What is a Cincinnati Chilibomb ?

Tim Brice founder explains.

I lived in Cincinnati with my parents during my youth in the late 60s for a short while and then again from 1971 to 1979. During this period I was taken to Cincinnati’s Chili parlors of which there are many, on a regular basis. Later in life I became a restaurateur running many of Londons iconic Restaurants such as Kensington Place, River Café,

 Jo Allen, Baltic, My Old Dutch to name but a few. But the spicy taste of the Cincinnati Chili always stayed with me and I wanted to create a dish based on this particular style of chili.

The Idea

I thought that people in England wouldn’t appreciate the traditional Cincinnati method of eating chili which is with Spaghetti, onion and cheese and the thought of serving  it with rice, as we do in Britain was not really the way forward so I created the Cincinnati Chilibomb. It's an aromatic, not too spicy chilli served in a freshly baked brioche sphere with a choice of onions (cooked 3 ways), cheese (3 types) and chilibomb sauces to add the level of heat that you desire from Habenaro all the way up to Carolina Reaper (the hottest chilli in the world) infused oil. You choose. 

The Recipe

I live on a barge on The Grand Union canal and during lockdown, furloughed I made chili, lots and lots of chili. 

I tried every Chili recipe I could find from Gordon's to Grandma's. I tasted, prepared, made spread sheets, noted comments from from friends and family and those found strolling along the towpath. 

I then studied the results and set about preparing what I believe to be the perfect chili recipe. 

The Cincinnati Chilibomb was born.