GrillGrate 10 Year Anniversary Event 2017

We’ve got an Abaco Glow after the GrillGrate 10 Year Anniversary Party in the Bahamas.

It’s officially in the books. The GrillGrate celebration featuring Meathead in Paradise was a huge success. We thoroughly enjoyed hosting such a great group of people.  There are too many people to thank who helped us put on (or better yet pull off) this event.  It was really special to have 2 of our 3 children fly in to help host and entertain the 78 guests who joined us.  My wife Susan can now put event planner on her resume!  This event would not have happened without her dedication.

The local islanders proved yet again why Green Turtle Cay is so special.  They all rallied to help us make this trip special for Meathead and our guests.  The Green Turtle Club is an ideal venue for foodie events and their staff and accommodations are top notch.  Executive Chef Michael Howell was invaluable and hands-on for our grilling events.

We kicked off our first event setting up a pop up pizzeria on one of Green Turtle’s prettiest beaches.  We used 8 burner event grills topped with Bakerstone pizza ovens.  We had 4 Bakerstones on 2 event grills and grilled 50 gourmet pizzas in under an hour and a half.   Chef Michael has already integrated the Bakerstone into the Green Turtle Club’s food service operation.  We recommend this product highly to the back yard griller. Turn any gas grill into an amazing pizza oven.  Pies were cooking in 3-5 minutes with bubbling cheese and toppings fully cooked.

Following a lazy afternoon we kicked of Friday Night Steak Night at the Green Turtle Club.  We featured 3 different grills and techniques.  Snake River Farms was our sponsor and they provided beautiful eye of the rib eye steaks.  We had two Big Green Egg XL’s humming hot and fast.   Noah Glanville owner of Pit Barrel Cooker had his Pit Barrel putting out amazing steaks.  The Pit Barrel is  one versatile cooker!  Meathead featured the turbo method of grilling steaks hot over charcoal chimneys.   Our crowd was able to observe and interact with all the cookers.  We heard no complaints and had a blast firing up all the grills on the Green Turtle Club’s deck under the stars.

The next morning we fired up the event grills again- this time Meathead and GrillGrate’s Chef Michael grilled french toast for our guests.  They used GrillGrate Griddles to grill up a refreshing combination of French Toast and fresh fruit.  There was method to our madness as this day was our excursion day so it was good to get a decent breakfast in before we embarked on an island hopping cruise.

Abaco has its own version of swimming pigs and that was our first stop– No Name Cay.  Seeing the pigs swim and enjoy our company was a different perspective for most of us who delight in grilling various forms of pig.  We left No Name on the party barge headed for Munjack Cay- the bar on Sunset Marine’s party barge was busy!  CJ the DJ entertained our group the entire day and had the party dancing on the beach before it was all over!

On Munjack Cay we had the event grill in action again- this time with GrillGrates.  We grilled cheeseburgers along with Lincoln Jone’s famous fried potatoes and onions.  Meathead commented the burgers were perfect– high praise… crispy on the outside and pink in the center.  The gang enjoyed feeding the sting rays and turtles and the beach party lasted most of the afternoon.

We found time to film a little video riffing on Tom Hank’s Castaway movie.  Our son Will and Sara Ann from the Green Turtle Club were good sports and had fun hamming it up.

That night we wrapped up 4 days of grilling and chilling with a traditional Bahamian feast of lobster, grouper, peas & rice and Bahamian mac n cheese.  Eddie Bodie was on the dock making fresh lobster and conch salad giving demonstrations on how to clean conch and the virtues of the conch pistol. The Bahamian band New Entry had everyone dancing under the stars with a perfect end to a great day.

We are happy to be able to share this wonderful place with our group.   Green Turtle Cay and the Green Turtle Club were outstanding hosts and our guests equally outstanding. We packed a lot into 4 days and enjoyed every minute of it.

We got home from our 10^th anniversary event with Meathead and ran smack into trade show season!  Even still the Abaco glow remained with us for several days after returning from Green Turtle Cay. It always does.

Reminisce with us and view some images from this event below.

Watch a full recap of our trip now!