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Fire It Up!

THE HEAT IS ON: America’s top pitmasters ignite interest at Grand Wailea summer barbecue bash

By Carla Tracy 8 min read

The early bird gets the ribs at hot hot, hot live-fire beer, fine wine and bourbon event —

"You can't buy happiness, but you can BBQ, and that's kind of the same thing." -- DivaQ

Put some South in your mouth with smoked chicken in Alabama white sauce served with black-eyed peas, hog jowl, caramelized sweet onions and collard greens. Go whole hog with succulent pork flamed over white oak from North Carolina and piled into sliders. Head to dessert fantasy land with rum cakes presented in coconut shells with grilled baby pineapple slices flambeed in rum sauce.

Yes, word is starting to spread like wildfire about the second annual Fire it Up! live-fire food, wine, beer and bourbon event from 5 to 9 p.m. July 7 at Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort.

Showcasing Hawaii's epic bounty of meats, seafood and produce cooked exclusively with fire, it's a family-friendly event that's attracting the nation's best pitmasters and the Mainland's top media, so do book soon as the the early bird gets the ribs.

"Barbeque always tastes better with your ohana, so we're happy to make this a family-friendly event," says Grand Wailea Executive Chef Ryan Urig, who just returned from chef appearances in Sydney, Australia. "We'll have some of the biggest names in barbecue on the Mainland here to cook, from whole hog to Kona kampachi. We also envision an event where the music is equally as elevated as the food. Makana is creating sets for Fire it Up! that will showcase his talents."

Makana is an internationally acclaimed guitar player, singer, composer, Grammy-nominated recording artist and activist who is widely known for lending his musical talent for social change. The New York Times describes him as "dazzling."

Urig brainstormed with Executive Sous Chef Jorge Gonzalez and their culinary team to invite chef friends of unparalleled talent beachside to present one of the summer's most innovative food events. Gonzalez has plenty of experience with things "Southwest" as he was protege/chef for Dean Fearing in Dallas, aka the "father of Southwestern Cuisine."

So if you like barbecue and dining outdoors, this event is not to be missed. It celebrates the use of live fire to cook Hawaiian proteins and ingredients, and the guest chef roster of top pit masters is amazing.

"We have great chefs and pitmasters coming to Fire it Up!, and they all love to visit Maui and execute what they do best. It's up to us to make it an over-the-top event, and we'll be doing that again this year," says Gonzalez.

"Once again, we're offering a representation of different regions of barbecue and food from Colorado, the Carolinas, Texas, Alabama and New Orleans," he continues. "It will be fun to see how the chefs incorporate Maui ingredients into their cooking styles."

New this year will be Chef Aaron Sanchez, partner of Johnny Sanchez Mexican restaurant in New Orleans (and Baltimore) and a judge on the Food Network's hit series "Chopped" and "Chopped Junior" and on Fox Network's "Masterchef."

This philanthropist for the Latin community of chefs in America is celebrated by critics and contemporaries alike. He's a cookbook author, has won a prestigious James Beard Award and has appeared at the White House as a guest chef, according to his bio.

"We will be doing a fun take on 'tacos al pastor,' featuring meat from several whole roasted Hawaiian suckling pigs marinated in achiote paste and tepache vinegar, served on fresh corn tortillas with pineapple-habanero salsa," says Sanchez.

Another newbie to the event is Chef Wayne Mueller, a third generation pitmaster at the iconic Louie Mueller BBQ in Tayler, Texas, honored by the James Beard Foundation with an American Classics award in 2006 and often referred to as the "cathedral of smoke." He is an internationally recognized and much-awarded pitmaster specializing in Central Texas style barbecue.

"My dish at this year's event will be plates of beef short ribs," Mueller emailed The Maui News.

"I believe these ribs to be the quintessential cut of barbecue anywhere," he continues. "It is comprised of and created by all the essential components that define great barbecue: Marbled beef that is cooked with wood fire and smoked on the bone, using only salt and pepper. It's the gold standard of Texas barbecue."

Also new to the lineup this year will be Chef Chris Lilly, the vice president and partner of Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decator, Ala.

The fifth-generation family owned restaurant opened in 1925. Lilly is a 2016 inductee into the Barbecue Hall of Fame and heads the award-winning Big Bob Gibson Cooking Team, the winner of 15 World BBQ Championships in meat categories and a record five in Memphis in the May Grand Championships, according to his biography.

"In 2009, Lilly authored a compilation of recipes, stories and expert advice on outdoor cooking: 'Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Recipes and Secrets from a Legendary Barbecue Joint,' " continues the bio. "His second book, 'FIRE & SMOKE,' A Pitmaster's Secrets was then released in 2014."

"Excitement to me is cooking side by side with some of the most respected and talented chefs in the world, in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Traveling to and cooking in Maui is the highlight of my year!" emails Lilly. "Grand Wailea provides the perfect venue to showcase some of the best pitmasters and chefs in the world. Live fires, succulent smells of barbecue and the picturesque beauty of Maui, are the centerpiece for this event. I look forward to being a part of this rare assembly of barbecue masters."

Lilly will be smokin' hot with the chicken dish with Alabama white sauce listed in the lead paragraph of this story.

"I'm cooking a dish that's been popular in Decatur for five generations and close to 100 years. Smoked chicken with barbecue white sauce was first cooked at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q back in 1925," Lilly enthuses.

"I'll be slow-cooking whole butterflied chickens over hickory wood in a hand-built cinder block barbecue pit," Lilly says. "Once the chickens are finished cooking, they are baptized in my family's signature white sauce."

Other repeat participants are Sam Jones, a good ol' boy from North Carolina, who has appeared on many TV shows and in various publications and was named one of the "Top 10 Pitmasters in the South" by Southern Living. The greatest honor was bestowed upon his family's Skylight Inn in 2003 when they it received a James Beard Award for "America's Classics."

Growing up in Ribeauville, France, Hubert Keller has been named "One of the 10 Best Chefs" in America by Food & Wine; and the Best Chef in California by the James Beard Awards. He has cooked in the White House for several U.S. presidents, judged "Top Chef" and has appeared on TV shows "Regis &  Kelly, "Rachel Ray" and his own "Secrets of a Chef." With Fleur and Burger Bar on the Las Vegas Strip, Keller is a repeat Maui visitor who will impress us with his roasted venison rack and deejay tunes at the event and the after-party.

Justin Brunson returns from Denver as owner of a family of restaurants from Old Major to Royal Rooster to Masterpiece Kitchen.

"Maui is like traveling to heaven to go to work," explains Brunson, who will dazzle with salami made from Maui pigs. "The people are amazing and hospitable in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. One of the few times I actually take my eyes off the food is at an event like this to soak in the surroundings. I look forward to it every year.​"

* Carla Tracy can be reached at carlatracy@mauinews.com.

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Fire It Up! at a glance

• When and where: From 5 to 9 p.m., Saturday, July 7, beachside at the Grand Wailea Molokini Gardens.

• How much: General admission gets you in at 6 p.m. Cost is $150 per person. VIP admission allows entrance at 5 p.m. Cost of $250 per person includes swag bag. Tickets for children ages 5 to 12 are $75 and kids 4 and younger get in free with paying adult.

• What it includes: Live-fire food by 10 of the nation's top pitmasters, beer by Maui Brewing Co., fine wines by Kosta Browne, bourbon by Buffalo Trace, fun desserts by Grand Wailea's pastry team, live music by Hawaii recording artist Makana and cool tunes by Deejay and superstar Chef Hubert Keller of Fleur and Burger Bar in Las Vegas.

• The pitmaster lineup: Besides Keller, the guest chefs are Justin Brunson of Old Major in Denver; Sam Jones of Sam Jones Barbecue in Winterville, N.C.; Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson B-B-Q in Decatur, Ala; Wayne Mueller of Louie Mueller BBQ in Taylor, Texas; Aaron Sanchez of Johnny Sanchez in New Orleans and Maui's Sheldon Simeon of Tin Roof in Kahului.

• For tickets or more details: Call Grand Wailea at 875-1234 or visit www. fireitup.eventbrite. com.

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