Copyright Chicago Tribune
Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora was the place to bring the heat Sunday as the brewery/restaurant and the Aurora Regional Fire Museum offered the ninth annual Sound the Alarm fundraiser and chili cook-off contest. Guests paid $35 for a bowl of chili, a beer ticket, a dessert and a thank-you gift with all proceeds going to help the fire museum. Sponsored by Dolan & Murphy, Inc. commercial real estate in Aurora, the event, according to a press release, helps the museum continue its mission “to preserve the legacy of the fire service” through “regional collections, exhibits and fire safety education programs.” Myron and Lenore Nier from Hinckley are regulars at the yearly event. “We’ve been coming here for years and we know they have the chili and the Bears’ game,” Lenore Nier said Sunday. “We’re chili fans, but we like the beer. I think supporting something like the local fire museum is a good idea. I taught school in West Aurora here and so there were a lot of children of firemen in my classes.” This year’s cook-off featured six area restaurants all vying for the best chili award based on guests’ feedback as well as a panel of judges. Jordan Jeffries, owner of Strawberries BBQ, was back for the event. “We are hopefully back for our four-peat as we have won the last three years,” Jeffries said. “We won either Judges’ Choice or the Peoples’ Choice awards. We’ve had success because everything we make is with love. That’s the first ingredient. All of these recipes I’ve been eating since I was a kid.” Brian Failing, executive director of the Aurora Regional Fire Museum, said the event usually raises “over $10,000” for the museum. “People keep coming because it’s a different type of fundraiser, a different kind of idea, and having the chili competition – the restaurants really get into it and enjoy it every year,” he said. “You have the tried-and-true chili and others that put different ingredients in it and toppings and really make it unique. “We have one new restaurant – Giardino’s – who elected to come this year,” Failing added. “They’re Italian but, hey, they can make chili too.” Giardino’s bar manager Cara Lenhardt was on hand to supervise the chili offering and said the restaurant wanted to participate because “we really love the community and want to get our name out there.” “We’re coming up on our one-year anniversary and we wanted to experience something new and feed everyone,” she said. “We’re calling it Giardino wagyu-Calabrian chili. We use Calabrian chilis in a lot of our recipes for a little bit of heat. We started making this and testing it about a week ago and they finally perfected it a few days ago.” Daniel Dolan of Aurora, president of Dolan & Murphy, said the company has been sponsoring the event for five years and said the effort continues to be made on behalf of his father who passed away shortly before the sponsorship began. “I was on a board with Brian (Failing) and we got to talking and he didn’t know that my father was a fireman for a number of years so when he passed away, in honor of him, I just took it upon myself to say hey, I’d like to sponsor this for the first year,” Dolan said. “They came back to me the next year and the year after that and we said, sure, we’ll continue to sponsor this is honor of my dad and the Aurora Fire Department.” Rick Benhart of Palatine enjoys coming to the annual chili cook-off. “I’ve come before because I like the camaraderie with all the people that are here,” he said. “You get to try all the chilis but then you have to vote on one. For me, the winner is the one with the onions and the cheese and the spiciness or the sweetness of the chili. It’s the combination of everything, but they’re all good.” David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
