These days, low and slow seems to be the way to go.
Even professional restaurateurs, already established with high-end eateries, are now trying their hand at barbecue.
In Aspen, Colorado, the executive chef and co-owner of one of the city’s most popular restaurants has decided to partner with a college buddy to open a new barbecue restaurant, called Home Team BBQ.
Chris Lanter of Cache Cache will open his second location at the Inn at Aspen. He and representatives of Wyndham Vacation Rentals, which owns the condo-hotel, recently signed a 10-year contract.
Lanter, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef who has been preparing French-American dishes at Cache Cache since 2000, said the opportunity to work with his college roommate at the University of Georgia was too exciting to pass up. Fortunately, his old college roomie is Aaron Siegel, owner of three Home Team BBQ restaurants already open and operating in Charleston, S.C.
But you don’t have to be a French-trained chef to serve good barbecue. With a bit of guts and a few dollars saved up, you can turn your passion into profits.
Case in point: Kendra and Adam Taylor are co-owners of a new shop: Taylor Made BBQ in Bismarck, North Dakota. The Taylors are first-time entrepreneurs taking their home cooking to new levels. Adam handles pitmaster duties while Kendra makes all the sauces and baked good, cookies and banana bread.
That’s not to say it’s easy. Barbecue is one of the most difficult cuisines to serve because of low margins and highly time-sensitive dishes. Only time will tell if these new attempts will last.
- Home Team BBQ – Aspen, Colorado
Talk about après-ski. After hitting the slopes, there’s nothing better than cozying up next to a fire with the game on and plate of barbecue in front of you.
- Taylor Made BBQ – Bismarck, North Dakota
When you run the show, you can do things like dedicate a kids’ corner that will turn into a jam space for live bands in the evenings.
- Smokin’ Butt’s Bar-B-Q – Saint Albans, Vermont
Want to take your barbecue catering business to the next level? Follow the plan from Dave and Terry Burbo, who just opened their first brick-and-mortar joint inside a brewery.
- 1848 BBQ – Brownsville, Texas
Follow the former owner/pitmaster of Wild Blue, ranked among the Top 50 Barbecue Joints in the state by Texas Monthly magazine, down the street to his new location, 1848.
- Butts and Barley – Latherntown, Georgia
What does “BBQ with a twist” mean, you ask? For starters, whole smoked wings that are then deep fried and tossed in a choice of buffalo or BBQ sauce, brisket melts, chicken Gouda melts, smoked chicken salad sandwiches … get the picture?
- The Bank BBQ & Bakery – Jacksonville, Florida
Trust us: you need to try the “pork wing.” It’s a pork shank trimmed to look like a chicken leg and then slowly smoked over hickory and pecan wood.
- Dale’s Southern Smoked BBQ – Lafayette, Georgia
With high-end barbecue comes high-end prices. Not at Dale’s. Pulled pork and pulled chicken meals are $7.99, including two sides and Texas Toast.
- Real Urban Barbecue – Skokie, Illinois
Did you hear the one about the Jewish guy who just opened his fourth pork joint? He didn’t even need a sign for the first six weeks and still had lines out the door.