Back To Our Roots

Southern Roots BBQ Reunion was the 2022 surprise that will be a highlight of 2023.
You can quote us on that while you add tickets to your cart.

For seasoned event-goers, the now-annual Southern Roots barbecue festival held at Trailblazer Park in Travelers Rest is a dream for many reasons:

  1. Plenty of parking and clear signage
    2. Wide open space for people to spread out
    3. Great music that gets people dancing in the middle of the day
    4. Variety of culinary participants and more food than we thought possible
    5. A cause worth supporting

    And if you’re new to the event, all of those reasons will make your first time a pleasure.

    The 2023 barbecue throwdown on April 15, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., promises more than 30 chefs and pitmasters paired up in teams that combine the best of the Upstate’s culinary talent with barbecue legends from Chicago, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas.

    We’re excited to highlight some of the local culinary talent you’ll encounter at the event that, we think, makes this a not-to-be-missed celebration.

    TEAM OTGG
    Photography: FishEye Studios, Greenville, SC

Partners IRL

At Southern Roots, you’ll find some real-life partners participating—like OTGG’s CEO founder Jackie and contributing editor Ariel. We consider eating, drinking and dancing with everyone for five straight hours “participating.”

But we think it’s an even more compelling storyline that at least two husband and wife teams, who are wildly talented as individuals, are cooking up tasty dishes.

Heidi and Joe Trull of Side Dish Catering (you may remember their former restaurant, Grits & Groceries) are returning this year and are always fierce competitors. Heidi won the pimento cheese competition at another festival we’re quite fond of—euphoria—in 2022, so consider this your heads up to stop by their tent.

Teryi and Steven Musolf are married but are splitting up on separate teams. Teryi, executive chef of Camilla Kitchen, broke her foot the day before last year’s Southern Roots and still showed up. Steven, executive chef of Oak and Honey, has plenty of barbecue experience, despite his current Mediterranean cooking style. It’s safe to say both Musolfs are contenders, and we’re looking forward to some healthy and good-natured trash talk between the two. 😜

SC Chef Ambassadors

We’ve counted half a dozen former South Carolina Chef Ambassadors in the line-up. What that means is these chefs distinguished themselves as stewards of South Carolina-grown ingredients and were chosen by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to represent the entire state in various culinary capacities for a year term. Pretty rad that we get to taste food from all of these fine folks in one place, and, we couldn’t help but notice all but one are from the Upstate…

Here are those chefs, with the restaurant they’re representing at Southern Roots and the year of their ambassadorship:

Haydn Shaak, Restaurant 17, 2022 (Travelers Rest)

Chris Williams, Roy’s Grille, 2022 (Lexington)

Sarah McClure, Southside Smokehouse & Grille, 2018 (Landrum)

William Cribb, Cribbs Kitchen, 2017 (Spartanburg)

Teryi Musolf, Camilla Kitchen, 2016 (Greenville)

Heidi Trull, Side Dish Catering, 2015 (Belton)

And we might get lucky with a sighting of 2019 ambassador Tania Harris if she’s on tap to support TR’s Topsoil Kitchen & Market team. We hope so.

Very Important Party

Southern Roots is a Very Important Party for many reasons, but primarily because of its benefactor, iDefine, a non-profit organization that was created to help families and children with the rare genetic disorder, Kleefstra Syndrome. Its CEO, Geoff Rhyne, is also the partner and chef with Charleston-based Red Clay Hot Sauce, which will be spicing up dishes throughout the event.

Speaking of, expect to see plenty of Red Clay Hot Sauce in the VIP area oyster roast, provided by The Jones Oyster Co. VIP access will also include exclusive bites from John Lewis of Lewis Barbecue, Jason Janson of Broadwater Shrimp Supply Co. and Joshua Begley of the soon-to-open Indaco Greenville.

So, if you’re looking to balance out the barbecue and sides, the VIP area will be flush with fresh seafood—Janson’s low country boil stole the show last year—and the bar will feature specialty pours from Wine House: A Retail Shop and Wine Bar, O'Darby’s Liquor Barn, Birds Fly South, Edmund's Oast and Pangaea Brewing Company.

Image provided by Jason Janson of Broadwater Shrimp

OTGG Roots

Bottom line, for us, though, is the role food plays in bringing us all together. We couldn’t have said it better than the Southern Roots FAQ section:

Our favorite part about cooking BBQ is the way it gathers people together, and that’s exactly what we intend to do at Southern Roots. Our hope is that you’ll leave the event feeling like you just spent the day with family.

See ya Saturday!

Visit www.southernrootsreunion.com for more info and to purchase tickets.

Sarah Tate