Grandson Prepares to Carry on a KC Barbecue Legacy

With a tip of his black bowler hat, Zach Krause, 26, is poised to carry on his 84-year-old grandfather’s barbecue legacy.

Krause’s grandfather is Ardie Davis, a folklorist, cookbook author, Barbecue News columnist and one of the founders of the Kansas City Barbeque Society, a nonprofit organization with 16,000 members worldwide that promotes competition barbecue and sponsors more than 400 sanctioned contests per year.

What started as a hobby of collecting bottles of barbecue sauces turned into a contest on his Roeland Park patio to choose the best in the land. That event evolved into The American Royal World Series of Sauce Contest. 

But when Davis was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2016, Krause realized he didn’t know that much about the culinary sport. 

“It wasn’t until Ardie and I started doing a bunch of barbecue stuff that I was like, ‘The people are super cool and the food’s incredible,” Krause says.

At 17, the minimum age to earn a KCBS judging certification, Krause leaned in and learned how to identify excellent competition ‘cue. “The example I always bring up: People love fall-off-the-bone ribs,” Krause says. “It’s a great thing for cooks to make, but for competitions that’s overcooked.”

Davis helped write the judging criteria, as well as compose an oath to swear by:

I do solemnly swear objectively and subjectively to evaluate each Barbeque meat that is presented to my eyes, my nose, my hands and my palate. I accept my duty to be an Official KCBS Certified Judge, so that truth, justice, excellence in Barbeque and the American Way of Life may be strengthened and preserved forever.

Davis became recognized for delivering the oath while dressed as his barbecue alter ego Remus Powers, PhB., wearing the costume of a 1900s butcher, including a bowler hat, bowtie, an apron Davis bedazzled with rib bones and a sauce tasting spoon on a string.

Shy and soft-spoken, Davis originally created his character and barbecue rituals to overcome social anxiety.

“Creating this character in this world helped do that,” Davis says. “You meet people that you wouldn’t meet otherwise, from different parts of the country, different professions. You know, it’s opened so many doors. I wouldn’t have met Julia Child. I wouldn’t have met Willie Nelson.”

As Davis finishes writing his 12th cookbook, due out in 2027, he continues to deliver the oath at The American Royal World Series of Barbecue. But he has passed the torch to his grandson for out-of-town engagements, including Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tenn., a pinnacle of achievement for many teams.

“Performing on stage while you’re in a costume is one thing but everyone’s staring at me, and repeating after me,” Krause says. “I’m just a regular, random person until people find out, ‘Oh, that’s Ardie’s grandson.’ But I’m starting to build my own connections with people rather than just being Ardie’s shadow.” 

While a student at the University of Kansas, Krause proudly wore the Big Jay mascot costume and since graduating has continued to serve as the Sporting KC’s backup mascot, Blue. 

Now he’s working on his own barbecue costume. 

“I think rituals endure beyond us,” Davis says as he poses for a photo with Krause, who wears a twin bowler, a hallowed piece of the legacy his grandson vows will live on.

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