Linkdown: 4/1/20

With the recent return to curbside service as a result of social distancing, Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge returns to its roots of carhops

Last week’s Smoke Sheet examined how barbecue joints are adapting to Covid-19

Horn Barbecue in Oakland is raising money to help feed the community during covid-19

Josh Bowen of John Brown Smokehouse is raising money for ER workers in NYC

Neil McClure of McCure’s Barbecue and the Deswine Intervention competition team smoked barbecue for Children’s Hospital workers last weekend in New Orleans

The Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest has been rescheduled to Sept 30-Oct 3

There is no ‘I’ in barbecue

Johnson Family Barbecue in Durham had a recent incident with a Postmates driver and the owner Wayne Johnson has made things worse by responding to negative Yelp reviews with racist and inflammatory language

The death of barbecue hash was perhaps premature, writes Robert Moss for Southern Living

Pinkerton’s BBQ owner Grant Pinkerton is interviewed by The Andy Staple Show on The Athletic and discusses how his staff are dealing with Covid-19

Uncorked is a new Netflix movie set in a Memphis barbecue restaurant that serves…brisket?

WILBER’S BACK (soon)

Linkdown: 2/26/20

The Fusion BBQ Beer Fest claimed to be hosting an event at Dodger Stadium in June, only no one has heard of the organizers and there is a Dodger game that day

You say that South Carolina has 4 distinct barbecue regions? Not so fast my friend, says Robert Moss

More whole hog in Texas from Bryan Bingham of Bodacious BBQ in Longview, Russell Roegels with Roegels Barbecue in Houston, and Tyler Harp from Harp Barbecue in Kansas City

The 3rd annual BBQ Summit at the Lenoir County Cooperative Extension brought cook teams and judges from all over the state to Kinston last Saturday

Congrats to Vera’s Backyard Bar-B-Que of Brownsville, TX on being named an American Classic by the James Beard Foundation

Mighty Quinn’s BBQ will give sad Knicks fans good food options at the Garden

ICYMI, I wrote about barbecue on streaming TV for The Smoke Sheet in last week’s issue; read below

Friday Find: Armenian-influenced Texas barbecue on “No Passport Required”

Link to Episode (Skip ahead to 32:29 to 38:00; expires 3/15/20)

Chef-turned-pitmaster Arthur Grigoryan fell in love with Texas barbecue after a visit to Franklin Barbecue with his girlfriend some years ago. Since then, he has been on a mission with III Mas BBQ (pronounced “3 Mas” and named after the working-class district where Grigoryan’s dad grew up and worked in the meat business in Yerevan, Armenia) to fuse flavors from his native Armenia in a series of monthly pop-ups in his parent’s backyard in Sherman Oaks, CA.

That means barbecue sauces made with pomegranate molasses and rubs for brisket and beef ribs that include Aleppo pepper, fenugreek, and paprika. Grigoryan even smokes the meat in his offset Yoder Smoker over different kinds f woods which include red oak and almond wood.

For more information: iiimasbbq.com

Full Episode Description: Host Marcus Samuelsson arrives in sunny Los Angeles to meet with Armenians influencing the city’s food scene. Armenian food is diaspora food — the community is widespread, building homes in countries like Turkey and Syria following the Armenian Genocide.

Link to Episode (Skip ahead to 32:29 to 38:00; expires 3/15/20)

Linkdown: 10/2/19

Whole hog barbecue continues to catch on in Texas

Don’t worry about Texas barbecue though, as it continues to thrive around the world and in particular at Holy Smoke BBQ

EDIA Maps is featuring a NC barbecue joint every week in October; subscribe to their mailing list to get a more in-depth write up in your email inbox

Mighty Quinn’s has franchise locations in Dubai, the Philippines, and Taiwan (in addition to their 12 corporate locations in the greater NYC area) but will begin opening its first franchise locations in the US in Queens and Long Island

The NC State Fair this year will feature a number of new foods including a smoked turkey leg stuffed with turkey cracklins and mac and cheese

NoDa may some day get a barbecue joint, but it won’t be in the former Solstice Tavern; however the Mason Jar Group still hopes to bring a full-service barbecue restaurant to the neighborhood soon

Stubb’s to remain Stubb’s

John Tanner’s BBQ Blog visits Tank House BBQ & Bar in Sacramento and enjoyed both the brisket as well as the Pliny the Elder

All aboard the barbecue train!