ilani BBQ Fest

Equipped with over 25 years of restaurant experience, Kyle Bryner is a seasoned pitmaster and owner of Blue Hound Barbecue in Dillard, GA, and Blue Bike Cafe in Highlands, NC. His culinary journey began at the age of 16 while working at a grill in Sarasota, Florida, where he first discovered his passion for barbecue. Mentored by his late father, who shared his love for smoking meats, developing rubs, and building custom smokers, Kyle’s early experiences shaped a lifelong dedication to the craft. After moving to the mountains of northeast Georgia with his high school sweetheart, Erin, Kyle immersed himself in Appalachian food traditions, including sausage-making, preserving, and smoking techniques. In May 2019, the couple opened Blue Bike Cafe, inspired by the “brunch lifestyle” of the Gulf Coast and the Southern Appalachian region. Kyle’s one true culinary love, however, led him to open Blue Hound Barbecue in 2022, before relocating the joint to Dillard, GA in 2023. In 2025, he competed on Season 6 of BBQ Brawl on Food Network, ultimately winning and earning the title of “Master of ‘Cue.” That same year, he was named Emerging Restaurateur of the Year at the GRACE Awards and, in 2026, was selected for the Georgia Grown Executive Chefs program by the Georgia Restaurant Association, recognizing his commitment to sourcing locally and supporting Georgia farmers. His self-described “Mountain BBQ” or “Southern Appalachian BBQ” blends regional inspirations from Texas, North Carolina, and South Carolina while honoring the heritage of the mountains he calls home. Kyle has also worked as Executive Chef at The Inn at Millstone, consulted for major food distributors like Reinhart Foodservice and US Foods, and teaches local culinary classes.

Accolades:

• Won Food Network's Season 6 of BBQ Brawl - "Master of Cue" title
• 2025 GRACE Awards Emerging Restaurateur of the Year
• 2025 "Best of Georgia" Award from Georgia Business Journal
• Named 'Heritage Hero' at Heritage Fire Atlanta 2025
• 2026 Georgia Grown Executive Chefs (honor from the Georgia Restaurant Association)

Brad Leighninger is the pitmaster and founder of Gettin’ Basted, with multiple restaurants across the Branson, Missouri area and more than 150 Grand and Reserve Grand Championships on the professional BBQ circuit.

He’s a Jack Daniel’s BBQ World Champion, Memphis (overall, whole hog, and shoulder with Team Blues Hog), American Royal Reserve Grand Champion, King of the Smoker Grand Champion, and a four-time Kansas City BBQ Society Team of the Year World Champion — the only pitmaster in history to claim that title four times. Brad has been inducted into both the KCBS Hall of Fame and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

You’ve seen him on BBQ Brawl, BBQ USA with Michael Symon, BBQ Nation, and Guy’s Grocery Games, where he took home the bacon championship. As co-owner of The BBQ League, Brad teaches classes to aspiring cooks around the world — no secrets held back.

Chef Tyler was born and raised in Southern California where he began his career in professional kitchens. Tyler has been fortunate to work throughout the country for some of the best Chefs in the business. His passion for his craft and locale are evident in his cooking style, which is inspired by simple quality goods and the culinary traditions of New England.

Tyler has become a well known name in Connecticut, recognized for his numerous restaurants, generosity, and one of a kind sense of humor. His restaurants have garnered numerous statewide awards including best restaurant overall (ten times), three best new restaurant awards along with many more.

Tyler has been nominated for the James Beard Best Chef Northeast award seven years in a row. He has also been named CT Chef of the Year. Tyler was a contestant on Season 15 of Top Chef, as well as on episodes of Chopped (in which he won) and Beat Bobby Flay. Tyler competed in Food Networks BBQ brawl, where he made the finale.

Tyler and his team are extremely involved in philanthropic works and pride themselves on helping raise money for many local and national charities.

Mary Cressler is a wine, food, and travel writer, publisher of the award-winning blog Vindulge, and author of the critically acclaimed Fire + Wine cookbook. Mary writes about BBQ and wine on her website, Vindulge, which received an IACP nomination for Best Recipe-Based Blog in 2020 and 2017. Mary is a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, recipe developer, and food and wine writer and with credits in Wine Enthusiast, Serious Eats, Weber Grills Online, Barbecue America Magazine, Big Green Egg, Oregon Wine Press, and many more, and is a frequent judge for wine competitions. A regular guest on Portland’s morning television show, AM Northwest (the local ABC affiliate show in Portland, Oregon), Mary and her partner also teach classes on wine and cooking. Mary lives on a small farm in Oregon wine country with her husband and their twin boys.

Sean Martin is co-owner of the award-winning website Vindulge, an outdoor cooking, beverage, and lifestyle brand. He is also the co-author of Fire + Wine cookbook. Sean, along his partner, have been recurring guests on Portland’s ABC affiliate AM Northwest as well as featured in numerous publications and cooking events around the world. He can be found cooking alongside founder and wife Mary Cressler with their twin boys on their farm and studio in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Misty Banchero is a Seattle, Washington native with a deep passion for BBQ, live-fire cooking and all things meat. Known on social media as @SeattleButchersWife, she shares her journey as part of a third-generation meat family operating a USDA meat processing facility.

Her barbecue journey began after stepping away from a long-standing career in corporate retail during the pandemic, turning a growing interest in grilling into a full-fledged pursuit. Today, Misty blends creativity with hands-on expertise, showcasing everything from open-fire techniques to approachable pellet grill recipes.

Through engaging content, Misty shares practical tips, techniques, and visually striking dishes, with a mission to inspire more women to feel confident stepping up to the grill.

When she’s not cooking, Misty enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and their three children. Follow along @SeattleButchersWife to see what she’s cooking up next.

Mike Miller was part of the BBQ scene before most people even knew it was a scene. He was a regular on service calls with his father, who repaired commercial BBQ equipment. That early, hands-on experience gave Mike a deep understanding of the craft from the ground up.

After earning a Marketing degree from the University of North Texas, Mike continued working alongside his dad. But over time, he saw the cracks in the industry — outdated designs, inconsistent performance, and a need for smarter solutions. So he set out to build something better.

Today, as the driving force behind M&M BBQ Company, Mike leads with vision, grit, and a commitment to raising the bar for BBQ equipment everywhere. Under his leadership, the company continues to grow, forging a reputation for reliable performance, sharp design, and a deep respect for the barbecue community. Every piece of equipment reflects his belief that great BBQ starts with tools built by people who truly understand the craft.

Rick Browne is a renowned barbecue pit master, chef, journalist, photojournalist, author, and TV cooking show host, who has traveled the world on assignment for consumer, travel, news and airline magazines. He currently is an instructor on Grill Master University, a cavetools.com online cooking course.

Rick conceived of, created and was the Editor-in-Chief of Barbecue America Magazine, the nation’s first and only national magazine devoted to barbecue, grilling, outdoor cooking, barbecue competitions and the barbecue industry.

He was also the creator, host, and executive producer of public television's popular “Barbecue America” TV series (described as the first cooking and travelogue series highlighting America’s and the world’s outdoor bbq & grilling culinary landscape), which ran for 91 episodes, and in its seventh season, was aired on more than 230 public TV stations nationwide. The last two years of the series involved travel and taping shows in 26 countries.

He has also conceived, co-produced and hosted two seasons of the Outdoor Channel’s cooking and travel show: “Ready, Aim…Grill”, aimed at hunters and fishermen nationwide.

Previously he has authored 16 best-selling cookbooks about barbecue, grilling, outdoor deep-frying, and smoking. He has books on Barbecue Desserts, Sous Vide Meets BBQ, BBQ Seafood, and The Great American Pie Tour in development . Rick’s most-recent book “A Century of Restaurants”, profiles 100 of the oldest restaurants in America, each between 100-300 yrs. old, was released in late 2013. Rick personally visited all 100 historic eateries in 46 states, a two-year journey of over 37,000 miles. He was inducted into the American Royal Hall of Fame in 2025 and s one of only 26 individuals in the world who has been awarded an honorary Ph.B. (Doctor of Barbecue Philosophy) by the Kansas City Barbecue Society – the world’s largest barbecue association.

TELEVISION:
Rick created, produced and hosted 91 episodes of “Barbecue America”, a popular 13-part cooking and travel series which aired from 2003-2009 nationally on 230 PBS stations. In the series he traveled around the US in pursuit of “America’s best barbecue.” The last two years of the series involved travel and taping shows in 26 countries.

He was the executive producer, creator, and hosted 26 episodes of “Ready, Aim…Grill”, a 13-part cooking, travel and hunting series for fishermen and hunters which aired on the Outdoor Channel from 2006 to 2009 nationwide. Currently he is the creator and Executive Producer of “The Last Roundup”, a six-part docu-series profiling cowboys and their lifestyle in 18 countries around the world.

CULINARY:
He has been invited as a guest chef to major food and wine festivals across the US including: New Orleans Wine & Jazz Festival, Charlotte Shout Food Festival (6x), Charleston Food & Wine Festival, Memphis in May World Barbecue Championships (4x), Atlanta Food and Wine Festival (2x), National Restaurant Association Expo (Chicago) (2x), IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) annual conventions (SF and New Orleans), The Home, Hearth BBQ & Patio Show (Las Vegas), The National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show (3x), and the San Francisco and New York Fancy Foods Shows.

Rick has shared the stage with five-star chefs (including Martin Yan, Sarah Moulton, Chef Jet, Wolfgang Puck, and Anthony Bourdain) at the Charlotte Shout Culinary Experience before 1,000 people, cooked a barbecue luncheon at New York’s Tavern on the Green for three dozen of the country’s top food editors, prepared a 4-course barbecue luncheon for 140 media and corporate guests of Char-Broil at the National Hardware Show in Chicago, cooked up a whole hog for 40 food editors at Hill Country Market in Manhattan, prepared a bbq luncheon for 200 employees of Bush Beans at their annual sales meeting in Knoxville, and grilled up tasty que for media and the public in Charlotte, N. C., San Diego, CA, and Jacksonville, FL, at three Barbeques Galore store openings.

Rick was an invited participant in two World Food Championships - in 2018 he was a Dessert category competitor and finished 5th with his BluBarb Tart- in 2021 he competed in the Recipe category with Baked Alaska Bananas Foster and placed 14th out of 50 competitors.