Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Bo has now jumped on this runaway train called Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint!
Here is my new "partner in crime/short order cook/sous chef".........Bo Collier. Bo comes at us with a ton of time in a kitchen, a lot of which was spent at two 4-star restaurants in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Bo is a dad-gum bonafide white redneck rastafarian! Yes you read that right, and he's dang proud of it........ which I think is great! He's back in Nashville spending some of his nights in a local band as their drummer.......which I might add is really starting to get some attention from those down on Music Row. They are very, very good. I'm excited to have Bo and the experience he brings to the table. As you know I have ZERO experience in a restaurant kitchen.........but I can cook BBQ with the best of them.......a little arrogant???? -well if I didnt feel that way then what in the hell should I be doing this for? Like Ted Williams said, "it ain't braggin' if you can do it." When I first ventured into this I realized I would have to have someone with Bo's experience to handle the other menu items that are not barbecue related.....specifically items that are cooked to order. I would fail miserably at this if I were stupid enough to go at this alone with no crunch time kitchen experience under my belt. Bo will be able to handle the rush. I'll have all the BBQ ready for him by 10:30 or so for him to prepare sandwiches or whatever. No, I have not solitified the menu yet......we'll probably do that over the next week or so but I plan on having a little (and I mean just a little!) variety to add in addition to the barbecue on the menu (fresh burgers etc.)........with as much of that variety coming from meat cooked on my pit to ease Bo's cook-to-order workload. Oh yeah....have you've noticed Bo's circa 1973 Charlie Daniels beard.......dont worry about getting one of Bo's beard hairs in your teeth.....he'll be wearing a beard net and hair net. Nor will you need to worry about any cigarette ashes from that cig in his mouth dropping in your "Q".....he wont be smoking over the food. This pic was taken just after we shook hands and celebrated with a drink.......coke & rum - Tortuga Vanilla rum brought to me by Michael Blankiship from the Caymens. Great stuff!!!!! Anyway......I'm dang glad to have ol Bo aboard!
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What is this Blog???
You ever been sitting around cooking for your family and friends and been told the following: "Hoss, this is the best I've ever had in my dadgum life.....you have got to open up a place of your own". The thought crosses your mind to do just that, but for whatever reason you dont. Well I'm "that" guy that actually went through with it and did it. I had absolutely ZERO restaurant experience! I decided to start this blog about my own experience hoping that it may be of some use and help to others who might be interested in opening their own place.
I learned this craft almost 20 years ago cooking whole hogs on brick & cinder block pits at a couple of little BBQ Joints in Henderson, TN. I learned from old, lifelong career Pit-Masters, working with them as an apprentice during school off and on for four years. Over the course of that time I learned the old, time-honored craft of REAL pit barbecue. At Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint I am trying as hard as I can everyday to bring that time-honored authenticity to my customers.
As you read you'll see I've made some stupid decisions, and I've made some good decisions. If you are thinking of opening a restaurant, especially a BBQ Joint, read this blog! Maybe some of this info can be of use to you. At the very least you will be entertained because I pull no punches.
Now listen, this is my blog to not only help with information but my blog to freely rant about my day to day experiences. There is no real "bad language" on this blog but there might be some things said that are very "tongue in cheek". If you are easily offended and/or cant see the satire in my posts then please just leave the blog. It will save both of us the annoyance of each other. For those of you who do like satire and are looking for good information about this experience, then by all means enjoy!
I learned this craft almost 20 years ago cooking whole hogs on brick & cinder block pits at a couple of little BBQ Joints in Henderson, TN. I learned from old, lifelong career Pit-Masters, working with them as an apprentice during school off and on for four years. Over the course of that time I learned the old, time-honored craft of REAL pit barbecue. At Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint I am trying as hard as I can everyday to bring that time-honored authenticity to my customers.
As you read you'll see I've made some stupid decisions, and I've made some good decisions. If you are thinking of opening a restaurant, especially a BBQ Joint, read this blog! Maybe some of this info can be of use to you. At the very least you will be entertained because I pull no punches.
Now listen, this is my blog to not only help with information but my blog to freely rant about my day to day experiences. There is no real "bad language" on this blog but there might be some things said that are very "tongue in cheek". If you are easily offended and/or cant see the satire in my posts then please just leave the blog. It will save both of us the annoyance of each other. For those of you who do like satire and are looking for good information about this experience, then by all means enjoy!
5 comments:
P, well well well. Is it just me or does Bo remind you of the drunk guy we dared you to dance with at the David Allen Coe concert?
Sir, I applaud your commitment to the Q and I will be there for a sammich and ribs.
Great to hear you are doing well and I wish you the best of luck!
Shannon
Shannon......my brother! Thanks for the post......come a long way since we stacked up bricks to make a pit and used a stolen "road closed" sign and barn tin to cover our hog. Cant wait for you to get up here and eat. should be open in by the 1st or 2nd week in september.
Yessir that pit was hot without the first coal in it!
Shannon
every pit we made back then was "hot" before we put a coal in it! do you have any old pictures of those pig roasts?
I'm sure that if I ever ran for office they would surely surface.... I'll check around for some.
Seems like I recently saw the one where we stuck our guts out, cocked our hats back on our heads and pointed at the shoulders we cooked at Jim's house.
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