Roxana man's "Rage Against the Kitchen" to receive European coverage

ROXANA – One Roxana man's “Rage Against the Kitchen” will be broadcast to an international audience in coming months.

Ryan Szymarek described himself as a “blue collar, barbecue single dad” kind of guy as he sat on his back porch to “take in the last day” Monday afternoon. Szymarek had just finished six and a half hours of shooting with a crew from Germany's Galileo television network featuring notable German Chef Timo Hinkelmann. Szymarek said producers for the show discovered his Instagram page, called Rage Against the Kitchen, and liked what they saw.

“I finally asked them yesterday why they decided to come all the way from Germany to little old Roxana to see a backyard grill,” Szymarek said Monday evening. “The producer said people working for her found me on Instagram and liked my personality and brand. I guess they liked what I was putting out there.”

Rage Against the Kitchen on Instagram features various photographs of Szymarek's backyard grilling and smoking pit as well as the sort of food made on them. It also features Szymarek grilling with his son, Tyler, who was in nearly every shot of the show filmed in their Roxana backyard.

For the show, however, Szymarek said he did not create one of the many experimental recipes he concocts while perusing Shop N' Save. Instead, he said, he wanted to give them a taste of what a real Midwestern cookout feels like. For that special St. Louis flare, Szymarek said he picked up some pork steaks from Shop N' Save.

The film crew followed Szymarek into Shop N' Save, which he said required asking permission, to view his process. Szymarek admitted most of his ideas come from going to the grocery store and asking himself what would sound good to make.

He glazed the pork steaks with some peach bourbon barbecue sauce, and also made macaroni with smoked bacon. He said the entire crew hung around his backyard for the duration of the cookout, and stayed to sample the food.

From Roxana, Szymarek said the show was going to Chicago to film about hotdogs and then off to Austin, Texas, to most likely talk some more barbecue.

When asked if the show will be in English or German, Szymarek said they interviewed him in English, but spoke to Chef Hinkelmann in German, so he assumed it would be in German. He said it will be available on YouTube shortly after airing in Germany.

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