Famous Dave Anderson had his first barbecue experience at the age of six and he hasn't looked back since. At age twenty he began experimenting with his own barbecue, concocting secret sauces and smoking meats in garbage cans.

Since those humble beginnings, Famous Dave has spent 25 years traveling across the United States - down dusty back roads and side streets and into jumpin' blues joints, backwoods smokehouses, huge mesquite pits, country kitchens, rowdy roadhouses, lakeside lodges and rustic cabins - searching for great barbecue and authentic American comfort food. Inspired by the legendary meals he tasted along the way, Dave would return home and try his hand at re-creating his favorite road-trip recipes.

It worked. Famous Dave has "The Best Barbecue Sauce in America" according to the American Royal Barbecue contest (the barbecue biggie) in Kansas City as well as the Great American Rib Cookoff in Cleveland and the Twin Cities Ribfest.

Today, Dave's taste has made him truly famous. Well, at least in certain parts of the country. Folks in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota are no strangers to Famous Dave's. They flock to his Barbecue Shacks and Blues 'N Ribs joints in droves. Can the rest of the country be far behind?

Very likely. Famous Dave is an award-winning entrepreneur with a knack of turning everything he touches into gold. Combine that with the fact the food at Famous Dave's is first rate - not at all what's expected at a chain restaurant-and you've got a winning combination. But it wasn't always so. Famous Dave wasn't always famous. In fact, this multi-millionaire's beginnings are quite humble.

The son of a Choctaw father and Chippewa mother, Dave was raised in a blue collar Chicago neighborhood. He started his first business by the age of 20, but things got off to a rocky start when he was forced into bankruptcy. Dave says he went through some desperate times, being so down at one point that he was digging through the seat cushions for change to buy milk for his kids.

But Famous Dave is an amazing man, who doesn't know the meaning of the words "give up." From his tenuous business beginnings, he went on to receive a Master's Degree from Harvard (yes, the Harvard) University, without the benefit of having an undergraduate degree. He managed businesses for his mother's tribe, the Lac Courte Ojibwa in Wisconsin, and helped form and manage Grand Casinos and the Rainforest Cafè.

But no matter what other directions Dave's life took, he never lost his passion for barbecue, continuing to pick up recipes and hone his sauces wherever his travels took him. His passion for down home cooking has propelled Dave to the top of a culinary empire of 22 restaurants with more in the works. He takes great pride in insuring that the food at Famous Dave's is the best it can possibly be, made with the finest ingredients. Great barbecue takes time and no shortcuts are ever taken.

To Famous Dave, barbecue is a religious experience. That passion is evident in every bite of food served at one of Famous Dave's restaurants.

Cheri Sicard: Hi Dave, nice to meet you.

Famous Dave: Even over the phone.

Cheri Sicard: Even on the phone. Well, we kind of met you through your restaurant. We had a wonderful time at Famous Dave's Ribs 'N Blues in Chicago. It was the perfect Chicago evening. Great barbecue accompanied by the Sweetheart of the Blues, Miss Bonnie Lee!
Famous Dave: Perfect. That makes me happy.

Cheri Sicard: Made us happy too. The food was great, way better than we expected.
Famous Dave: You know, we have won a lot of awards for our food and we take great pride in having whatever it is - whether it's the beans, the coleslaw, the catfish or whatever it is the best it can be. Typically you can't find better, and if you did, and you know where it is, you let me know 'cause I will fly there this afternoon and I will steal that recipe.

Cheri Sicard: You're shameless!
Famous Dave: You know what, my whole commitment is to having the best.

"People who love great barbecue are fanatics, they have smokers that are made out of refrigerators. They have smokers that are made out of trashcans. They are always trying to figure out the ultimate, the best way to create barbecue, it's almost an obsession."

Cheri Sicard: That's a good commitment. Everything was great.
Famous Dave: There is nothing shameful about it at all.

Cheri Sicard: You even had the best Bloody Marys ever.
Famous Dave: Well, that's because they are made with our double-spit barbecue sauce.

Cheri Sicard: I thought it was barbecue sauce. It was really great. Well, this interview is going to go online with our barbecue issue so that may be a good place to start talking. What's great barbecue to you?
Famous Dave: Well, I think really great barbecue, first of all, is the time-honored tradition of the way championship cook masters slow smoke their meat way down in the deep South. To me, it is slow smoking over smoldering hickory, where you take and render all the fat out of the meat and the meat is just fully bathed in the smoky aromas of smoldering hickory. That's a whole lot different than what a lot of people think barbecue is. I can't tell you how many people say, 'I boil my ribs and then I take and bake them.' Then they grab some store-bought sauce and they drown it in that store-bought sauce. To me that's mamby-pamby barbecue. That ain't the real thing.

I think really great barbecue, first of all, starts off with a great meat. Then it's taking it and either marinating it, sometimes in fruit juices, then it's fresh grinding your seasonings before you hand rub them onto the meat and it's slow smoking it. Then it's charring it over a charcoal fire and caramelizing a homemade secret recipe. Basically, it's a very long process. People who really love barbecue are very passionate about what they do. To them, there is no time frame. It just takes a long time. It isn't something that you try to do quickly in an hour.

Cheri Sicard: There are no short cuts?
Famous Dave: There are no short cuts to really great barbecue - whether it's the hand grinding of the seasonings or whether it's cutting your meats. People who love great barbecue are fanatics, they have smokers that are made out of refrigerators. They have smokers that are made out of trashcans. They are always trying to figure out the ultimate, the best way to create barbecue, it's almost an obsession.

Cheri Sicard: So, outside of your own restaurants, where have you found the best barbecue?
Famous Dave: I always tell people that barbecue is almost like a religion. It is a religious experience for me that has taken me on a religious pilgrimage for over 25 years now. I have been to every shrine of barbecue all over this country -- literally thousands over the years. I have been to the great mesquite pits down in Texas. I have been to the little smokehouses in the foothills of Georgia and the Carolinas. I have been to the storefront barbecue shacks in Chicago, Memphis, and Kansas City. To me, it's still the Ma and Pa operators that really have the last bastion of barbecue. Some of the great ones are the Rendezvous in Memphis. There is a place called Morris's Grocery in Cordova outside of Memphis. There is Lems Barbecue, 59th and State Street in Chicago, most people would not go there after 4 o'clock, but they don't open until 4 o'clock. There are always little storefront barbecue shacks that are sprinkled all over the country. Those are some of my favorites right off the top of my head.

Cheri Sicard: I agree with you that the best barbecue is often at the Mom and Pop's, which is why we were really surprised at the quality of food at Famous Dave's, it wasn't what we were expecting. It was great!
Famous Dave: I think that if you want to make a criteria, we are drawing a line in the sand here, but is it only a Ma and Pa...I agree with you because a lot of the places like Tony Romas are like some corporate deal. We have tried very hard not to be corporate. Not one of our restaurants is like any of the others. They are all different. I really have lived this business. I am not some marketing kid genius that graduated out of some Ivy League school and went to work for a big company like General Mills or Pillsbury and then the whole idea was concocted in some corporate boardroom.

"The same way that Muslims all face Mecca when they pray, all of my ribs, when they are in the smoker, they all face Memphis. To me, the Holy Trinity is meat, sauce and smoke. When I open my doors to my smoker, the smoke comes out. That's nothing more than prayers going up to heaven. That's how passionate I am about barbecue."

I have lived this stuff. I have barbecued in my back yard. I have literally smoked up tons and tons of meat. I have burned up tons of meat. I have made sauces until the sun was coming up. So, to me, I have lived my passion. I have been to every barbecue shrine in America. The same way that Muslims all face Mecca when they pray, all of my ribs, when they are in the smoker, they all face Memphis. To me, the Holy Trinity is meat, sauce and smoke. When I open my doors to my smoker, the smoke comes out. That's nothing more than prayers going up to heaven. That's how passionate I am about barbecue.

Cheri Sicard: You must be a connoisseur of barbecue like other people are connoisseurs of wine?
Famous Dave: I think there's a difference between somebody who is obsessed with barbecue and somebody who is a connoisseur of wine. Connoisseurs of wine don't end up with barbecue sauce all over their faces, dripping down to their elbows. We really give in to this. It's not as refined. People who are connoisseurs of wine are very refined. We're obsessed. We're fanatics. There is nothing refined in what we do.

Cheri Sicard: If you wouldn't have wine, what is the best drink to have with barbecue?
Famous Dave: I think strawberry pop.

Cheri Sicard: Strawberry pop?
Famous Dave: Or a Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. That's some of the traditional ones, what you would regularly find. I think that at most of your barbecue shacks down in the South, it's probably sugar tea, strawberry pop or cold frosty beer.

Cheri Sicard: So you obviously must be passionate about road trips as well. From reading your history, you did a lot of travelling on the road and looking for barbecue recipes. Is that something you still do? Do you still just get the car and go?
Famous Dave: Yes! Actually we just came back from Houston where we must have hit twenty barbecue shacks in two days... well, more like ten. Typically, what I will do is fly into a city and we will visit as many restaurants as possible. I typically look for home cooking restaurants.

There are enough fancy restaurants out there, I leave that to other people. What I look for is good home cooking which is similar to my cookbook. It's all the food that we love. It's all the food that we grew up with; it's the memories; it's America's food.

This isn't fancy Italian cooking, this isn't fancy French cooking, this is what every mom does in her kitchen all across America. That's where my heart and passion is. That's how the name of the cookbook came to be, Backroads and Sidestreets, because in my travels I would typically ask a cab driver or a hotel person, 'Who has the best home cooking in town?' They would either send me down some country back road where I would find some road house café or they would send me down some city side street where I would find some storefront restaurant. You knew you were in the right place because when you walked in the door you could see Ma and Pa cutting up fresh onions. Things are still made from scratch, not out of a plastic bag out of some freezer.

Cheri Sicard: The cab drivers always know.
Famous Dave: That's right.

Cheri Sicard: The cookbook that you did is great in that it supports a charity and I want to talk to you about that and let our readers about the great work you are doing.

Famous Dave: The Mino-Giizhig Fund, first of all...I don't believe that I would be here today if God hadn't had His hand over my life. I really believe that because other people have given me second chances in life that...I always tell everybody today that my higher purpose of life is being able to make a positive difference in the community. Actually I have a very active speaking schedule where I will speak to colleges, high schools, community groups. There was a time in my life where I was digging between the seat cushions to find change so I could buy milk for my children. I know how agonizingly embarrassing it is to ask my wife for her jewelry so I could take it to a pawnshop just to pay rent. I have been there. So today, I really believe because God has blessed me with a great palette, that I am able to create great recipes. We have been successful. Even when I do my training at Hog Heaven University where we have all of our young people come when they are first getting into Famous Dave's, I always tell them that this isn't about Dave Anderson, this isn't about Famous Dave's. And if you really understand what's going on, you will understand that this is about making a difference in the community.

Today I really believe that my whole purpose in life is to make a positive difference in our community. All of the proceeds, all of the money that comes from the sale of this cookbook is going to help disadvantaged children. Last April I personally donated $1.4 million to help start this fund. So far we have helped put 15 kids through alcohol and drug abuse treatment. We have helped build a roof for a school for disadvantaged children and we helped create a computer lab for an Indian tribe in northern Wisconsin working with Microsoft. A lot of good has come from the sale of this cookbook.

Cheri Sicard: That's wonderful. It's a beautiful book. I think everybody should get it.
Famous Dave: Everybody talks about how well their grandmother cooked and I tell people this cookbook is so wonderful, this is the one cookbook that your grandmother wished she had.

Cheri Sicard: You're right. That's a really good description of it. I also wanted to ask you about your own background growing up. What food traditions were like for you? I know you come from a Native American background. Was there barbecue in your family?
Famous Dave: It had a heavy, I think, Southern influence. My dad was a Choctaw Indian from Idabel, Oklahoma and my mom was a Lac Courte Chippewa Indian from Hayward, Wisconsin. You wouldn't think this happened in today's culture, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs took both my parents from their families. Typically, you would think this would be something that happened in Abraham Lincoln's Day. But this was both my parents and they were stuck in an Indian boarding school in Lawrence, Kansas, called the Haskell Institute. That's where they met. My dad became an electrician. They moved and got married and went to Chicago. My dad, every weekend, used to haul my mom down South until she learned how to cook Southern. That's how fanatical my family was about great home cooking.

Cheri Sicard: So it's not just you that's obsessed?
Famous Dave: No, it's a family tradition.

Cheri Sicard: Well that's a great tradition. A very great tradition that you're probably passing on to your children. Do they cook as well?
Famous Dave: Almost all of them do. We have a 30 x 40 foot kitchen in our house.

Cheri Sicard: Sounds like a dream house to me.
Famous Dave: It kind of is. You know, one of the things I have always said and one of the reasons why I always tell people I am not a chef but a cook, is that I really believe that a chef knows how to cut up a tomato a hundred and fifty-two ways, but I really believe that some of the best food made in America comes in family kitchens where moms have love and patience. Many times that food is tastier than anything you will find in some fancy restaurant because they are cooking with love.

Cheri Sicard: Right, there is heart and soul behind it, and the food is a lot more than just something to eat. That's really what we are trying to get across with our website as well. We really want to preserve people's culinary heritages. We have message boards where people can exchange recipes, holiday traditions and things like that. So we are kind of trying to accomplish the same thing.
Famous Dave: Good luck to you.

Cheri Sicard: Thank you and thanks for talking to us, Dave.