn't sample the ribs, sausages and chicken the teams were cooking up.
That subject was also a point for happy debate between co-founder Gary Wiviott and Dave Raymond (of Sweet Baby Ray's fame) over at the Illinois BBQ Alliance tent. Rub BBQ Company owner Jared Leonard, Wiviott's partner in the competition, sided with him.
"This is how other pro-am competitions are done across the country and we wanted to reflect that," said Leonard. "The amount of meat we're asking teams to cook isn't enough for the public to eat.
"If we wanted a vendor competition, we'd be like Northcenter (Rib Fest)," Leonard said. He added that there is a possibility to bring in some vendors to serve food directly to attendees next year.
As for the competing teams in the Classic, it was the combination of professional squads and backyard smoking enthusiasts Leonard and Wiviott anticipated. And the spirit of cooperation Wiviott talked about was in effect. Teams were sharing foil, oil, and even recipe tips with each other.