If you’re a Vancouverite, you might not have experienced true, down-home Southern cuisine. After all, we’re a long way from Louisiana. But, this weekend, about 200 lucky Vancouver fans will get the chance to sample some of that rich, gourmet Southern hospitality: The Zac Brown Band’s traveling mobile kitchen is coming to us with its Eat & Greet before the musicians’ Sunday show at the Pacific Coliseum.
The Zac Brown Band started as just that… a band. However, through a mix of creativity, ingenuity and a love of great food, it morphed into a band with its own mobile kitchen – which has a six-burner stove, four ovens, an 18-foot prep area with three-compartment sink and tilting skillet and a full-size walk-in refrigerator – the Southern Ground brand of sauces and cook books, and the Southern Ground music and food festival.
Zac Brown, of course, is the eponymous band’s frontman. Chef Rusty Hamlin is the force behind the cuisine. He’s legit in his Southern hospitality expertise: He’s originally from Baton Rouge and grew up eating jambalaya and gumbo in his mother’s kitchen. After studying at the Culinary Arts Institute of Louisiana, Rusty became a sought-after chef in Atlanta. He eventually met Zac, and the two shared passions for music and food. They both wanted to see music concerts offer fans something unique, and they considered and refined the Eat & Greet concept for nearly four years before going on the road.
Don’t expect the Zac Brown Band tour to include hot dogs and hamburgers, however. Chef Rusty is referred to as “an ambassador for a tradition of southern hospitality”. He’s cooking up barbecue beef, pork tenderloin rubbed and grilled in signature Georgia Clay Rub and Love sauce, fresh fruit and vegetables, dessert, sweet tea and other delicacies, including LandShark Lager and Jack Daniel’s.
Southern Ground Grub Brown Sauce is the official marinade of the Zac Brown Band Eat & Greet. It’s a sweet Asian, bourbon-infused sauce for grilling or cooking; of course, the Georgia Clay Rub adds another dimension to your grilled goodies, too. But don’t take our word for the mouth-watering delectability of Southern cookin’… experience it for yourself by joining the Zamily and entering to win Eat and Greet passes to your favorite show.
Post courtesy of Amy Vaughan
