The week

This past week we've seen a real bump in business because of Jim's (the Tennessean) article. We've seen a lot of people drive out from Nashville (15 minutes) but its amazing to me how many people who live within 2 miles of the joint are still just coming in for the 1st time to try us out. At any rate, I'm just glad they are coming in........whether its now or back in October. I really am thankful for Jims article and thoughts about our food.........it really is a big honor coming from him.
Meat prices have shot up because of the 4th. I am paying about $.25 more per pound than I was last week for everything. My food reps say it will stay that way for the next 2-3 weeks before it starts to correct itself. Kaci Allen played this past Saturday night and she was awesome! She played two sets of her own songs and got a great response. Ward will be back this Saturday night with his guys. Dan, Jill & Joe have'nt been out in a couple of months, I guess they have moved on. Neither Bo or Ward have any idea why they quit coming out. Maybe we'll get em' back out sometime. Willie called from Alaska but didnt get his call. I'll call him today. Looking forward to him getting back with that banjo.
This past Saturday night we were at "Taste of Music City" on the bridge over the river next to the Titans stadium. Bo worked that with Martha, John, Mandy, Victor and "Lamber". They said we got a lot of compliments on our food and Bo said yesterday that he's talked to several people that came out to the joint because they tasted our food there. Lord willing we'll be invited back to next years event. Have a ton of small catering to do between now and the 4th. After that we'll start preparing for the Music City Brewers Festival at the downtown Hilton. They are expecting 6,000 people and the only food vendors there are us and Mafiozo's Pizza, so we should be able to really move some food. Got to get out of here and get to the joint......later.

Tennessean list us as one of the favorite 13 places to eat around Nashville!!!

Todays issue of the Tennessean lists Jim Meyers favorite 13 places to eat around Nashville and we were on that list! This is a huge honor and compliment and I am very thankful that we were listed a part of that list. We do try hard every day to serve the best & freshest dadgum food we can and I am very glad that Jim likes it so well! Thank you Jim very much!!! Below is the link to the article. Make sure you play the audio slideshow to hear his comments.

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070622/ENTERTAINMENT0201/706220367

Tennessean Spotlight "Chef du Jour"

Today we were VERY, VERY fortunate to be spotlighted in the Tennessean on the front page of the "Living" section. Every Wedensday they have a little thing called "Chef du Jour" and this Wedensday we were it. Its a great piece and is really funny and well written, if you know a little bit about my Church of Christ background (which I am still a very proud member that still likes his beer). Jim Meyers (the food critic from the Tennessean) wrote the article. As just some ol' boy trying to cook a little bbq its a REALLY big honor to be listed there considering the local chefs that have been there before me. I am very thankful.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070620/FEATURES0202/706200397/1078/FEATURES02

Guest blogger Carey "Peg Leg Porker" Bringle: Aspen Food & Wine Festival

My good buddy Carey Bringle (Peg Leg Porker) was asked by the Lobel boys to cook & attend the prestigious "Aspen Food & Wine" festival. This week I asked Carey to guest blog about the experience. By the way......look at the dadgum fat marble in those 3" thick (yes you read that right!) Wagyu dry aged New York strips. Also Carey is pictured with food/wine celebrity Andrea Immer.


Hey Folks, It's Carey Bringle, The Peg Leg Porker......I am honored that Pat asked me to guest Blog today about my experience at the Food & Wine Magazine, Classic at Aspen. Let me start off by explaining the reason that I was there. Three or four years ago, Evan Lobel asked me if I could smoke some Waygu Brisket for the Classic at Aspen food Show and ship it out there for them to serve at the Grand Tastings. I did this cook as a personal favor but let me tell you, it was nerve racking. Evan wanted them to be just right. He would be serving them next to his father and their reputation was on the line. It was the first time that they had done this show and it was very high profile. I cooked about 36 Brisket that year and from Evan's account, they were a real crowd pleaser. He called me from the booth and said "Carey, your a F$%^*&* hero, we have a line around the booth and this stuff is the hit of the show." I was glad to hear it because for the previous week, Evan had called me several times to remind me how important this was. I think I lost 10lbs. that week worrying about how they turned out and waiting for his call to let me know. The next year, I cooked again and they asked me if I would like to come out to the show as their guest for the work I had done. I cooked the brisket but I turned them down on the trip because frankly, I had been traveling a lot, just finished Memphis in May and was plain worn out. Last year they didn't do the show and one of their key competitors, Allen Brothers, started displaying there. That did not set well with Evan. They made an executive decision that this year, they would be back and show the world why they are the Best Damn Steaks and Mail Order Gourmet Food Company in America. I had regretted not going the year I had been invited so this year, we made a deal that a ticket to the show and a plane ride would be my payment for Smoking the Brisket. The amount.........650 Lbs. of Waygu. That is a lot of Brisket........My father lives in Carbondale and is very ill. He has been suffering from Multiple Meyeloma for over 10 years. This would also be a great chance to spend some more time with he and Susan and see him for Father's Day. I started cooking Brisket on the Vertical Smoker at 5:30 AM on Friday, June 8th. That night, Dave Johnson and Pat came over to help and have a few. Dave was cooking on the horizontal for a catering Gig and Pat was just coming to help and lend moral support. We had a great time shooting the shit and throwing back a few. I cooked almost non stop until Sunday morning. 50 Brisket in total. I was worn out. Pat and Dave can both tell you, cooking a ton of meat can wear you out but when you see people enjoying it and hear their comments, it is a great feeling. I arrived in CO on Thursday. My sister was with me and we spent some time with Dad and Susan that night. Friday, I got up, we had some breakfast at the Village Smithy in Carbondale and I headed to Aspen (about 25 miles away). I got there about 1:00 and they had just finished the first Grand Tasting. Evan and David said that it was a huge hit. There was not another tasting until 4:30 so I went to a Mixology Seminar given by Tony Abou-Ganim. He has a show on Fine Living teaching the art of cocktail making. Let me say that any seminar where they hand you a drink on your way in and then make you drinks all the way through is my kind of class. I went to the Grand Tasting at 4:30 and it was great. The Lobel's were serving Braised Short ribs at that tasting. They seemed to be a pretty big hit but I really wanted to see the Brisket being served. We hung around after the tasting and went to dinner at an Italian restaurant in town. We would start again in the morning. The Aspen Times had come by that afternoon and spoken with Evan. We were all anxious to see what they would write. On Saturday morning, I woke up and drove to Aspen first thing. The Grand tasting started at 11:30 and I wanted to see how the brisket would be received. David came in to the tent holding the Aspen Times......Jackpot.......Evan was featured on the front page with a headline of "Lobel's, Butchering the Competition" .....In your face Allen Brothers.....It talked about the brisket and needless to say, at the Grand tasting, the table was mobbed. The log jam in front of our table wasn't helped by the fact that Mario Batali was signing Crocs at the table across from us. Between the two booths, you couldn't make it through that part of the tent. I'll have to say that it was pretty exciting seeing all those people go crazy over the food that I cooked. That afternoon, I met Mario Batali, Jacques Pepin, Andrea Immer and Bradford Thompson. Wow, what a treat. The last thing that I did that afternoon was meet Evan, David and Jamie (owner of Smoke Restaurant in El Jebel, the caterer that Lobel's hired to help them in Aspen) at Jamie's house to see them cooking the Waygu strip steaks that they would serve that afternoon at the 3:45 Grand Tasting. What a sight to see, 147 Lbs. of Waygu strips at a retail value of $150 a piece....beautiful.....I told them that I was going to have dinner with my family and probably wouldn't be back on Sunday. Evan told me top pick out the best steak and take it for me and my Dad to share for Fathers day. We cooked it that night and it was great....I spent Sunday with Dad and Susan. We enjoyed the day and the incredible view that their new house has of Mt. Sopris. I was leaving Monday morning and it was going to be hard to say goodbye. The weekend was great. I am thankful to have been able to participate in such a celebrated event, enjoyed spending time with my good friends Evan and David and even more thankful to have been able to spend a little more time with my Dad. This is a Fathers day weekend that I know I will never forget..... Lobel's: Butchering the competition...............Brisket a hit in Grand Tasting tent http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070616/NEWS/106160061&SearchID=73284675093471

Emily is on board & Alligator Po-Boys!

About a month ago Emily Arnold came on board and I have neglected to mention that here. Shes awesome! She worked up at "Rapid Pak" in Arrington for what seems like forever. She's really enabled me to get out and get some things done like closing some catering jobs. Last week was great. We had really good cash flow and it seems like the "summer slow down" is starting to wear off just a little. It will be slower than usual until September but I think that initial burst of summer everyone gets around May 1st is wearing thin. The grill out on the deck, steeplechase, rodeo, soccer tourn.,...........done that. People are looking to go out (to eat) more. We brought in some Alligator this past weekend and it has been selling like hot cakes. We fried it on a stick to serve as an app. this past Saturday and sold out of them. I made up a quick peach-apricot bbq sauce to dip it in. It was really good. Yesterday Bo served Blackened Alligator Po-Boys with a roasted red pepper aoli. He had 8 and sold them all by 12:45. Could have sold another 8 so today we'll run it again with 15 prepped to sell.

Just pics

Last night we were taking off the "dinner" shoulders and briskets and I though I'd take a shot of those to post. Click the pics for a close up view.

Steaks!

Camera has been down (out of batteries) for a week or two so I havent been able to load up any pics. We went to John & Mandys house a week or two ago to grill steaks from the Wagyu tenderloins we got from the Lobel boys (http://www.lobels.com) at Memphis in May. Steaks turned out great. Got a little ticked off at myself because I was running my head-hole and let the steaks get up towards medium, but they were still unreal which is a real indication of the quality of meat. Next time I cook steaks of that quality I wont talk to anyone to lose track of time. The pic above is John and Bryan. Wow, look what Bryan learned at Freed-Hardeman. You should click on the picture of the steaks to get a close up view!

Back in the swing of things

The past couple of weeks have been realy hectic. I've got a parking issue with the empty lot next to me. Maybe something can be worked out maybe not. If not Vern (landlord) said he'll make room in the back for me. Been working the catering pretty hard and that is what is causing things to be so hectic........-seems like you are always on the road, on the phone, on the way to buy something else. Bo and I have been getting a little frustrated with fact that there hasnt been any jerks or morons that have come in lately. Usually we're good for at least one every two weeks but its been well over a month. Dont get me wrong, there is nothing worse than some idiot who wants something for nothing while complaining/whining but people have been so nice and happy its kinda gotten a little boring around there. I wonder what happened to the crock-pot lady?