While the assets currently consist only of the name and a website, the purchase suggests that the project could finally move from virtual to reality. A physical museum or hallway filled with busts (those aren't controversial, right?) would go a long way toward placing a clear landmark on the nation's barbecue map. This is a deal that made sense and perhaps can lead to bigger things in conjunction with the Royals' pursuit of an agricultural complex where Kemper Arena currently stands.
Still, the decision of U.S. News & World Report (the magazine perhaps best known for ranking colleges) to rank Kansas City as the third-best barbecue city in the country is thoroughly misguided. Perhaps the only thing that U.S. News & World Report got right in its seven-city rankings was placing St. Louis seventh.
The Australian's Global Gourmet Tony Perrottet recounts his visit to Arthur Bryant's and Jack Stack Fiorella's in a piece about his recent visit to Kansas City, Missouri. While Perrottet seems hellbent on placing the barbecue joints he visits in the state of Kansas, the rest of his research is a delightful road map into how a barbecue ingenue experiences a visit to the meat mecca that is this city.
Absent from the list is Oklahoma Joe's, which chef Anthony Bourdain suggested should be on everyone's culinary bucket list back in 2009. Arthur Bryant's is the only Kansas City selection — no city had more than a single eatery on the list — but neighboring Pappy's Smokehouse in St. Louis also made the cut.
I can cook you a passable steak, and my chicken won't give you salmonella. I've even got a whole pig roast under my belt. But the reality is, I'm just an average backyard grill jockey, who dreams of plunking down a few hundred dollars and winning the American Royal one day.
But put me in an airport bar or a party on the East Coast, and my Kansas City residency provides me a well-undeserved status at the grill. Regardless of ability, does living in Kansas City give you instant barbecue credibility?
The summer guides are speaking, and top on the list for a new piece in Every Day With Rachael Ray are Oklahoma Joe's and Jack Stack Barbecue.
Jack Stack earned the nod for its eat-at-home burnt-ends combo while Oklahoma Joe's was highlighted as the place to get burnt ends in person -- the "crispy, fatty pieces from barbecue brisket with molasses, tomato-based sauce."
The grocery-store shelves and kitchens of Kansas City may be telling a different story than the rest of America. Because odds are, the best sauce in your fridge isn't KC Masterpiece.
But don't tell that to Consumer Reports [h/t to MO Rage], which ranked KC Masterpiece among its "very good" sauces - a list that also included Great Value Original and Archer Farms Texas Style, the generic offerings from Walmart and Target, respectively.
A man typically gives up his barbecue-sauce recipe for only one of two reasons -- either he's on his deathbed or he's about to be handed a check with an amount of money that typically is seen only on novelty checks. So, when YouTube user mystroamster2 purports to be making Gates BBQ sauce [h/t Hey Cameraman], it's worth a look.
It's hard to get tired of beautifully shot barbecue. The video is up for the Fire Smoke & BBQ Tour featuring Top Chef cheftestants (and brothers) Michael and Bryan Voltaggio.
The brothers Voltaggio were in Kansas City back in February as part of a four-city barbecue tour sponsored by Williams & Sonoma, and they crammed in Danny Edwards and Oklahoma Joe's into a single belly-stretching day of shooting (the video is after the jump).
Milk & Honey has the best I've had in KC. http://milkandhoneykc.com/
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