CHILI TIMES AT WBAP

Diversify your interests! Spread your risks! Listen to the wisdom of your investment advisor. Radio station WBAP in Fort Worth did. Starting this month, the station is opening a chili parlor-in its company kitchen. Now you can slurp down a bowl of red while looking into the bustling newsroom of one of AM radio’s country stations.

Morning disc jockey Joe Halstead will prepare the chili himself. He says that the restaurant will be “very, very exclusive.” (But that’s by necessity: The company kitchen is only ll-by-13, including space for two soft-drink machines, a candy machine, a sink, a refrigerator and a stove.) Two round tables that seat four each will accommodate noontime customers,

and, as could be expected, seating is by reservation only. The tables will be covered with butcher paper; paper towels will be provided in lieu of napkins. Ice water or tea will be offered with each meal, but if that doesn’t suit you, Halstead says that the soft-drink machine is “right convenient-if you have the change.”

Chili, chili and more chili (in that order) will be offered, with side orders of red beans and rice. Halstead says that the chili will be “Texas red-style chili-not some dishwasher stuff with beans or corn thrown in.” But for those who want variety, there are plenty of options: “chili with beans thrown in, chili with rice thrown in, rice with beans thrown in or chili, rice and beans served separately.”

But Halstead says that if this mixing and matching goes on in his chili parlor, the customers will have to do it behind his back. (Halstead will act not only as cook but also as waiter.)

Halstead, who has judged more than 150 chili cookoffs, will offer a number of styles of chili, ranging from “Halstead’s 360” (“One bite will make you go off in all directions”) to “LBJ’s Favorite Chili” to “Weight Watcher’s Chili” (made with tuna) and “Cireaseless Chili.” The chili king will prepare all of the dishes the night before they are served (he says that chili tastes best when it sets overnight).

The price will be $5 for all the chili you can eat, with a percentage of the profits benefiting various charities.

As yet, no flashy names have been received. Halstead thinks it will just wind up being called “The Chili Kitchen.” He says, “I’d like to call it something more exotic, like the Texas Red Repository on the Hill. But heck, it’s just an old kitchen.”