There’s no question David Heatley’s career is hot right now.
The appropriately-named Fox Valley chef just returned from the NYC Hot Sauce Expo, where his creations won four big awards, including the best-in-show for his “Dead to Me” super-sizzlin’ concoction.
Over 200 vendors touting some 5,000 sauces were at this New York City expo, which is considered the “most prestigious in the country,” according to Heatley. So it’s no wonder the Montgomery man was on an adrenalin rush when we met just a few days after he brought home the “Grand World Champion” trophy from the fest.
“I was not expecting this,” he told me. “There are a lot of hot sauces out there.”
No kidding. Spicy food in general is having its moment, and when it comes to sauces, the hotter the better. But Chef Heatley’s Hot Pepper Farm doesn’t go for the “gimmick just to make you cry,” he told me.
“I’m a chef. I can’t control the individual tolerance people have for hot sauces. So I focus on the flavor.”
It seems to be a winning strategy. Not only did he claim the ultimate prize at the expo, Heatley’s products also earned titles as best mustard sauce and best label.
For the 50-year-old artisan chef, it’s all about perfecting his craft.
Born and raised in Elgin, Heatley traveled the country in his 30-plus-year career in the culinary field, which included working with big names like Applebee’s and Morton’s steakhouse. He spent the last two decades here in the Fox Valley, mostly as an executive banquet chef. But his job at White Pines Golf Club in Bensenville came to a screeching halt when COVID-19 hit and “we lost two and a half years worth of weddings and golf outings.”
So like most people during the pandemic who suddenly found themselves with a whole lot of idle time, Heatley picked up a hobby – growing peppers on his Montgomery property, where he lives with his wife and two young daughters.
The longtime chef ended up making a couple hundred bottles of sauces in his garage, giving them out to friends and family – “mostly to get rid of them” – while also “doing a few local markets.” But as more of those consumers began raving about his product, “I thought, maybe there’s something to this.”
Five years later, Chef Heatley’s Hot Pepper Farm has produced over 70,000 bottles of nine varieties of hot sauce, has a staff of 17 and is covering 700 events a year from coast to coast. Those include hot sauce expos (like the one at Louis Joliet Mall in Joliet on July 18-19), craft fairs, auto shows, art shows and summer festivals.
Heatley grows around a half-dozen varieties of peppers himself, but the magic is really in how the sauce is put together, he insisted, noting each type is created to be paired with specific foods – from pizza and mozzarella sticks to fish, chicken and beef to tacos and burritos to omelets and avocado toast.
All three of of his NYC Hot Sauce Expo winners come from Heatley’s limited edition: The grand prize “You Are Dead to Me” – also champ in the “XXX Hot Sauce” category – doesn’t just bring the heat. It carries a likeness of Kevin O’Leary on the bottle, a friendly jab at the “Shark Tank” investor for famously dismissing hot sauce as unprofitable.
Especially popular – and one he’s considering bringing back – is the first-place mustard sauce “Da Pope,” in honor of our Chicago area born-and-raised pontiff. And best label went to Heatley’s Smashin’ Punkin’ sauce that honors the Windy City’s legendary alternative rock band.
To celebrate his big expo win last weekend, Chef Heatley’s Hot Pepper Farm is offering 26% off pre-orders on gift boxes of these limited editions which, like all the sauces, are made, packaged and distributed at his warehouse/storefront on Railroad Street in Sandwich.
Heatley admits to putting in crazy hours, and after this weekend, the business will likely only get hotter. Still he took time from a busy schedule to get samples to me — despite my warning that, unlike most of the males in my life, I’m not a fan of food that needs a warning level.
No problem, Heatley insisted, noting he’s got products for all tolerance levels, and recommending the “Knucklehead” that’s got some zing but is mild enough for “kids and their chicken nuggets.” (I did indeed enjoy it – on my lasagna in the evening and scrambled eggs in the morning).
Undoubtedly Chef Heatley is on a hot streak. Which brings me back to his name and what sounds as much like destiny catching up as it does branding.
“I’ve been a chef for 30 years. Lifers like me don’t get into the foodie stuff,” he told me. “And it just felt too pretentious to name (the business) after myself. But family and friends twisted my arm and convinced me it was ‘right in front of you.’”
In the end, nothing beats a hot sauce with a true signature flavor.
dcrosby@tribpub.com
