james beard awards

I was first given the opportunity to cook at the James Beard Foundation in 2003. It was exciting, because it is a huge honor to be invited to cook at the home of James Beard. My wife, Amy, and I, along with her parents, Don and Carolyn McLemore, came up with a simple plan: We would pull our cooker to New York, set up in front of the Foundation, and cook for a party of eighty to a hundred people. Big Bob Gibson’s regularly caters for six thousand to eight thousand people, so this seemed like a slam dunk! In the South it is not uncommon to drive down a city street and see smoke billowing from a portable cooker. Under a pop-up tent with a handwritten sign reading BBQ PLATE $5.00, you can find the most delicious barbecue you have ever tasted. New York City is a different cut of beef. In order to cook on the street you must first make the police department aware of your intentions and obtain a single-day or multiple-day “festival permit,” depending on how long your cooker will stay curbside. This is a tricky process for a bunch of folks from Alabama trying to navigate the system. While waiting for approval we found that the fire department needed to be included in all outdoor cooking discussions. And we couldn’t forget to hire a fire marshal to sit with the cooker overnight: safety first. Although logistics were tedious, the result was flawless. The New York City Police Department met us at the Lincoln Tunnel and gave us an escort to the Foundation. They also blocked off the one-way street in front of the event until we could parallel park at James Beard’s front door. Soon after, we were greeted by the fire department, who were not only concerned with fire safety but also with making our stay in the city pleasant. It was then that we realized we needed to cook more food. For Beard events, it is customary to offer your guests appetizers during the social period prior to dinner service. This is what we served. As always, our logic was, “You can’t mess anything up if you wrap it in bacon.”