In the world of barbecue, champion pitmaster Mike Mills is affectionately known as "The Legend." He presides over the pits at his seven nationally acclaimed barbecue restaurants - four 17th Street Bar & Grill restaurants in Southern Illinois and three Memphis Championship Barbecue restaurants in Las Vegas.

In the early 1990s he was co-captain of the Apple City Barbecue team, one of the most celebrated teams ever on the circuit. He is a four-time World Champion and three-time Grand World Champion at Memphis in May, otherwise known as the Super Bowl of Swine. He is also the 1992 Grand Champion of the Jack Daniel’s World Invitational Barbecue Cooking Contest and he won the Jack Daniel’s Sauce Contest that year as well.

Mike is the barbecue guru at and a partner in Blue Smoke restaurant in New York City. His book, Peace, Love, and Barbecue was nominated for a 2006 James Beard Foundation award and received the 2006 National Barbecue Association Award of Excellence. In October 2008 he was honored with the Pioneer of Barbecue award at the Jack Daniel’s World Invitational Barbecue Cooking Contest.

Here's more history if you're interested in that sort of thing and here are a few fun facts:

• Owner of seven nationally acclaimed barbecue joints - four 17th Street Bar & Grill restaurants in Southern Illinois and three Memphis Championship Barbecue restaurants in Las Vegas. Mike's restaurants operate under different names-but it's all Mike Mills's barbecue.
• Mike is the only barbecuer with top-security clearance to board Air Force One and he's the only barbecuer who’s been featured in Vogue magazine four times!
• Named Best Ribs in America by Bon Appétit magazine (Sept.'07) and featured on the Food Network special Bon Appétit Picks the Best.
• Restaurants & Institutions (Sept.'07) magazine called Mike America's "most-revered barbecue restaurateur."
• For 13 years Mike was the only three-time Grand World Champion at Memphis in May, otherwise known as the Super Bowl of Swine. His record was tied in 2007.