Roetzel & Andress to battle Brouse McDowell at event benefiting hospital
By Katie Byard
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Wednesday, Jan 06, 2010
Two area lawyers will make their culinary closing arguments at Friday's chili challenge in downtown Akron.
''We have a new ingredient this year, it's pork-based,'' said one of the lawyers, Brian J. Moore, of Roetzel & Andress in Akron.
''It's some sort of sausage,'' said Moore, a real estate lawyer, declining to let too much pig out of the bag.
Moore is betting lawyer Jeff Heintz that Roetzel's Stimulus Chili — ''pork and lots of bull'' — will win in a blind taste test against chili made by Brouse McDowell in Akron.
At stake is a $250 contribution to the Akron Children's Hospital's burn unit.
Heintz is managing partner of Brouse McDowell.
Proceeds of the Fourth Annual Firefighter's Chili Challenge also will benefit the hospital's burn unit.
The chili showdown will again be at Lock 3 Park on South Main Street in downtown Akron. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
City employees, wanting to add to the park's lineup of wintertime activities, created the event in 2007. Since then, the challenge has raised more than $5,000 for the burn unit.
The event has proven to be popular among the downtown Akron lunch crowd.
''If you don't get there early, you don't get chili,'' said David Lieberth, Akron's deputy mayor for administration.
This year's firehouse chili maker is Greg Oziomek, who said his concoction will be ''old-school chili'' — beans and hamburger — with some secret ingredients.
He's new to this challenge, but has twice participated in a chili cook-off sponsored by the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
He'll pit his talents against representatives of Akron's police department, engineering bureau and sewer maintenance division, as well as chili makers from the Downtown Akron Partnership (a nonprofit booster group) and the two law firms.
Competitors will serve the seven chili entries in the kitchen, next to the park's indoor O'Neil Commons in the lower level of the State Street parking deck.
Last year, Roetzel & Andress' Hard Times Chili received the judges' award as the best chili among the competitors.
Brouse McDowell also won last year — netting the most creatively named chili award for Over The Legal Limit Chili.
Awards also went to other chilis.
Five dollars buys four tickets, which will buy either four samples or one bowl of chili.
Beer, soft drinks, water and coffee will be available.
A panel of judges — Beacon Journal food writer Lisa Abraham, WQMX radio's Scott Wynn and Chef Louis Prpich, who operates the Chowder House Cafe in Cuyahoga Falls — will choose winners of various categories. Chili customers will decide the People's Choice award.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.
