Jason Wiles and Bob Rhein, the guys who brought the Square Pub to downtown Decatur exactly one year ago, have done something just plain out cool. And maybe a wee bit crazy, but oh, so worth it.

Last week, they drove a Budget rental truck all the way from here to New Mexico, where they loaded up not one, not two, but three thousand pounds of premium green chiles in Hatch, New Mexico, plus a giant green chile roaster, plus a few ristras of dried red chiles (for good measure, I guess) and drove all of it the 1500 miles back to Decatur. They got home yesterday.

And did they rest? Why, no, they did not. These boys have set their roaster up on the Square, and right now, as I write, they are hand-roasting said three thousand pounds of green chiles. Tomorrow, Oct. 1, begins Decatur’s first annual green chile roast! Hooray!

“A lot of people hear ‘chili’ and they think of the stuff you get at Wendy’s,” says Jason, who lived in New Mexico for a few years. “But ultimately, one thing that has made us different is our use of green chile peppers in our menu. It’s a large part of our concept. So when we were thinking about how to celebrate our one- year anniversary, this seemed a natural fit. Hand-roasting this much chile is something you won’t find anywhere else in Georgia, or the southeast U.S. for that matter.”

What Bob (left), Jason, and three thousand pounds of green chiles at the Square Pub look like

So why go all the way to New Mexico for something you can get right here in Georgia? “Hatch, New Mexico, is the ‘Napa Valley’ of chile peppers,” Jason explains. “Hatch green chile has the best flavor and the most variety. There’s a whole culture to how it’s selected, prepared and consumed, and you’ll be able to see the entire process happen here daily.”

You can read more about the festivities at the Square Pub website, but what I really encourage you to do is visit the pub’s facebook page, where Jason and Bob have posted some excellent videos of their quest — nay, their pilgrimage — westward. A hero’s journey, really.

Green chile deviled eggs!? Heck yeah!