Past Fair Barbecue Contest Winners Went on to do Great Things

With the 9th Annual Rib Cook-Off and Chicken Contest coming up at the Alameda County Fair, it seems only natural to talk about past winners — how they've opened up wildly popular barbecue restaurants in the area, and how they've kicked rump roast on the national stage.

Harry Stewart, for example, competed in the fair contest three years in a row about five or more years ago. Then four years ago, he opened up Great American BBQ in Alameda — a restaurant that prides itself on special recipes and amazing meat. Residents lap it up.

After the fair, he went on to compete in KCBS-style barbecue competitions, became a certified judge for KCBS and was involved in the Memphis in May world championship cooking contest. He was even featured on CBS Evening News talking about his passion for ribs and beef brisket.

Watch the CBS video.

He made the San Francisco Chronicle's "Top Bargain Bites" list in 2009 and 2010, landed himself in the National BBQ Association's Who's Who of BBQ, and became a featured lecturer for the association's national conventions.

But it all started at the Alameda County Fair. Born and raised in Iowa, Stewart said he loves himself a good fair.

"Every year in my round, I would get second place but I'd always beat the previous year's champ, so I felt good about that," he said.

"I was really encouraged by the judge's reactions — they would say, 'Wow, this is incredible.'"

After that, he started competing nationally and winning.

Then he went and worked as a contractor in the Middle East (Stewart's background is as a machinist and designer for high-tech firms). And then when he came back, he decided to open up Great American BBQ.

The fair contest, he said, turned him into a master at the preparation part of any competition — the packing up, the to-do lists, the timing, and anticipating what judges are looking for.

"I had to pay attention to things like packing up properly," he said. "Once you haul it in, you can't go back to your car, so if you forget, that messes you up. You only get this five-hour window, so you have to take it seriously."

Back when Stewart was competing, his daughter Nikki won the blue ribbon in the First Youth Apple Pie contest at the fair, which inspired her to sell her wares. She still does this daily, he said. Cooking competitions, he said, have become a family thing.

"I was probably prouder of my daughter that day than I was of any contest I'd participated in," he said.

John Melone said the fair's rib cookoff was his first foray into barbecue competitioning.

The fair was so close — almost in his backyard — that he says he had to try. Those first couple of years, he learned the ropes by watching others.

"Over the years, I got to see the same folks," he said. "It got to be a reunion of sorts ... I'd say the comraderie was my favorite part."

He said everyone was pretty serious about their work, but there was plenty of time for ribbing each other.

"I felt like I was part of a longstanding American tradition stretching back to countless county fairs across the country," he said.

Many of the judges are barbecue pitmasters whose restaurants Melone and his family had been to, so it was fun presenting to them, he said.

After competing in the fair contests, he took a barbecue class in Memphis from Myron Mixon, the winningest barbecuer in the country.

With his newly acquired skills, he felt that he needed to move on to bigger competitions. At the BBQ Pitmasters competition on The Learning Channel, he said he was proud when they announced his hometown of Pleasanton.

On the show, which aired in August 2010, he cooked crown roast pork, rattlesnake and potato salad. His team came within one point of beating the Memphis in May world champions in pork.

"California barbecuers don't get a lot of respect in the South, but I think we showed them we can hold our own against the big boys."

Melone won a blue ribbon at the fair competition semifinals in 2008, and the finals in 2009. He said he has been judging competitions this year, and will soon be competing on the professional circuit.

Matt and Charlotte Gonzalez own Phat Matt's BBQ in Oakland, and have been married for 20 years. They've been barbecuing together for about eight of those years.

Matt started barbecuing 30 years ago in Chicago, and then as a team, the Gonzalezes placed four years in a row at the Alameda County Fair.

Charlotte says the fair contest gave them the confidence they needed to take their barbecue to the public. In 2007, they started at the Grand Lake Farmers' Market and were very successful there, which led to them opening their restaurant in 2009.

"We have been open for 19 months and our success continues to grow as word of mouth spreads," said Charlotte.

The contest gets underway June 30 (contest entry deadline is June 28. Click here for details). The preliminary cook-off days are June 30, July 1 and July 3.  Three winners from each day will advance to the finals on July 4.

The grand prize is $2,000.