Where in the world is Sugarfire Smoke House chef-owner Mike Johnson? Last month, the answer was Paris, for a barbecue competition. (It was unfortunately canceled). Today, it’s Orange Beach, Alabama.
Johnson and his team are currently down south for the World Food Championships, an international cooking competition dubbed “the world’s largest food fight,” where they’re competing for a $100,000 prize for best overall dish in the bacon category and the title of 2016 World Food Champion.
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“Everybody in the world of food is down here,” Johnson says. “It’s fun and a good way to network. It should be a good day.”
If Johnson’s bacon dish makes it in the top 10, he and his team will get to compete in the championship next Tuesday. (He took home a third in the bacon category last year.)
That means he won’t be in town when his episode of Beat Bobby Flay! airs on the Food Network on Thursday, November 10. The episode, titled “Country Boys in the Big City,” will feature him competing against former Chopped champion Justin Gaines in a chance to go head to head with Flay.
“Hopefully, I won’t look too stupid on the Bobby Flay show,” he says with a laugh.
Flay isn’t the only celeb chef brushing shoulders with Johnson and Sugarfire this week. On Saturday, November 12, author and television host Anthony Bourdain will make a stop at the Fox Theatre. Sugarfire is catering the reception for VIP ticketholders. Johnson says Sugarfire was chosen after a lengthy selection process.
Beyond Sugarfire, though, Johnson is also preparing to open the Hi-Pointe Drive In in the former Del Taco site on McCausland Avenue. It will be a fast-casual spot for sandwiches and flat-griddled burgers. Johnson says the restaurant is “coming along great” and hopes to open it by Thanksgiving or the first week of December.
In the meantime, diners can get a new twist on Sugarfire fare at Fort Taco: The two restaurants recently collaborated on the Sugarfire Brisket Puffer (right), a puffy taco filled with 4 ounces of brisket, Fort Taco’s chipotle sauce, lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes.
Despite the whirlwind schedule, Johnson remains energetic and in high spirits. “I haven’t folded yet,” he says.
