Hot As Hell.

Photo by John Manion / @juanmanjuan

We’re going to keep this cozy beach shack warm through a Chicago winter, which is no small potatoes. We’re generating heat in the form of the mountain of hot sauces John’s been making and stockpiling over the past few weeks. 

You see, we work with a number of local farmers and vendors in order to keep our menu full of the freshest and tastiest products out there. One partnership we’ve come to rely on is with Peter Klein at Seedling Farm in Michigan. Once John learned that Peter planted heirloom pepper seeds in the Spring, he bought the lot. No, really. All of them. Seriously, don’t ever give this guy a blank check when he’s within earshot of a farmer.

The weather that brought this crop to fruition was, in scientific terms, “conducive to all his peppers ending up hot as hell.” (If you’d prefer a layman’s translation: the peppers are really hot!)

We’re about halfway through the space in one of our coolers and there’s no end in sight. John has plans for every variety of seed he bought, and there’s a bunch: serrano, red jalapeno, habanero, scotch bonnet, piri-piri, havasu, limo amarillo and verde, aji amarillo and rojo. If you are able to describe or recognize all of those varieties of pepper: Congratulations, you are officially a pepper savant!