“Rob McDaniel keeps a cluttered war room. Crumples of balled-up loose leaf strewn about the floor, the script so small you can barely make out words like “prosciutto,” “padron,” and “porchetta” among the folds. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of cookbooks: lining the bookshelves, stacked on the floor, some piled in a heap on the table, now used as a makeshift armrest. An apothecary cabinet bulged in a corner, its haphazard drawers of cumin, curry, coriander, cast jagged shadows in the low light coming through the room’s only window. In the middle of it all, a map. And over that map hulked McDaniel.
There, in the map, Montgomery, beckoning - the prize of the River Region. McDaniel plotted for days in his stronghold on Lake Martin; he strategized, worked through plan after plan in his mind. This would not be Rob’s first invasion. In February 2012, Rob invaded Kitchen Stadium, ready to do battle with the culinary worlds keenest warriors. McDaniel used his secret weapon - Alabama Peach Moonshine - to help Chris Hastings unseat Bobby Flay, the “King of Sausage.” That invasion was successful, but Rob knew not to rest on his laurels. Montgomery would produce unique challenges all its own.”