=Mark

This seems to be a higher class version of the conundrum as to why here in NJ, with a Mom & Pop family owned and operated Italian restaurant on every other corner, there are still lines to get into the local Olive Garden.

I'll be thinking of you... Now gotta go get some saffron...

Hot Night in the City by Trevanian.

Ham's substantial, ham is fat Ham is firm and sound. Ham's what God was getting at When He made pigs so round ----- Roy Blount Jr.

Can these be adapted for use with natural gas?

Take the time to schmooze with the competitors (again, between turn in times), you'll often get free samples...

Mmmmm... Time for Larb.

A six pack of Pilsner Urquell, 3 of which were consumed at the China 46 dinner, the other 3 were drank at the Liberty Bell BBQ contest in Philly last weekend.

See my note about competition BBQ up near the top of this thread...

The Smoke Ring BBQ Team: Some members of the Porch BBQ Mailing List who were there: Ray Frick, =Mark, Garry Howard (Smoke Ring Captain), Bill Arnold, Rich Rosenthal (One of the Judges), Big Jim, Chuck Dorak More Details and Images of the event.

A couple issues, some could be addressed, some could not. The weather sucked, but there's nothing that could be done about that. At least the rain stopped by midmorning on Saturday. Perversely the cool temps helped keep the food more presentable (garnishes did not wilt). The location could have been better thought out. The festival was shoehorned into a strip of pavement between the stadium and a construction area. If the weather had been good there would have been serious crowding and parking problems. Couple this with the fact that the festival coincided with a baseball game that afternoon and things could have gotten really ugly if the weather had induced the crowds to show up. For some unfathomable reason it was decided by the Powers That Be, that instead of presenting the awards at 4:30 as was scheduled, that the awards would not be announced until the baseball game ended. Instead of allowing the BBQ folks to break down their stuff, cop their trophies and scoot before the game ended, they were forced to endure having to try to exit simultaneously with the crowds from the game. Sounds like a Govt. decision to me... a couple tied innings resulted in the game going past 6pm, which seriously delayed folks who had long drives ahead of them. Oh yeah, I cut my finger slicing peppers... Other than this the rest of the event was quite good. There was the usual camaraderie and good natured competitiveness between teams that seems to mark these gatherings. The judging seemed spot on and other than delaying the awards ceremony everything went smoothly. Of course this was the first of these festivals in Philly, so I assume there will be lessons learned all around.

Team smoke ring got 7th place overall out of 49 teams. We got 3rd in chicken. Hope to post pictures when they make it onto the BBQ list.

You can check out Dave Linebacks NC BBQ Joint Reviews.

I just get a broken image here.

Pork roll is one of the few things that has me questioning my atheism.

I'll be there as noted above. Hard to say as to the best time. Early on there is more food but the award ceremony is at 4:30. C'mon over to the Smoke Ring team site and say hi! Am debating on hip boots or a canoe...

Works for me, just don't get it too close to Varmint's shinpig...

I was planning on doing my Bros Chicken Salad Sunrise.

I use an Olde Thompson mill that I paid about $15 for years ago. It uses a ceramic grinder that has a lifetime warranty. Cheap, durable and reliable. It also saves time as I don't have to stop and search through the food for the top nut that use to always pop off at the worst time with my old mill.

Big Dig Shinpig?

Sounds like the makin's of a Pigstockgate to me...

Vivas was where the folks that now run Bistro Ole started, on 5th St. half a block east of the railroad in Asbury. The food at Bistro Ole is quite good. The space where Vivas used to be is now occupied by Clementines, I've not been there yet. I like to give a new place a couple months to get their act together.

Yes, but the exclusion or removal of establishments that have become, for better or worse, local institutions is somewhat unsettling.

There is also Clementines, a New Orleans style bistro down on 5th between main St. and the railroad tracks, and Sonnys Southern Cuisine right on Cookman. To say that it would be deserted except for indigent hotels may be true for areas several blocks from the beach front, but towards Main street and west of the tracks is a fairly diverse community that is in the midst of a major comeback. After a quarter century on the suburban dust heap it should be interesting to see what direction this story goes.

King of India is in the Tower Plaza in Eatontown, across from Tokyo Japanese restaurant. Also it's not just takeout, they do a good buffet for lunch and have a pretty nice dining room for lunch and dinner. about 7 or 8 of the buffet choices change every day, and unlike many other Indian places the dishes don't all look, taste and smell the same. If you are so inclined it can be a bit of a chore to convince them that you really do want a dish to be hot and spicy.