Bradley Colter and Breana Via had just started dating when Colter invited Via to a barbecue competition. Little did they know that coming together was the start of a personal and professional success story.

Colter became involved in competitive barbecue competitions to spend time with friends, gauge how his barbecue compared to the competition and improve his technique. Via caught the barbecue bug at that first competition she attended with Colter in Excelsior Springs, Mo.

“We rolled in, and I just remember looking at all of the rigs and the smokers and I was in awe,” Via said.

Before the day ended, Via had visited each cook site. She asked questions, took pictures and listened to their stories about starting out in competitive barbecue and the challenges of cooking during Covid. The experience left her enamored by the camaraderie and generosity of spirit among the competitors.

“When they say barbecue family, that’s what I fell in love with,” she said. “And even if somebody doesn’t know you, if you’re next to them at a barbecue comp and you need something, if they’ve got it to give, they’re going to give it to you. And you don’t find that sense of community just anywhere.”

Colter chimed in, “This is when I knew I had her hooked and I was going to get some really cool toys in the future. That was kind of the side benefit there, you know?”

The couple’s big break came at the inaugural Made for KC BBQ Championship where the Smoke ‘n Magic BBQ team took Grand Champion honors and a grand prize of $25,000 and a one-year licensing deal to have their barbecue featured in the barbecue-themed restaurant and retail space of the new Kansas City International Airport terminal, which opened in early 2023. OHM Concession Group manages the location.

And just like that, a treasured pastime became the opportunity of a lifetime.

“When the Grand Champion was announced, I think it was the first time in my life I was ever actually speechless,” Via said. “I didn’t know what to say, and that’s saying a lot.”

MEAT+POULTRY: That was a big win for you; it wasn’t just $25,000, but it was your entry into this new development in Kansas City. Talk about what that means to you and what you both had to do to get ready for such an important debut.

Breana Via: Having the opportunity that OHM has given us with the space at the airport has been life changing, to say the least. And it’s such an honor to be a part of Kansas City history and to represent Kansas City barbecue as being one of the first experiences somebody might have when they come to Kansas City.

As far as what we had to do, we didn’t have an LLC, we didn’t have sauces and rubs. We didn’t have contract attorneys and trademark attorneys and all the other stuff. All we had was an accountant. But once again, in true barbecue family fashion, all of our friends that had experiences in the different areas with things that we were needing were saying, “Hey, I’ve got a name and a number for you, I’ll call them so that they’ll make sure that they take your call or, push you through to the top of the line so they don’t make you wait because you’re a new client.”

So just their help and guidance and OHM’s help and guidance; they met with us within 48 hours after we won and we’re like, OK, things are going to start happening; they’re going to start happening fast.

Bradley Colter: I think one of the coolest things that came out of this was we found a new family. We’ve had our barbecue family for the last two and a half years. But now we’ve found a new family — we call it our airport family and our OHM family. OHM, they have become like family to us.

Via: They’re just amazing people. They’re great to work with and, and they truly care about this city and, they care about the airport, which means a lot to us because this is our city.

M+P: So, without that background, not even having a brick-and-mortar location, how were you able to communicate the equipment that you were going to need onsite? How did you establish a workflow at the airport?

Via: The smokers and the layout of the kitchen and all the appliances were already in, so we did not have a say at that time. We actually went and practiced; we did recipe development in November and cooked. Then we did recipe development again; and then we cooked what we wanted to put on the menu. That was about a month before the airport opened (on Feb. 28).

We ended up with an amazing pitmaster with lots of experience which eased our mind a lot — knowing we were going to have someone with that kind of experience in there. It just made it so easy to move in there and show that pitmaster, OK, here’s our rubs, here’s our sauces, here’s our techniques. Go.

We had to make it as close to competition barbecue as we could, but for a restaurant. That was our goal and we worked with the pitmaster to take what his experience was in the barbecue restaurant and what we knew from competition barbecue.

But the most difficult thing was the unknown as far as the volume. Because it’s an airport, it’s not a traditional restaurant that has breakfast, lunch and dinner rushes — you are very busy throughout the whole day. How does that translate?

Or, if a flight gets delayed, then you get an influx of like 30 to 50 people at once. So, we are the biggest space in the entire airport with our barbecue being served in four different sections, or experiences. That’s 8,000 square feet of space.

Brad Colter and Brea Via of Smoke ‘n Magic (Source: Bradley Colter, Smoke ‘n Magic)

 

M+P: So, you start up the airport location in February and then the NFL Draft came to Kansas City two months later. What was that experience like?

Via: Thursday (April 27) was insane! I’ve sold a lot of meat, but never that much meat in one day. I mean, it was eight solid hours, and you couldn’t see the end of the lines. I think they went through something like 70 briskets and countless pork butts.

And then on Saturday, getting to come out and actually do the competition piece. That was a lot of fun. Just the names of the people and the legacy of the people that we were on stage with to represent Kansas City barbecue. It was amazing. We had, you know, Jones KC, we had Slaps, we had Plow Boys, Burnt Finger, it was just amazing.

Colter: A bunch of the old guard of barbecue was there. It was awesome to be on stage with some of the legends of Kansas City. And just rubbing shoulders with them and talking barbecue with them. Q39 was down there, Arthur Bryant’s, Jack Stack was down there. Just anybody that was anybody in Kansas City barbecue was there. It was cool.

M+P: You have the airport restaurant; you’ve done the draft. What is next for Smoke ‘n Magic?

Via: That is the million dollar question. We kind of want to open something — we don’t know if it’s a brick and mortar, or if we want to do catering, or a food trailer. But people are asking for where can they get Smoke ‘n Magic food that’s not at the airport.

We’d be fools not to give that to people, because they’re asking for it. I have a concept that I want to do, it’s just a matter of can we get the funding to do it?

We would want to do it in Grain Valley (Missouri) where we live. I think there’s such a need for that. There’s two Mexican food places and a bar; the rest is fast food. So, there’s room and the city wants it.