Heartburn
The trash-talkin’ inheritor of the original chili crown does not go gentle when it comes to the competition.
By Donna Covrett
Photograph by Ryan Kurtz
Joe Kiradjieff, former owner of Empress Chili and 79-year-old son of Tom Kiradjieff—the reputed creator of Cincinnati-style chili—semi-retired this year when he sold the family business to Jim Papakirk, son-in-law of John Johnson, the owner of Camp Washington Chili.
Where was the original Empress Chili? Vine between Eighth and Ninth. The library is sitting there now. There was a theater there in the ’20s and ’30s called Empress Burlesque. There were girls stripping there.
Simon Leis wouldn’t allow that now. Probably not. My father had a little corner. Had about five tables in it, that’s about it.
You worked for your father… I started full-time in 1949 at 19 [and] took over in 1953. [By then] my father and uncle [had] moved to Fifth Street, where the Chiquita building is now. We served 700 to 900 people for lunch every day between 11 and 2. Thirteen tables and a counter. Nearly 3,000 coneys at lunch, which were two for a quarter most of the years. P&G was right behind us, and on Thursdays all the secretaries came in for lunch. Some of those girls were pretty. I’ll tell you, everybody showed up for work on Thursdays. Met my wife there in 1969. She always ordered three-ways.
Why does Skyline get the credit for inventing Cincinnati-style chili? [The Lambrinides family, original owners of Skyline] didn’t invent nothing. Nick Lambrinides worked for my father as a counter man, grill man. The two brothers, Bill and Chris [Nick’s sons], started working for my father and my uncle in ’48 when they graduated from Western Hills High School, and worked for about a year.
Are you saying they stole—or borrowed—the idea? I don’t know if they stole the idea or not. One day one of them came to me and said, “We’re thinking about opening our own restaurant, a chili place…”
Did you remain friends with the Lambrinides family? Well, if I saw them on the street, I’d say, “Hi, how ya doin’?”
Have you ever tinkered with the recipe? We have not changed the formula in 87 years. My father once said, “If you change the recipe you might as well lock the front door.” Why ruin a good thing? Read the ingredients on this can of Gold Star Chili. It’s all garbage; none of it’s any good.
What’s in the Empress spice mixture? Cinnamon? Allspice? Chocolate? I’m not tellin’ ya, but there’s no chocolate. Who ever heard of puttin’ chocolate in chili? It doesn’t take an Einstein to figure that one out. It tells you one thing: They don’t know what the hell they’re doing over there. Both Gold Star and Skyline put more junk in their chili than Carter’s got pills. I ate Skyline once in the ’70s. Once was enough.
Do you still eat your chili? I got heartburn, so “No,” if you’re talkin’ to my doctor. I like the chili-spaghetti with onions and beans. I used to put a lot of hot sauce on it, but now it’s burned out my stomach. That’s what the chili does to you—it burns you out.
Originally published in the July 2009 issue.