Ilani BBQ Fest
Last month I went to the Ilani BBQ Festival as a guest of Rasheed Phillips. I was asked to accompany him to the event to capture behind-the-scenes content and document his attendance at the event.
The Ilani BBQ Fest is a BBQ-based event held at the Ilani Resort Casino in Cowlitz, Washington, about an hour from Portland, Oregon. I arrived in Washington on Friday afternoon and met up with Rasheed, who had arrived the day before. Soon after I got there, we headed to the casino to check out the resort’s facilities in preparation for the event demonstration.
When we arrived in the kitchen, there were already other celebrity chefs and their staff in the kitchen preparing. One of the first faces I saw was that of Jimmy Weatherbee of Big Kev Bludso’s Bar & Cue, based out of Los Angeles, California. Big Kev and Jimmy were also in attendance and preparing brisket, ribs, and a whole hog, the centerpiece of Saturday evening’s evening event. I was also introduced to Pitmaster Georgia Chase, Chef David Rose, and Chef Aaron May who had all arrived in the kitchen. I took the opportunity to grab some b-roll and pickup shots of all the action taking place in the kitchen. It was at this point I was introduced to the wonderful D’Andra Simmons from The Real Housewives of Dallas. She and her assistant Brianne were absolutely a joy to meet and would be serving as the Emcee for the festivities over the next few days.
Shortly after I started rolling, the biggest name in the event showed up to survey the kitchen — Chef Alton Brown. He quickly reviewed his prep materials in the refrigerator and was quickly whisked away to see the rest of the accommodations. We were caught off guard as Alton and his staff entered the refrigerator while I was in the process of capturing Rasheed thawing out a whole hog in an oversized cooler.
After we finished, we spent a little time in the casino, where I was unable to film, before heading back to the hotel for the evening.
Day One
The following day, we arrived back at the casino for the beginning of the event. There was more preparation in the kitchen, which I took an opportunity to capture. Only this time all of the celebrity chefs were present and the kitchen was teeming with an activity which made for a great opportunity to grab additional shots. After grabbing this footage, I headed up to the rooftop of the casino parking lot where the festival was taking place.
The line to enter the festival stretched around the building and the rooftop was packed ahead of the demonstration. After a few demonstrations from the likes of Todd English, Aaron May, and Big Kev, it was time for the main event — Chef Alton Brown.
Now I had heard Alton Brown brings a crowd but I had no idea what was about to come. As I moved around the grab shots of the crowd and the stage, it quickly became very congested with people as he began his demonstration. The crowd was absolutely in love with Chef Brown, and I saw one event-goer with a “We Love You Alton” sign. He did not disappoint with the fish he prepared in a card box contraption.
Next up was Rasheed…excuse me, Chef Rasheed. While it can’t be easy following a name as big as Alton Brown, Rasheed held his own and took it a step further when he came down into the crowd to answer a woman’s question“how would you smoke this brisket on a Traeger”. He jokingly asked her if she knew what a pellet was and when she didn’t, he asked “then why would you cook with one!” Overall, the crowd enjoyed both his demonstration and his crowd interactions.
Big Boy Cookings Event
Following a day full of demonstrations, the chefs all converged on the Ilani Resort ballroom for the Big Boy Cooking Event. This event was set up as a way for the attendees to meet their favorite chefs while also getting a plate of dishes designed by these celebrity cooks as well. Each table featured one of the cooks, a dish they crafted, and a cocktail meant to complement the dish.
This event was emceed by both Alton Brown and Robert Irvine. Alton took the mic first, walking around to the ballroom and getting FaceTime with the patrons. He was followed by Chef Robert Irvine who took over for the rest of the evening, walking the room and conversing with individual event-goers. But the biggest moment of the evening was when Big Kev made a big entrance with a fully-cooked hog, dressed up for all to see. This was a moment so big I had to sprint to the front doors to capture him as they entered the room to Dr. Dre’s The Next Episode bumping from the speakers.
As the night wound down, the chefs retired to the hotel lobby bar where we all shared drinks, took a group picture, and then headed to our rooms for the evening.
Day Two
The next morning, we head back to the casino to prepare for day two of the festivities and demonstrations. Rasheed would be preparing jerked ribeye steaks with tostones, a fried plantain, for the event goers. So we of course headed straight to the kitchen, and Rasheed began cooking.
Once again, the kitchen was alive with staff members accompanying the individual chefs and from the Ilani resort kitchen staff. Everyone was in the process of preparing their dishes, making for a perfect opportunity to grab additional footage. As the morning went on, more chefs descended into the kitchen including Georgia Chasen, Fred, Nyesha Hopson, and Antonia Lofaso.
After a bit of time passed, we were greeted by one of the event handlers who were looking for Rasheed. She quickly rushed him to a Suburban waiting outside the kitchen and whisked us up to the rooftop for Rasheed’s demonstration. One of the Ilani staff stepped in to complete the creme which accompanied his dish as he prepared to take the stage but before he could, Big Kev Bludso and Jimmy Weathersbee took the stage to showcase their ribs.
Right before their demonstration began, I was asked to take the stage along with them so I could film the “Pops” session. The demonstration had several highlights including Big Kev’s playful jokes at Jimmy’s expense and a heckler from the crowd who had a single complaint — all the mac-n-cheese was gone. The demonstration ended with a pleased crowd before Rasheed was ready to take the stage for his final demo.
Just like the day before, I took the stage with Rasheed to get some up close and personal footage. And much like the day prior, Rasheed wowed the crowd by making them laugh and smile. He grabbed a quick crowd with the selfie and moved back down to begin working for the crowd again. What happened next was as unexpected as it was special.
A young girl and her father approached Rasheed to ask for a picture. The girl was noticeably quaking and her father had to let Rasheed know how big of a fan she was and that when she heard he would be in town, she begged her father to take her to the festival. Rasheed took a few minutes to speak with them and signed a bottle of his American Prime seasoning with his signature.
But even after they left, he called me over and asked me to find and bring them back over. When I finally found them and led them back, Rasheed took one of the chef’s jackets he had made for the event, signed it, and handed it to her. The young girl was in disbelief as he explained the purpose of the jacket — as long as she bought the signed jacket with her, it was her ticket to getting access to any event he would be attending. He had a few more moments that day but this was the most standout of them.
The event wrapped up with Robert Irvine closing out with a crowd-pleasing demonstration and an awards ceremony. During the ceremony, a young man won several best dish awards, outshining competition twice his age. This moment of congratulations was a great way to end the event with the BBQ torch being handed to the next generation.
The evening wrapped up with all the chefs convening at a local restaurant for a meal, birthday celebration, and a few drinks before everyone headed back to the hotel and subsequently back home.
Conclusion
Overall the event was extremely successful albeit quite hot. I was able to grab a ton of great content over those few days and was able to meet several amazing people. I was consistently amazed by how nice everyone was and how the staff all kicked in to make the event a great success. Any time someone invited to the event needed something, the Ilani Resort staff was quickly on the job and made sure everything went smooth.
Thank you to the Ilani Casino and Resort for such a wonderful event.
