This summer we went to the I Love Barbecue Festival in Lake Placid, NY http://www.ilbbqf.com/ . It was a great experience!  From the sights of the teams preparing their tasty meat for the final contest, to the décor on each smoker, to the smells and most importantly the tastes of great food at every booth!

At the Draw 10 we love barbecue. One of our best selling sauces is our house made Barbecue sauce, I think JB puts it on everything he eats. It has quite a kick and fills your mouth with terrific flavors.  Our customers like it too, we find it going on burgers, pulled pork sliders, wings, chicken sandwiches and of course French fries!

The American obsession with barbeque made me start to wonder where it started from. After doing some reading, I discovered that our first president, George Washington loved to barbecue http://j.mp/r1stOn . For years, starting at Memorial Day, we have used the excuse of the barbecue to get our friends and families together to celebrate anything. I love it! The smell and sound of good food on the grill, cooking with friends and talking about family recipes is all part of what makes a summer great!

What do you love most about summer barbecues?

If you haven’t made it out to a festival, here is a great listing of events all around the country to check out http://j.mp/8Ncg8M

D10 recently had the pleasure of being part of an event to raise money for a little two year old boy named Brody
http://j.mp/jcvict .  Brody Blagen was diagnosed with AML (an aggressive form of Leukemia) and, by the end of the year, will have undergone four treatments of chemotherapy at Phoenix Children’s Hospital
http://j.mp/17L2KX.

At the event, I had some time to have a heartfelt conversation with his Mom, Kelli http://blagen.com/ and her story was moving.  The part that has changed my course was how she described the generosity of strangers to help her son and her family through this life changing event.  Kelli mentioned how she was overwhelmed with gratitude for everyone at the fundraiser, for out of 200 people, she only knew two!

I too, was fascinated with this, and we both shared how things like this, helped remind us how many wonderful people there are in the world.  Most of all how perfect strangers can come together and support a stranger in need.

Kelli also discussed about how it is not just the money people have donated, but their time, raising money, cooking meals, offering to care for her other daughter while she and her husband stay the night in the hospital with Brody.

Sometimes, I get too consumed in the events of my own life to reach out and give a little. Today, I was reminded of how powerful “a little” is to others, and truly, it isn’t “a little” but “a lot” to those who need it.

I will make a promise to you here, that I will make an effort to give more to those who I don’t know and continue the circle of kindness that so many carried  at this event for Brody. I encourage you to do the same.

If you’d like to stay updated on Brody’s progress, you can see Kelli’s updates on Facebook at
http://j.mp/kQeqAl.

As I was driving home at the end of the night, the only song that came to mind is “The Glory of Love” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2ShkYcemgU. It encompassed all of my feelings for the day.

What random acts of kindness have you experienced from strangers?

The Draw 10 is proud to support a benefit for the Blagen Family. Two and a half year old Brody Blagen was diagnosed with AML (an aggressive form of Leukemia) and, by the end of the year,
will have undergone four treatments of chemotherapy at Phoenix Children’s Hospital
http://j.mp/17L2KX . Please come out and support the Blagen family at this music showcase benefit with featured artists, a raffle and drink specials all night.
Schedule of Artists:

The Velvet Tongues – 2:30 to 3:30 pm

Meagan Gipson – 4:00 to 5:00 pm

Walleduci Project – 5:30 to 6:30 pm

Mason – 7:00 to 8:00 pm

We look forward to seeing you at this event! Please RSVP here
http://j.mp/iHllEK

The D10 team can’t believe it has been one year, since we took over this 20 year establishment on the Washington Street Corridor!

It has been an amazing year, full of great experiences and amazing people.

We want to thank all of you who have helped make this first year great, your support and encouragement has met so much to our whole team.

Specifically, we want to give “shout – outs” to the boys from Crescent Crown Distributing, Tempe Women & Ladies Rugby, ASU Rugby, #evfn and Girls Pint Out!

There are so many individuals behind the scenes we can’t begin to list; we are overwhelmed with gratitude to all of you!

What can you look forward to in year 2? A new menu, being rolled out this month! Your favorites are still there, just improved! A more extensive beer list and continued support of your local breweries will be a continued staple!

We have the Brody Braden benefit coming up on June 4 and we hope you can join us in the fight to raise money for this amazing two year old!

Thanks to everyone for helping make year 1 at the 10 great, we appreciate your business!

Anita & JB

The AZ Girls Pint Out and World Class Beverages hosted a great event at the Draw 10 last night. For those of you who couldn’t make it, here is a review of the events of the evening.

Chuck Knoll was an awesome leader for our ladies educating us on the path to IPA brilliance! With knowledge and humor, all the ladies enjoyed hearing the stories, fact and some fiction around what make these 6 IPA’s outstanding.

To get started we filled our plates with tasty D10 wings, both tradition and with our house-made BBQ sauce, along with some fresh cheese crisps and salsa, we wanted to have some good “spice” to accompany our palate with the IPAs.

Then Chuck poured  Sonoran Victorian IPA http://j.mp/gNfcPz The Victorian IPA is a wonderfully balanced IPA with lots of malt and hop character. It is relatively light and an IPA you can drink all day.

Then Chuck continued to pour this great variety of IPA’s:

1. Ska Modus Hoperandi  http://j.mp/awyAg5 I love this canned beer, fresh, hoppy flavor was great for my taste buds!
2. Ballast Point Big Eye IPA http://j.mp/dGRcHS It was fascinating to learn about Centennial hops and the difference between English an American IPA’s.
3. Breckenridge 471 IPA http://j.mp/jDgsC Anything brewed in Colorado I love, this was a bit “hoppy” for me, as I am not a traditional IPA drinker, I did appreciate its wheat flavor and it was the first time I had heard of “Fuggles” hops!
4. Anderson Valley Hop Ottin IPA http://j.mp/gHdSBX I am a huge fan of Anderson Valley beers and I loved this IPA, a nice alcohol content, amazing flavor and it washed down my jalapeño burger really well! I can’t wait for the new summer solstice to hit our bar.
5. He’Brew RIPA http://j.mp/hyQqJ4 This was the heavy hitter of the evening, with over 10% alcohol! The taste was complex with hops and it had a syrupy consistency, very unique!

As I mentioned, this was my first true education on IPA! We are grateful to World Class Beverage http://j.mp/fDzud0 and AZ Girls Pint Out http://j.mp/fDzud0 for brining the Style Series to the Draw 10. I hope you will come in and try some of these great IPA’s and continue to expand your BEER horizon!