You're Gonna Need Lots of Napkins

08/18/2011
Posted by Jeff Lucas
Okay, finally an opportunity to blog about something of national importance . . . BBQ! Now, for the record, I am very pragmatic when it comes to the preparation of meats slow-cooked using wood smoke. If I were in Texas, I would definitely be looking for a beef brisket sandwich (especially if I happened to be in the Austin area where I could visit one of the Rudy's operated by our 2010 Baldrige Winner K&N Management), if I found myself in Mansara, Louisiana it would cochon de lait (young suckling pig cooked on a spit and served with Cajun gravy), in South Carolina I would happily down a sandwich where the sauce was mustard based. But let me be clear about one thing -- none of that is BBQ. Here, I am a purist and BBQ is pulled pork shoulder dressed with vinegar and hot pepper sauce in the style of Eastern North Carolina. So, now that I have caught your attention and potentially started the biggest fire storm that Blogrige has ever seen, why am I writing about BBQ?

Well, for the rest of this post I am going to give into the popular misconception that the term BBQ can be applied to a wide variety of meats and styles as I help you plan your attendance at one of the Baldrige Regional Conferences next month in either Kansas City or Birmingham. Since there will be outstanding Opening Plenary Sessions at both locations and the concurrent sessions will present powerful best practices from all 7 of the 2010 Baldrige Winners plus many past Winners, I can only assume that you are basing your decision on which one to attend solely on your perceptions of the Que-rating of the particular host cities. That is where I can help. In honor of the selection of K&N as one of this year's winners we have selected two very BBQ friendly locales.

Many of you are probably assuming that based on its reputation, Kansas City is the logical choice. It is of course where Henry Perry made his name and home to the highly regarded Arthur Bryant's and for that it deserves its due regard. I can tell you however, from personal experience, that Birmingham has a whole host of places worthy of your consideration. In August of 2005, my son was getting ready to enroll at Tulane University on the day Hurricane Katrina hit. We evacuated to Birmingham to wait out what we thought would be a just a long weekend hiatus and, as such, spent three full days with little else to do but investigate the local BBQ scene. So let me share with you the results of our research.

You might want to start out at Dreamland. This is a place for a big slab of ribs that will be accompanied by a loaf of white bread suitable for soaking up the excellent tomato-molasses based sauce. They also have the much appreciated process innovation of paper towel rolls affixed to each table. Another establishment with a long tradition, though it now has expanded to many locations, is Golden Rule. The original location for this chain started in 1891. I would say this is probably the place to go with the Jumbo Pork Plate. You can order it either chopped or sliced, but, come on now, sliced? Jim-n-Nick's will be your best bet for supplementing your choice of smoked meat with an excellent selection of southern style sides. Here they include: baked beans, slow-cooked collards, mac and cheese and creamed spinach. Finally, you've got Moe's Original with just about everything described above, plus a killer banana pudding. I could go on and on, but in reality you can probably only afford a day on either end of the conference, and you are probably going to want to get back to some of these places more than once.

So, the point is, if you thought you had to go to Kansas City to indulge your BBQ fantasies you are in luck. Don't get me wrong. It will be great, and you will be lucky if your luggage doesn't stick to the x-ray belt from all the rib sauce. But, should your schedule or the location make Birmingham more convenient, you will be just as well served. You can register for either one here. I'll be at both, so be sure and say hello, and let me know if I've still got some burnt ends stuck between my teeth.

Posted by Jeff Lucas on 08/18/2011 at 11:16 AM in Baldrige Events | Permalink