What’s better than local BBQ joints coming together for a BBQ Bash to compete for bragging rights? Having it held at Metro Cooking D.C. alongside a flock of restaurants, breweries, wineries, cheese shops, juice shops, and other establishments within the food and restaurant industry for guests to sip and sample. Also, having celebrity chefs speak and perform demos is a plus too.

The 2017 BBQ Bash winners are:

Best BBQ Sauce/Rub: Jadean’s Smokin Six-O

Best Ribs: Myron Mixon’s Pitmaster BBQ

Best Beef Brisket: Hill Country Barbecue Market

Best BBQ Pork: White Swan BBQ & Fried Chicken

Best BBQ Chicken: BBQ Bush Smokehouse

And *drumroll* … Overall BBQ Bash Champion is Lefty’s Barbecue!

Aside from BBQ, there was a variety of other participants at Metro Cooking D.C. Being a juice lover, I was drawn to a new locally organic and cold-pressed juice company called Jinsei. They offer both cold-pressed and tonic beverages and recently opened a juice bar on the upper level of Tysons Corner Center in McLean, VA. My favorite is the Detox Tonic, consisting of organic kale, spirulina, coconut nectar, cayenne pepper, alkaline water, lemon, and lime. All ingredients are slam packed with health benefits, which sounded like an excellent idea at the time (I bought a bottle and thoroughly enjoyed it) in order to detox after sampling heap amounts of briskets, hot sauces, and pork ribs (not that I’m complaining).

John J. Bowman, a local single barrel straight bourbon whiskey, proudly holds the title of 2017 World’s Best Bourbon awarded by the World Drinks Awards. How would I describe it? Simply smooth with a slight sweet finish. I highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates bourbon. Plus, we gotta support our local businesses!

Last but not least, celebrity chef Jacob Ponder presented a ‘Taste Talk’ segment and answered various questions from the audience ranging from topics such as locally sourced fish to cooking temperatures. Guy Fieri was also in the house but unfortunately, I was unable to take a proper picture due to the crowd. I’m excited to see which celebrity chefs will be in next year’s lineup for Metro Cooking D.C.!

Until next time everyone. Cheers!

-EHY