Fat Guy

Here's the final list as it will be distributed on Sunday. You can also click below to download it as a .pdf file, with better formatting, if you want to print it out for personal use. nycbbq.pdf

Pitmaster CVs in general weren't a part of this project. I simply felt that Pearson, as the foremost trailblazer of New York City barbecue, required some explanation on account of his multiple ventures over time. The linebacker's credential was amusing enough that I couldn't resist.

I've heard old-timers tell of some older places (all of which, as far as I know, closed long ago) but I haven't been able to track down the references or ascertain whether they were cooking with wood or not.

Thanks Daniel. Did you by any chance ascertain their opening date, name of owner and specialties?

Daniel, I've never been to Duke's or Earl's -- I'm just going by the information that has been sent to me, that I've found online, etc. Based on what we've said we're trying to accomplish with this list, do you think the thing to do here is 1) include Duke's as a parenthetical after Earl's, 2) give Duke's its own listing, or 3) list neither? In terms of Texas Smokehouse, I'd certainly include it but are you sure it's still open? I wasn't able to get an answer when I called -- just endless ringing and no machine -- and I can't seem to find anyone who has been there recently.

Okay, everybody, thanks for the recent round of PM/e-mail input. This is the pre-final list. If you have any last-minute corrections or additions, please speak now. The list will be printed and copied tonight, so last chance to comment is the end of the workday today, New York time.

Stickey's is also BETTER than a lot of the New York places! Still, I'd be reluctant to include Stickey's without also including whatever other barbecue places exist in Northern New Jersey, Westchester, Long Island and Southern Connecticut. But later on we should definitely do a pan-regional list. One thing I'm going to try to do is put a link on the printed list handout so that people can go online and look for updates.

Wouldn't those conditions eliminate Virgil's? Unless they are doing something I'm not aware of. I think it all depends on how generous you are with the term "emulate". ← Virgil's uses Southern Pride smokers, so I can't think of a reason to disqualify the place.

Per Jason's post above, we should also add the http://brotherjimmys.com/ places.

Richard, while I haven't measured them with a ruler, I think the current generation wide feed tube on the KA 12-cup is the same size as the current generation wide feed tube on the Cuisinart 11-cup. I'm pretty sure nothing has ever gone wrong with any KA or Cuisinart product that I've owned, so I can't really compare customer service war stories, but I do know my mother's Cuisinart was replaced very promptly when it broke after something like a century of heavy use. Note: When people are saying "CA" does that mean Cuisinart? It's a bit confusing and prone to misinterpretation, so maybe we could stick to KA for KitchenAid and Cuisinart for Cuisinart?

Okay, folks. Thanks to all who posted here, and to several people who contacted me via e-mail and personal messenger, here is the list as it currently stands. I'm going to be out of town today, so could somebody (or more than one person) volunteer to push the ball uphill a bit more by filling in some of the blanks? We're missing opening dates, owners and specialties on a lot of places. This could all be fixed with about ten phone calls and/or some googling, I'm sure. And of course if there are any places missing from the list below, please add. Just to summarize, the criteria for inclusion are: 1) must be in the 5 boroughs of New York City, and 2) must serve something in the style of American regional barbecue, as opposed to grilled food or rotisserie chichen and baked ribs. I wasn't able to make the fuel source category work -- too many apples-and-oranges answers -- but a really ambitious researcher might be able to pull it off. The list couls also stand to be alphabetized or maybe sorted by date. I'll check back late tonight. Thanks.

I've used about five of the most recent models of both and think they're all excellent machines. I wouldn't presume to say one is "better built" than the other -- both are remarkable. The advantages I see are that the KA has the option of the smaller bowl, and that the Cuisinart has the slower speed available for dough. Also the available sizes are different. If you want a really large capacity, Cuisinart is the way to go because you can get a 14-cup unit at a great price (the KA large unit is only available in the overpriced "Pro Line"). Overall I have to think the best deal out there right now is probably the 11-cup Cuisinart combo package that Costco is selling for $169.

I can't believe you did it.

I believe there has been some sort of conspiracy to erase the Crunch Pup from history. If you Google "Arthur Treacher's" and "Crunch Pup," the only results you get are my eGullet posts. I could be misspelling it, or I could have imagined it, but I think it's something far more sinister. I would actually love to see PBS do a positive-spin history of fast food. I think we've all heard the messages of Fast Food Nation, Super Size Me and of course The Meaning of Food, but what about the ingenuity of fast food. It's not all bad. On the "Chef of the century" topic some folks suggested that on the strength of the numbers it would have to be Ray Kroc.

I think of Blue Smoke as the host establishment. There are numerous parallels across all sorts of events wherein the host gets a seat at the table that might not have been awarded purely on merit. I don't see anything wrong with that. Without Danny and the Blue Smoke crew, the event wouldn't exist. They've earned their permanent spot. The idea of the event is, primarily, to bring in pitmasters from out of town, not to showcase ten New York City barbecue restaurants. So I can also sympathize with choosing one additional New York pitmaster each year on some sort of rotating basis. And I really think the comments about Danny Meyer's fears and such are off base. Danny did Paul a huge solid by giving him so much exposure at last year's event -- he could have invited any number of other folks. In addition, Danny's organization has been a tireless promoter of barbecue culture in New York -- he is very much a member of the "rising tide lifts all boats" school of commerce and would, I'm sure, be thrilled to see ten more barbecue places open in New York each year. I assure you it wouldn't hurt Blue Smoke's business. The last three times I've tried to get a table at Blue Smoke I couldn't even get in.

I just got off the phone with Jenny at Danny Meyer's office, and got the same information. The organization felt there were a limited number of spaces for New York pitmasters and that they needed to share the platform. Also got some additional information on the logistics of the Friday night event. The barbecue being served on Friday night by the out-of-town pitmasters will be brought in from their restaurants. So, for example, Ed Mitchell's semi truck will leave North Carolina in the morning carrying barbecue that was cooked down there overnight Thursday night. Of course the local pitmasters will be cooking locally.

I've put in a call to the event organizers. How about you pick up the phone and call RUB? First person to get information posts it here.

Guys, where are you getting all this information about who was and wasn't invited? Don't you think it's at least possible that Paul Kirk was invited and declined, on account of needing to run his newly opened restaurant? I'll try to find out, but until I do or somebody with actual information comes to the table how about we focus on what we know and not on supposition?

This fine piece of urban barbecue journalism was written by Mister Cutlets aka Josh Ozersky for the New York Law Journal. It was published in May 2005 and is reprinted here with the permission of the copyright holder. Here you go:

Are you sure Paul Kirk was not invited? All I know is that he's not going to be there. Maybe he was invited and said no. What's everybody's source on this?

Okay it's called Karlitz & Company. http://karlitz.com/

Absolutely, if I can remember it.

If by sea bass you mean Chilean Sea Bass aka Patagonian Toothfish then Black Cod aka Sablefish is in my opinion the best substitute, especially in a miso-glazed recipe. You will find, if you look at a few dozen miso-glazed fish recipes, that Chilean Sea Bass and Black Cod are the fish called for most frequently. In that application I would consider them to be interchangeable.

According to the Lukas article I mentioned above, Bar BQ uses some sort of contraption that was devised for restaurants like Chili's, that is supposed to give some of the effect of barbecue but without wood. That's all I know. I haven't been there and hadn't heard of it before I read Lukas.

I'd suggest taking this in two phases: 1) Assemble a comprehensive list of all places in New York that arguably serve barbecue so that we can print it and hand it out this weekend. 2) Maintain a list going forward that includes links to eG Forums discussions and perhaps some impressions or quotes from those discussions.