Port Residents Bring Blazing BBQ to Alper's Festival

There was a lot of sauce, sweat and tears, but by the end of it all, the 2nd annual Alper's BBQ Festival left Port Washington residents well-fed and smiling.

Local folks gathered on Irma Avenue off Main Street to cheer on their neighbors-turned-chefs and sample food from Port's barbecue restaurants on Sunday afternoon. Funds from the event were raised to benefit the Community Chest of Port Washington, a non-profit organization designed to raise funds for local charities.

"We wanted to do a charity of some sort and we were trying to do it in conjunction with the store," said event organizer Adam Novick, who is one of owners of Alper's Hardware. "We were looking to do something for the Port Washington community and still cover a lot of people and charities. Someone brought up the idea of a barbecue and the idea built out from there."

The event began at 11:30 a.m. as 10 teams fired up their grills. They competed in three categories: best chicken, best ribs and overall champion.

Each team had its own take on what makes a great barbecue.

"It's all about the flavor," said Stephen Edelson of team La D.L.Q., the defending champions from last year's cook-off. "This year, we totally changed our recipe for our ribs. We went away from our cinnamon based spice rum and went with a little mango-peach sweet barbecue sauce."

This year's cook-off champion trophy went to Dan Eisner and Christina Vozzo of Team Burnt Lemon, winning first place for the best barbecue chicken and taking second place for the best ribs.

"We are very happy," Vozzo said. "It was awesome, and we had a great time. We enjoy just hanging out and enjoying everyone else's company. It's a nice town meeting."

Team TBD Barbecue had third place finishes in both the chicken and ribs categories, rolling in at second overall followed by third place La D.L.Q. who kept its title as ribs champion for the second year in a row.

The cookout featured new competitors as well as teams from last year's event.

"This is our first competition, and we are glad to be here," said Armond Saidai of The Pork Washingtons. "It's for a good cause and that's what matters. We are having fun."

In addition to the barbecue cook-off, the event also included raffles and contests including a wing eating contest, sponsored by Wings Plus, a Port Washington eatery. The Mondays and Port band, 6 Degrees North provided live music during the cookout as well.

Novick said he was glad about how the entire event turned out.

"I would say it was more successful this year," Novick said. "We had more people attend and we definitely raised more money. It was really hot out, so for everyone to still show up to support the Community Chest and the stores, it was really great."