Hosted by Robin Sussingham
Robin gets to talk BBQ with Lee Ann Whippen, an award-winning pitmaster, Food Network champion, and managing partner and pitmaster at Tampa’sDeviled Pig restaurant. Not only does Robin get to enjoy conversing with Lee Ann, she also gets to taste signature bbq dishes and sauces.
Lee Ann is a seasoned chef who has been at the helm of several restaurants before she set her sights on Florida. Motivated by the desire to be closer to her daughter, Lee Ann embraced her new Florida lifestyle. When she and another competitive award-winning chef, Jennifer Daskevich, partnered to start their Tampa project, they named the restaurant as a nod to Ybor City’s culinary history of devil crabs. Lee Ann made her the deviled crab recipe her own by replacing the crab with smoked pork and adding layers of spice and heat.
In addition to being a restaurateur, Lee Ann is not shy to show what that she’s got the chops to win. She has gone up against TV chef Bobby Flay and won. She later joined #TeamBobby to win Master of ‘Cue by ousting seven barbecue greats on this summer’s premiere season of the Food Network show BBQ Brawl: Flay V. Symon.
BBQ and competition is a family tradition. Lee Ann’s journey started with her dad, and now her two daughters are making their mark in competitive cooking circuits.
“I call it the BBQ bug biting you, you just get kinda hooked on it. I really like competition, I like the atmosphere, I like the people that are there. You meet families and long time friends, I’ve had friends for years from this. It’s not just the thrill of competition, it’s the whole camaraderie of the whole competition itself,”
– Lee Ann Whippen, Queen of the BBQ Pit
Deviled Pig and Master of ‘Cue