Chef Tyler Anderson, a West Hartford resident, is a contestant on the current season of ‘BBQ Brawl’ on the Food Network.

By Ronni Newton

Chef Tyler Anderson has mastered many culinary styles – and his latest challenge is to become “Master of ‘Cue.”

Whether you spell it “barbecue,” or “barbeque,“or “BBQ,” it’s all about “cooking over live fire outdoors,” and that’s something Anderson truly enjoys and while some may consider him an underdog, he brings a unique perspective to his latest quest.

Anderson has participated in multiple chef competitions – including “Top Chef,” “Chopped,” and “Beat Bobby Flay,” but has recently been focusing on other parts of his career and hadn’t planned on doing another – until he was asked to apply and chosen to be on the new season of the Food Network’s “BBQ Brawl.”

“I thought the show was cool, and so I had interest in it,” Anderson, who lives in West Hartford, told We-Ha in an interview this week. “I liked the premise of this show. I love barbecue. I’ve loved it for a long time, and I just wanted to test my skills against some of the best.”

Anderson has long been known for his fine dining expertise – and as the chef/owner of the award-winning restaurant Millwright’s, which opened in Simsbury in 2012, he earned seven nominations for the prestigious James Beard Best Chef: Northeast award. Millwright’s has been mentioned in the New York Times and rated one of the “Top 100 Romantic Restaurants” by Open Table, and among Anderson’s accolades is being honored as Connecticut’s Chef of the Year.

So how does that prepare someone to live at the Star Hill Ranch in Austin, Texas, to join a team of accomplished pitmasters as they prepare every dish outdoors on some type of grill, in a compressed timeframe, looking to impress judges Carson Kressley, Rodney Scott, and Brooke Williamson? “I think when you work in fine dining, you get a wider exposure to ingredients,” Anderson said, and he’s learned to use not only ingredients but also techniques from all over the world.

“In this show they’re not looking for finesse, they’re looking for delicious.” That’s what really matters, he said – and as Anderson gets older, he also has gained an appreciation for what really matters, which is not just the “pomp and circumstance” of creating a pretty plate.

And Anderson does have experience with straight-out delicious, as well as with grilling. A native of Southern California, he said he grew up calling barbecue “anything that’s cooked outside over a grill,” not just slow-smoked meats.

Along with Millwright’s, Anderson owns and operates the Ta-Que food truck, which is resident in the Millwright’s parking lot in Simsbury and offers a variety of smoked meats and sides served on a plate, in a bowl, and as tacos.

From 2017 until 2019, he was co-owner of “The Cook & The Bear” in West Hartford’s Blue Back Square. In that venture he partnered with barbecue expert Jamie McDonald of Bear’s Smokehouse, and while the business itself didn’t succeed, Anderson said he learned a lot and “caught the bug” for barbecue, which has continued.

As of press time, seven episodes of BBQ Brawl have aired. There are three teams – captained by reigning champion Bobby Flay, James Beard Award winner Maneet Chauhan, and newly crowned Tournament of Champions winner Antonia Lofaso. Each team started out with four chefs in addition to the captain, but some have been “called to the campfire” and sent home, including a recent departure of one of Anderson’s teammates on Lofaso’s team.

“It’s like ‘Top Chef,’ but there’s no gas … not having a switch to just turn on and the flame came out,” Anderson said. Tailoring his ideas to cooking outside, over wood, is one of the biggest challenges. And based on the episodes that have aired, Anderson said the chili competition was his hardest and toughest challenge.

“I just don’t like chili,” he said. “And I’m against all these people … like Texans, who cook it all the time.” Plus they were feeding a crowd, not just the three judges.

Anderson is sworn to secrecy about the results of the show – recorded earlier this year – but said there are some major challenges to come with three more episodes remaining to be aired on the Food Network in the 10-show series.

His favorite item he has prepared so far? A stuffed tomato, Anderson said. Tasked with making a side dish for that particular episode, Anderson said judge Brooke was highly skeptical and thought it was a silly thing to make in a barbecue competition. “So there’s a lot of hubbub about, ‘Oh, Tyler’s making a stuffed tomato …’ but I love working with vegetables. I think vegetables are harder to cook than meat. … and so I think I’m the most proud of that dish because I was able to show the judges that even a stuffed tomato in a barbecue competition can be delicious.”

The “Stuffed Tomato” (smoked on the grill and stuffed with zucchini, mint, parmesan cheese, and caramelized onions) was during the “Bougie BBQ” challenge in the second episode – and Anderson admitted the theme was “right up my alley.” So is the concept of working in teams, he added, utilizing the strengths of all of the team members – including those who are better at cooking meat, and don’t even really eat vegetables.

The Stuffed Tomato appeared as a special at Millwright’s the week after the episode aired, and each week he’s been serving a dish or two from each episode as a special.

Beet “Pastrami” – a vegan dish that is literally beets treated like pastrami and was one of Anderson’s shining moments in the “Root Vegetables Gone Wild” challenge during the seventh episode that aired July 6 – was a dish Anderson introduced at The Cook & The Bear. It has already been a permanent fixture on the Ta-Que menu and is also a special at Millwright’s this week. He said he initially got the inspiration one day when he was wearing gloves to cut beets, just like he would for a piece of meat.

In addition to Millwright’s and Ta-Que, Anderson currently owns Ore Hill and Swyft in Kent, CT. But no matter how “BBQ Brawl” ends, owning a barbecue restaurant is still among his dreams.

“I definitely want to open another barbecue restaurant,” he said. Ta-Que is already “more about the barbecue than the tacos,” he said, a way to use the meat that’s not just being sliced to be served on a plate, but he would like to further expand the concept. “It will definitely have a Southern California, Baja California twist.”

Also, barbecue is “not always bad for you,” Anderson said, and he will plan to offer plenty of lean meats and vegetables at the future restaurant.

As for where and when, that’s not yet determined. “I’m looking in West Hartford first. That’s where I live,” he said. But he needs to be able to have a smoker and wants to smoke with real wood, so he can’t be right in the middle of a residential area.

And as for “BBQ Brawl,” it can be seen on the Food Network on Sundays at 9 p.m., and streams the next day on MAX where you can catch the seven already-aired episodes. For more on this season visit FoodNetwork.com and Food Network’s social platforms as well as the Chef Tyler Anderson Instagram.

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