by Dave DeWitt and Margaret Henderson

The Long and Winding Line

“Dave, you’re not going to believe this,” Marco said. “Come with me.” It was Saturday morning at 10:45 on March 6, 2010, fifteen minutes before the show opened. We walked out to the ticket area and Marco pointed to the line, which stretched past the check-in counter and all the way out the door at Sandia Resort.“How far does it go?” I asked.
“All the way to the golf clubhouse,” he replied and I started chuckling. It was by far the largest crowd we'd ever had waiting to get into the show. Margaret checked the ticket sales for the first half hour we were open and estimates that 1500 people were lined up , but they all got in quickly. No one complained or started a fight. But we hadn't started serving beer yet.

A Fistful of Hot Sauce

Running a show with 14,000+ people attending in three days is a lot like being a mayor of a small town. We've had arguments to settle, boundary disputes, people sneaking in, thefts, medical problems (fainting, mostly), and drunkenness. Fortunately, there have been no food illness-related incidents or anything really serious. But where there's alcohol, there sometimes will be trouble. In a crowded aisle, one guy bumped another guy and they exchanged words and started swinging. That was not funny. But what was funny was to see longtime exhibitor Chip Hearn of Peppers.com, a very large man, jump (!) out of his booth, snatch a child away from the action, and then break up the fight before security could get there. Thank you, Chip. I'm naming you Sheriff of the Fiery Foods Show.

Paul Prudhomme, Scofflaw

If Chip had been sheriff of the show back in 1998, he probably would have arrested Paul Prudhomme on a public endangerment charge. I'd known Paul since 1989 when we signed books together at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, so it had been easy to persuade him to be our lead Guest Chef at the show down at the Albuquerque Convention Center. In those days he weighed so much he could hardly walk (he has since lost hundreds of pounds). In fact, we had to use a lift to get him on stage. The crowd for his cooking demo was huge, maybe 800 people. At the end of the demo, he proceeded to serve Cajun food to everyone watching, and I remember thinking “How did he cook all of that? The Convention Center kitchen?” Nope. I investigated and found the illegal propane tanks and burners at the back of the show hall. I had to laugh because using bottled gas was illegal at the Convention Center, and the Fire Department could have shut the show down. But he got away with it and we laughed about it together after the demo.