Coco Toth went out to get groceries on Saturday and brought home a strange man.

He took over her kitchen -- rifling through the cupboards, rummaging in the fridge and swilling the tequila her relatives send from Mexico.

Coco shrugged.

"Saves me from having to make dinner," she laughed, tossing back a shot of her own as cookbook author and barbecue celebrity chef Ted Reader whipped up a chow-down for the household.

"Cheers," she toasted her guest. "Welcome to my house."

Reader, whose nickname is King of the Q, was the grand prize in a draw that Coco entered at The Barn on Upper James Street, where he'd been doing food demonstrations in the rain for most of the day.

When Coco's name was peeled from the wad of soggy ballots, he packed up his custom-built Texas smoker and barbecue rig and towed it behind his big black pickup to the southwest Mountain home she shares with her husband, George.

Coco, who grew up in Mexico City in a family of nine, has one of those homes where everybody else seems to congregate. It could be empty one minute and full of neighbours or grandchildren the next.

So she was the perfect winner of Reader's promotional contest -- delighted to welcome him to her kitchen and infinitely more hospitable than the woman who once told him she couldn't stand him, that barbecuing was her husband's thing and that she wished Reader would get out of her house.

"The place was filthy anyway," said Reader, who swept into the Toths' house with all the fixin's for his fest, along with his chef Trevor (T-Bone) Jewer and two comely student assistants known as The Briquettes.

The gang grew quickly with the addition of the Toths' daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and Mike (a major barbecuer and Reader fan) Zaborsky; their visiting daughter-in-law Christine, her toddler and baby; family friends Derek and Sandra Golba and their two little ones; and a reporter and photographer who were obligated to partake of the repast in the name of research.

While the ribs, sausages and drumsticks basked in the heat of Reader's grills-on-wheels, the big blustery man himself -- head-to-toe in black save for his red socks -- was in the kitchen, furiously slicing, dicing and making everything but julienne fries.

George didn't wait for a plate or even a chair. He started gnawing on the gooey ribs while standing at the kitchen counter.

The menu consisted of an Asian coleslaw of napa cabbage, snap peas, bean sprouts, cucumbers and green onions tossed with Reader's Saki-Teriyaki Marinade; a warm grilled veggie dish of peppers, zucchini, red onions and eggplant with his Shirazamataz Balsamic Steak Marinade; fire-roasted corn on the cob, cooked in the husk and basted with butter, beer and the chef's Honey Lager Mustard; and roasted mini white potatoes dressed with hot sauce he found in Coco's cupboard and Red Neck White Burger Sauce, his mayo, garlic, peppers and horseradish concoction.

Then the meats: Smoked baby back ribs with Crazy Canuck Sticky Chicken and Rib BBQ Sauce, Johnsonville bratwurst with Peach and Bourbon Grilling Sauce and chicken drumsticks rubbed with Better Butter Burger Seasoning.

Even the appetizer was cooked on the barbecue -- cedar-planked Brie spread with peach and bourbon sauce and topped with fresh raspberries. Coco's oven was only used for dessert -- chocolate brownies layered with peanut butter, strawberry jam, coconut flakes, butterscotch chips and chocolate chips.

Anyone counting the calories yet?

"This is real food for real people," said Reader, a sizable man who was going home to Toronto for a lobster dinner with his wife.

"I want everybody to have fun on their grill.

"You shouldn't feel stressed out when you're going into your backyard to cook."

With hugs and handshakes all around, he gathered up his staff and his stuff and was gone.

He didn't do the dishes.

mnolan@thespec.com

905-526-4689