Yuba City griller to show off skills on Food Network

You won't find store-brand hot dogs and deli-counter coleslaw on Drew Berlfein's tailgate.

A slow-roasted 80-pound hog, Cuban-espresso pulled pork and five-cheese macaroni dish are among dishes the Yuba City grillmaster will showcase this weekend when he goes head-to-head with other asphalt chefs at a filming of "Tailgate Warriors."

Berlfein was selected by the Food Network to partake in one of Guy Fieri's trademark cookoffs for an episode of his latest show, a spinoff of "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," that will take place Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum.

Berlfein, 43, stumbled upon the opportunity when a friend saw a message from Fieri, who happens to be part of the Raider Nation, on the Fans in Black Booster Club message board. The restaurateur-turned-TV star was looking for the most outlandish, unusual and entertaining tailgaters he could find.

Berlfein was ready for the challenge.

"I would stack my food up against anybody," he said.

Laid off a few years a go as a minister at Glad Tidings, the now stay-at-home dad has had plenty of time to craft concoctions in the family kitchen. He's also on the verge of starting a mobile catering business - Holy Smoke BBQ.

So Berlfein sent in a photo of the grill he uses when firing up meat at Glad Tidings, saying the 3-ton smoker is the only cooker west of the Mississippi able to cook 500 chickens at once. It's so monstrous it has to be specially registered at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

In addition to the sumo-sized smoker, he told Food Network about his Redneck Rotisserie, which he uses to slow-cook whole hogs.

Much to Berlfein's delight, he was chosen, not to be just a background extra for an actual feature in the show.

As a warrior, he'll showcase his pulled pork, and probably some beef and pork ribs, chickens, a brisket or two and a tri-tip. Center stage will be his roast hog.

Berlfein will brine the pig for a few

hours Friday, drive it to the coliseum, infuse it with one of his injector sauces and apply a dry rub so the crackling will have a lot of flavor. Then he'll spend all night tending to it as the meat slowly roasts for 14-16 hours.

His 11-year-old son, Ari, will be spending the night in the coliseum parking lot with him. The TV crews will show up at 8 a.m. and Fieri is expected to make the tasting rounds around noon.

The Berlfein family is no stranger to "Triple D," as "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" is known by its most loyal of fans. They TiVo every episode, own the cookbooks and base meals around its recipes.

Ari has been building with excitement for weeks, boasting to his friends at River Bend Elementary that he gets to star on TV with the spiked-blonde Fieri. But Berlfein is not sure how much his son will help with the cookoff.

"He loves to eat it more than he likes to learn how to make it," Berlfein said. "He'll say, 'Dad, why are you putting brown sugar on top of the pork?'"

Berlfein's barbecue beginnings came from paying a lot of money for bad experiences at Bay Area restaurants, he said. He started to research smoking, curing, brining and aging meat and his family and friends became guinea pigs for his creations.

His pulled pork in a homemade Cuban-espresso barbecue sauce is his go-to meal. But he is been getting a little experimental lately, conjuring up concoctions from backyard apricots and his neighbors figs or trying a Dr Pepper injection sauce.

Returning to Oakland's paved paradise will be a little bit like coming home for Berlfein. He and his family attended 90 percent of Raiders home games before moving from the Bay Area to Yuba City four years ago. Even then, they were tailgaters, but mostly of the barbecued-chicken-and-ribs variety.

Berlfein has always loved communal culinary adventures.

Whether the dinner table is a slab of oak in the dining room or a metal tailgate, it's an opportunity for the average Joe to showcase his kitchen wizardry and enjoy good food with friends and families.

"Food is one of those commonalties for all of us," he said. "It doesn't matter what race or religion you are. If you sit down and have some good food, you have a good time."

The same concept flies at Raiders games. It's no secret the team has played poorly in recent years, with 5-11 records the last two years, 4-12 in 2007 and 2-14 in 2006.

"Sometimes it doesn't matter if your team wins or loses. The tailgating is worth it," Berlfein said. "No one is sitting around talking about how bad we are when we are sharing a plate of pork ribs."

The show is expected to air a few weeks after filming.

CONTACT Ashley Gebb at 749-4724 or agebb@appealdemocrat.com