by Andrew Chalk
Staged in Dallas but featuring barbecue from as far afield as Houston. Staged in a state that is the cradle of one of the nation's distinctive barbecue styles but featuring the cooking of at least two nations. Smoked was not just a celebration of the diversity that is the product of man's creativity with smoking food it was also a brilliantly conceived show. Nobody who had come expecting n iterations of brisket would leave with that impression. From blood curdling (literally) homemade boudin sausage, to lamb burgers, to barbacoa in corn tacos. They were all there to sample last weekend in Dallas. So popular was the event that lines to enter stretched back from Main St. to Elm St. and round the f**ing corner in the Texas heat and still people queued for the 2pm start. Insider trick for 2020: pay the VIP Danegeld to enter at 1pm.
Here's how it went down...
Wayne Mueller - let me tell you a little about this man. A few years ago we (and our dog) stopped at Louie Mueller's famous barbecue restaurant on our way down to San Antonio. There were no seats inside so I lined up to order and then brought the food out to the tailgate of my SUV, on which we started to eat our lunch. After a minute or so a man appeared from the restaurant with two collapsible chairs. He brought them over and said "Thought you folks might like some chairs to sit on." We did, and we thanked him. That man was Wayne Mueller. He didn't let the fact he was the boss stop him helping out a customer.
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