Thursday night was a big party...........There was an ice luge that Rip conducted which was very cool. Athens distributing donated Jim Beam Black, Voxx
Vodka, etc. for Rip to pour down peoples head-holes on that ice luge. Friday afternoon we had a Bourbon tasting which was very cool & informative. Friday night the Lobel boys (Evan, Marc & company) grilled MASSIVE steaks. I'm talking about 3" thick prime strips & fillets that were dry aged 6 weeks. Lobels is one of the sponsors and without question the most prestegious butcher in the country, maybe the world. Check them out @www.lobels.com........ also, Mitch Gallant from WoodSmoke Provisionsis widely considered as having the best cold smoked fish in the country. Mitch fed us salmon, trout, oysters, crawfish.....it was unreal! The pics show you some of the times on friday night.
I just stumbled onto your blog here and I've been enjoying reading it. I went to Memphis in May for the first time this year and it was a lot of fun. I've been on a KCBS team for a couple of years now, so I've been to some BBQ cookoffs, but MiM is a totally different animal. I was blown away by the size and decoration of the booths and (as you pointed out)how large the teams were and how many people seemed to be just hanging out.
ReplyDeleteWillingham was one of the teams that we watched being judged on Saturday. I was fascinated by the pomp and circumstance of it all. And yes, it did seem very political.
On one hand, I am kind of drawn to MiM because of how much fun it seems to be, but also because it's only pork (and having been raised in Tennessee, BBQ=pork). But on the other hand, it is kind of nice in KCBS events to just concentrate on the food and not all of that other stuff.
One other thing about MiM surprised me: why are such a high percentage of the teams from the greater Memphis area? Isn't it supposed to be the World Championship?
Anyway, congratulations on the good finish!
By the way, I have been to your restaurant, too. Read the Tennessean review and headed on out to Nolensville. I only tried the shoulder, but it was great.
ReplyDeletethanks bp....come in and see me again some time..I look forward to meeting you.
ReplyDelete