Yesterday Joe and I attended the 5th Annual Rib-off held on the North side of Ann Arbor. Mmm... ribs.
The event was open to all, with one simple rule:
you can just come and eat -
The weather was perfect, the food amazing and plentiful, and the company and atmosphere relaxed and friendly. We hooked up with some friends we hadn't seen in years, met new people, and had a generally great time.
To keep the entries anonymous, ribs were assigned a letter of the alphabet. Judges got a portion from each one. I can't say I envied them all that much (okay, well, just a little), because that was a lot of ribs to get through! And here they are holding up their trays of rib samples. From left to right:
Jean Henry, former owner of Jefferson Market, now of Zingerman's
Pitmaster Frank, the BBQ guy for Zingerman's Roadhouse
Mike Monahan, of Monahan's Seafood
Bob Garardi, former Pioneer High School principle and food-lover
Chef Brendan McCall of A Knife's Work
Relaxing after feasting and awaiting the awards ceremony. Categories included People's Choice for ribs, side dishes, and desserts, Chef's choice, and Judge's Choice.
Ken Thybault of Swartz Creek, Michigan, took home the grand prize for Judge's Choice in ribs. Congratulations Ken! Those were some mighty fine tasting ribs.
How fun! I wish I could come!
Posted by: kasha | June 21, 2009 at 05:50 PM
Kasha: it was a lot of fun, and the food was great. We had a really tight schedule that day and weren't sure we could make it, but we're glad we did because it was worth it. Next year I'll try to find out earlier so I can share the date.
Posted by: Kitchen Chick | June 22, 2009 at 10:01 PM
Sounds like it was amazing! D loves ribs. I'm less of a meat eater, but you can't beat beautifully done ribs.
Posted by: Jen of a2eatwrite | June 23, 2009 at 09:45 PM
Jen, I feel like a heretic saying this, but I was enjoying the side dishes more than the ribs. (I wished I snagged a photo at the amazing spread of dishes before they were demolished.) I mean, the ribs were *good*, but I can only eat so much ribs at a sitting. I guess that means I wouldn't make a good rib-off judge. :-)
Posted by: Kitchen Chick | June 24, 2009 at 10:11 AM
Looks like a lot of fun, and some good eating! I've been grilling up ribs about once a week since the summer started. I've been using different techniques and recipes from the Weber site. Every rack has turned out excellent! Check out some of the different recipes at: (http://weber.com/recipes/Recipe.aspx?rid=62).
Brian (Weber)
BTW… check out our new video series “Weber Grill Master”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRN-VTuA0aw Grilling experts Jamie Purviance and Steven Raichlen compare notes on grilling techniques, what inspired these classically trained chefs to pursue the art of cooking with live fire, and find out what led to their biggest grilling mistakes.
Posted by: Brian | July 09, 2009 at 02:38 PM
congrats uncle ken, i know its been a long time since i seen ya, but looks like things are lookin up for ya. glad there is someone outta the rough framing area in the thybault family. keep steppin ahead- alicia
Posted by: alicia | July 23, 2010 at 09:28 PM