There’s plenty of smokin’ good ’cue at annual BBQ block party in Madison Square Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Madison Square Park
23rd to 26th Sts. between Fifth & Madison Aves.
Saturday, June 13, and Sunday, June 14, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Admission: free; $9-$12 per plate of barbecue
Fast Pass: $125; BigPiggin’ Pass: $265
www.bigapplebbq.org
www.madisonsquarepark.org
The immensely popular and ridiculously crowded Big Apple Barbecue Block Party is upon us, as pitmasters from around the country gather in Madison Square Park and serve up some damn fine BBQ. The thirteenth annual event, being held June 13-14, features some old favorites as well as some up-and-comers: Mike Mills of the 17th Street Bar & Grill (Murphysboro, Illinois; baby back ribs with baked beans), Tim Love (the Woodshed Smokehouse, Dallas/Ft. Worth; lamb brisket with borracho beans), Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q (Decatur, Alabama; pulled pork sandwich with spicy mustard coleslaw), Mike Emerson of Pappy’s Smokehouse (St. Louis; baby back ribs with baked beans), Jimmy Hagood of BlackJack Barbecue (Charleston, South Carolina; pulled pork with coleslaw), Wayne Mueller of Louie Mueller Barbecue (Taylor, Texas; Texas beef rib with pickled southern vegetables), Patrick Martin of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint (Nashville; Western Tennessee whole hog sandwich with coleslaw), Garry Roark of Ubon’s Barbeque of Yazoo (Yazoo City, Mississippi; pulled pork shoulder sandwich with coleslaw), Scott Roberts of the Salt Lick Bar-B-Que (Driftwood, Texas; beef brisket, sausage, and coleslaw), Brad Orrison of the Shed Barbeque & Blues Joint (Ocean Springs, Mississippi; pulled whole hog sandwich with baked beans), John Wheeler of Memphis Barbecue Co. (Horn Lake, Mississippi; baby back ribs with baked beans), Drew Robinson of Jim N’ Nick’s Bar-B-Que (Birmingham, Alabama; smoked pork hot links with pimento cheese), Samuel Jones of the Skylight Inn (Ayden, North Carolina; chopped whole hog sandwich with coleslaw), and local purveyors Jean-Paul Bourgeois of Blue Smoke (pork spare ribs with pickled peppers), Charles Grund Jr. of Hill Country (beef brisket sandwich with sweet and spicy pickles), John Stage of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (beef brisket with BBQ beans), and Bill Durney of Hometown Bar-B-Que (Jamaican jerk St. Louis ribs with Caribbean slaw). The lines can get extremely long, so the best way to enjoy the event is to go with a bunch of friends, get on different lines, and then gather somewhere in the park to devour your meal (while also checking out Teresita Fernandez’s new mirrored installation, “Fata Morgana”). Each plate of ’cue will run you between nine and twelve bucks, with desserts from Sugaree’s and Robicelli’s. The FastPass is no more, so if you want to go VIP, you need to pick up the BigPiggin’ Pass, where for $275 you get your food brought to you in the comfort of the hospitality tent. Saturday’s music lineup consists of the Reed Turner Band at 1:00, Shook Twins at 2:45, and Andrew Combs at 4:30, while Sunday’s is Whiskey Shivers at 1:00, Nikki Lane at 2:45, and Jonny Fritz at 4:30.