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Kingsport's Bone Fire Smokehouse gets national attention on 'Regis and Kelly'

Published July 7th, 2009 | 6 Comments

Photo by David Grace.

KINGSPORT — Rubbed-down with spice combinations tried once over and a kick as down home as Tennessee whiskey, a rack of ribs smoked by Erick Soll are about to become legendary.

Soll and a room full of well-wishers on the upper level of the Kingsport Grocery Co. shouted with euphoria Tuesday morning as the Bone Fire Smokehouse restaurant executive chef was announced as the winner of the “Live! With Regis and Kelly” Ultimate Hometown Grill Off in the ribs category.

“It’s off to New York!” shouted one of the gathered as Soll raised both fists into the air for a victory shake.

“For being a chef, being named best ribs in the nation, basically, what more could I ask for right now,” said Soll, “besides competing against 14 other chefs.”

That is the next challenge for Soll’s Fightin’ Irish Whiskey Sauce and ribs as the nationally-syndicated show will continue to select finalist via Internet voting for a variety of dishes that ultimately be chosen the best when the contest concludes in August.

Before that, Soll will make his television debut with Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa this Friday at the Buena Vista / ABC Studios in New York preparing the dish live.

“Live!” with Regis and Kelly” airs every weekday at 9 a.m. on WJHL channel 11, the Johnson City-based CBS affiliate.

CLICK THE BOX BELOW for a video report.

Confessing that he’s been cooking “before cooking was cool,” Soll says he learned on the job in restaurants in his native New Jersey, pursuing cooking for 37 years, and then decided to experiment with Southern cuisine when he moved to Kingsport and joined the Bone Fire staff prior to their opening in September 2006.

“I’ve been pairing meats and woods for years, trying different combinations and doing what I need to do in the kitchen, trying to be versatile,” said Soll, who is also the head chef at Bone Fire’s sister restaurant just down Main Street at Kingsport Grocery Co.

Ribs has become the chef’s pursuit since the Bone Fire opened, challenging traditional recipes he says by injecting untraditional ingredients like apple and blueberries with spicy chasers like poblano peppers.

“We have a signature brown sugar rub that we use and we slow cook ‘em for about three to four hours,” Soll said.

“I’ve made hundreds of different sauces, some variate from the Fightin’ Irish sauce. Sometimes the board (at Bone Fire) looks like a fruit stand with the different (rib) sauces on it. We have a blueberry, a mango habanero, we even have an apple pie rib sauce.

“But this here today, this shows what a great community we have here and their votes, voting online and things, it just shows that they can really help things. Our customers and others really helped this happen, and we’re going to need them to vote again in the coming weeks.”

Bone Fire Restaurant co-owner Kanishka Biddanda says one attribute to Soll’s victory in the contest was not only a website that took voters directly to the “Live!” website, www.VoteBoneFire.com, but Soll’s ingenuity to combine a home-grown favorite into the rib sauce.

“Jack Daniels is distilled right here in Tennessee and he thought it would give things a little kick and it does make it distinct,” said Biddanda.

Biddanda also noted that 1,177 unique visitors came to the voting link for Soll, which he estimated to be just a fraction of the total amount of voters who clicked-on the rib sauce.

A “Live!” publicity producer said Tuesday in a telephone interview from New York that actual vote tallies for Soll and other Grill Off winners are kept confidential by Buena Vista Television, the show’s parent company.

For more information on Soll and the menu at Bone Fire Smokehouse, visit www.bonefiresmokehouse.com.
Voting in the coming weeks for the Ultimate Hometown Grill Off can be done by accessing www.liveregisandkelly.com.

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Ridgewood.

The Dude | 7/7/2009 - 10:43 PM - ( Comment

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Good job, Keep up the good work and bring back a reason to come to Kingsport Nationwide.

Cat Marks | 7/7/2009 - 10:33 PM - ( Comment

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Some people just can't stand other peoples success. I don't care where the recipe's came from, they have the best greens since granny died. Congradulations! Maybe they will get lucky and not have to serve Mr. Chandler since he prefers a nice scenic drive to NC to eat.

grumpy old man | 7/7/2009 - 5:48 PM - ( Comment

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Copngratulations on you win, and I hope to sample your ribs in the near future.

Clayton Upchurch | 7/7/2009 - 4:33 PM - ( Comment

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Congratulations - couldn't have happened to a better operation. Wish you all the best in New York!

Jared Bentley | 7/7/2009 - 3:22 PM - ( Comment

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WAY TO GO BONE FIRE!!!!!!

Brother Early | 7/7/2009 - 3:22 PM - ( Comment

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