Page 13 - January 2022 Barbecue News Magazine

cooking, and a business acu- men to be admired. When he took over the kitchen in 2016 at the Ohio Club the kitchen had just seen a record year with around $300,000 in sales. His boss told him “do not change anything and mess it up”, that he would never do better than that record sales. That year, Michael doubled the food sales and wiped out the old record. He has since hit the million annual sales. The kitchen puts out over 50,000 burgers alone each year.
Michael qualified to cook in the World Food Championship in 2020 under his own team in 2020 but it was canceled due to COVID. He is looking forward to hitting the cooking trail this year, trying his hand at ancillaries.
Another claim to fame, that is the making of a folk legend, if you eat at the Ohio Club you are bound to go on a winning streak. The German team “BBQ Weasel” all came in before they won the 2018 World BBQ at World Food Championship in Orange Beach. Recently, SCA cooks, who visited the Ohio Club after attend the All-IN Steak Showdown Micheal promoted, have gone on a winning streak. Cooks like Marty Plute and Jim Hudgins have been proudly wearing their Ohio Club hats to keep the streak alive.
Stop by and visit on your next trip. You are likely to see some cooking legends. Brett and Shelly Gallaway stopped by recently to celebrate their anniversary. During our visit, we got the chance to meet Coy Bray of Right- eous BBQ as he recognized the big hat atop Big D’s head.
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came.
All this talk about burgers made me hungry, so I had Rodney whip us up a
burger inspired by the “Ohio Club” burger.
Season beef patties with Big D’s Q STEAK OUT. Grill. Top with Pepper Jack, lettuce, tomato, onion rings, and ground mustard. Enjoy!
Big D' visits with Al Capone on the streets of Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Michael came to the food in-
dustry reluctant. Growing up,
he watched his mother serve as
the head cook and owner of
Mom’s Restaurant. Her restau-
rant thrived off tourism.
Watching her work, he knew it
must be one of the most physi-
cally demanding jobs out there.
On the weekends, his family would gather on the riverbank to fry up the fresh catfish. Neighbors would wander in, bringing a pie or other dish each Friday night. Witnessing his mothers’ long hours, Michael swore he would never work in a kitchen. Yet, in each job he worked he found that during social events he was always found himself behind the grill. When he was asked by the owner of the Ohio Club to work as the doorman in March of 2015, Michael agreed on one condi- tion, “I will not work in the kitchen”. By December of that year, he had taken on the role as the Kitchen Man- ager.
Big D' and The Burger Chef chat with Coy Bray.
JANUARY 2022
Championship judge. When he got to the World Food Champi- onship and saw all the addi- tional categories, like burger and seafood he knew he found something he’d like to try. While attending a welcome party, he was asked to sous chef for Chef Lamine from Cape Verde, Africa. In 2018 he returned to sou chef for Chef Jon Paul, a Canadian chef lo- cated in Gulf Port, MS. They came 8th in the World for the bacon category that year.
A Big Burger needs STEAK OUT and the Ohio Club toppings.
Michael worked to elevate the quality of food and is credited for creating their famous burgers. Since 2016, he has won 23 best burger awards, in- cluding being named the best burger in Arkansas by Food and Wine Maga- zine. Michael was an early pioneer of social media food marketing. “You’re only as good as your last plate. Every- one these days are posting photos, using trip advisor and yelp. We work hard to keep the quality up.”
In his spare time, he began judging over 200 KCBS, Memphis in May, and other local non-sanctioned events in 2010. Looking for other food sport op- portunities, he became a World Food
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