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Pitmaster Skip Steele is leading the Pappy's Smokehouse truck caravan to Madison Square Park for the 8th annual Big Apple Barbeque Block Party, one of the largest and most exclusive events of its kind. Eighteen of the nation's elite pitmasters participate, all of them hand-picked by former St. Louisan Danny Meyer, whose Union Square Hospitality Group organizes the event. Previous crowds have been conservatively estimated "in the tens of thousands."
Do the math...that's a lot of 'cue for 18 teams.
Organizers tell pitmasters to be prepared to feed 3000 people... on both Saturday and Sunday. For Steele and Mike Emerson (who will head east later this week) that translates to 1000 slabs of ribs per day. Transportation is an issue, but it could be worse: participants schlep (or rent) their own equipment, but all the meat is supplied by the organizers.
When Pappy's got their inaugural invite last year, Emerson was asked to cook St. Louis Style spareribs, a different--and often fattier--cut than the one that generates daily lines out the door. This year, Emerson asked if "we can just do what we do and serve what we serve." Request granted. Pappys' signature loin back ribs, 2000 slabs strong, will make their big city debut this weekend. -- George Mahe
Sidebar on elite pitmasters: Mike Mills, owner of 17th St Bar & Grill, will once again attend the Party as well...that's 8 years in a row for the guy better known as "The Legend" (see why here). Over the years, many online comments and bloggers voted Mills' dry-rub ribs the best of the bunch. And while some know that Mills made several trips to New York to consult with Danny Meyer prior to the opening of the latter's now legendary Blue Smoke, few know this, a tidbit gleaned from Mills in an SLM Q&A from 2007:
Is the sauce on the tables at Blue Smoke similar to yours? It is my sauce. Different label.
