Smokehouse to Vineyard: A Little Side Action

{Smokehouse to Vineyard}

      A Little Side Action...

Most work days, I am looking for a corner at restaurant bar where I can sit and enjoy a class of wine and a snack while I put in orders from the day’s work. For the last two hours of the day, my phone is attached to my ear and my fingers are glued to the keyboard. Even though I don’t have much time socialize, I do like it when a friend or a co-worker can join me. Let’s face it. We all enjoy a friendly face at the end of the day. 

At least once a week, I try to meet up with a friend of mine who lives close to me so we can catch up on local happenings. Nine times out of ten, when I ask where she is, she’s at Dead End BBQ enjoying a glass of Chardonnay and a helping of the Macaroni and Pimento Cheese. At first I laughed, but she told me I didn’t know what I was missing.  She was so right! Honestly, I think we all have our favorite places to get barbeque. Mostly that is based on the style and quality of what we like. However, for me, the next important thing besides the barbeque is the side items. So when my friend shared with me her favorite afternoon snack, I was more than willing to try it out.

First, if you haven’t had the Macaroni and Pimento Cheese at Dead End BBQ, you need to….soon. It’s creamy, cheesy, slightly smoky… total perfection. The pimento pepper adds a mild, subtle sweet flavor that contrasts well with the slight saltiness of the cheese. Again, total perfection. It’s so perfect that Dead End decided to put it on a sandwich; thus the Mac-Attack was born!

Secondly, if you haven’t tried the Macaroni and Pimento Cheese at Dead End with their Noble Vines 446 Chardonnay, you need to… soon! 446 Chardonnay is a single vineyard Chardonnay from San Bernabe Vineyard in Monterey, California. The first “4” in 446 stands for the Clone 4 grape, the wine’s “claim to fame.” The clone was cultivated in Carneros, California by Napa’s famous winemaker, Louis Martini. This grape clone is now grown in “Block 46”, the remaining part of 446, in San Bernabe. At the peak of ripeness, the grapes are picked and sent through the winemaking process. The end result is a wine with aromas of ripe pear, pineapple and melon, with flavors of peach and coconut with hints of lemon and toasty vanilla spice. 446 is medium-bodied, with a creamy mouth feel, which compliments the Macaroni and Pimento Cheese perfectly. Other great 446 pairings include the Smoked Sausage and Cheese, the Dead End Mac-Attack and the Grilled Smoked Bologna sandwich. I personally guarantee each one!

I’m glad my friend isn’t afraid to experiment with what she likes, and I’m thankful that she’s more than willing to share. Thanks to her, Noble Vines 446 Single Vineyard Chardonnay has become one of my favorite go-to wines to enjoy by itself, or with my favorite foods. Dead End BBQ was already one of my go-to restaurants. You can never go wrong!

-Kim

SEC Football Coaches & Dead End BBQ

{George’s Blog}

SEC Football Coach’s & Dead End BBQ

In 2006, I started a great journey of cooking for coaches and staffs throughout the SEC.  The common thread of these cooks has been my great long-time friend John “Chief” Chavis.  He has always had a passion for BBQ and I think that’s what has made our friendship endure for such a long time. Chief joined the Dead End Society BBQ Team and cooked in many events with us over the years, when his time and scheduled permitted. One time we went to Greenwood, SC to cook in a contest with Danny Ford, the Arkansas and Clemson Coach.

We did not know but Coach Ford invited some of his friends, like around 500!! We had so many people in our 20’x20’ space we could not move.  When it was time for us to turn in our food for the contest people were picking it up and eating it! Coach Ford was holding court as only he could, telling stories and talking to everyone.  As it all turned out, we all had a blast! 

During the 2007 season, I cooked so many times for the University of Tennessee Staff and the team that Coach Fulmer presented me with a game ball from the bowl game where we beat Wisconsin! It was like every week we cooked for the defensive staff Tennessee won; that was 10 times that season!  We proudly display that football in our trophy case on Sutherland Avenue. At Tennessee, we had some great coaches that we fed during the Fulmer years: Coach Brooks, Coach Caldwell, Coach Slade, Coach Chavis, Coach Fulmer, Coach Long, Coach Taylor, Coach Cutcliffe, Coach Clawson, Coach Roper, Coach Sprewell, Coach Michael, Coach Luke and Coach Atkins.  All of these guys were great, especially around a smoker!

My next stop on the SEC cooking tour was LSU.  When I was asked to cook for the coaches, I wasn’t sure how they would take a Tennessee guy coming down there and cooking for them.  What I found out was BBQ is a universal language that every coach knows and enjoys especially in the SEC!  So I am down in Baton Rouge cooking on a borrowed smoker and throwing down some Q for the coaches.  I did the usual cook: Chicken, Ribs, Pork and Brisket.  You could hear a pin drop in the coaches meeting room when they were eating the BBQ.  After everyone ate it was time to go to practice. As I was standing on the sideline, I felt a presence around me and all of the sudden I hear “The Brisket was Tender”.  I turned around and it was Coach Miles standing behind me.  That was the ultimate compliment!  I cooked for Coach Miles,

Coach Chavis, Coach Nader, Coach Moffitt, Coach Strudawa, Coach Kragthrope, Coach Wilson, Coach Cooper, Coach Ensminger, Coach Gonzales, Coach Haley, Coach McGaughey, Coach Raymond, Coach Henry, Coach Cameron, Coach Grimes and Coach Peveto. Great times were had around the smoker in the Bayou!  I would be remiss not to mention some great guys that were always there to help out with cooking in LSU and they were equipment manager Greg Stringfellow, film guy Doug Aucoin and my man Charles Baglio!

During the Dooley era at Tennessee, I was able to cook for the coaches and their families on several occasions! Coach Dooley was always great to me and was by my side every time I was at his house cooking.  I didn’t know if it was to help, learn or try to tell me how to cook?  Finally one day I looked at Coach and said you have cobwebs on your Weber, when you clean those off you can talk to me about cooking.  The next time we are there the Weber had been cleaned and he was free to hang around the grill with me again! Hanging around a smoker or grill relaxes people and all of the coaches during this era were great people to hang around and talk with especially about BBQ. On his staff we cooked for Coach Dooley, Coach Pendergrass, Coach Wilcox, Coach Chaney, Coach Smith, Coach Baggett, Coach Thompson, Coach Russell, Coach Joseph, Coach

Hiestand, Coach Hinshaw, Coach Pittman, Coach Sunseri, Coach Palermo, Coach Coiner, Coach Ansley, Coach Conkin and Coach Graham.  I really enjoyed getting to know Coach Dooley and I wish all the success in the world with the Cowboys.

Just when you think things are hot in Tennessee, you need to go to College Station, TX.  I mean, I went down there to cook with Chief and his staff one weekend and it was 91 in the shade and 102 in the sun! Chief bought a new smoker from my other company Champion Smokers & Grills and we sent it down to Texas A&M for him! I flew down in July to cook for his defensive staff and give him a tutorial on

his new smoker which is named The Chief. For 12 hours Chief and D-Line Coach Terry Price hung around the smoker with me.  Coach Price took at least 10 pages of notes on how to smoke BBQ!  There was a lot of rumblings that the people around there couldn’t believe Chief would bring someone from Tennessee down there to cook BBQ when they were in Texas.  I reminded them there would not have been a Texas if it weren’t for some Tennesseans! That made everything more relaxed around the pit. But when the Brisket came off the smoker all eyes were on me.  I have to say that was the best brisket I had smoked in my life, you could cut it with a butter knife!  To my amazement the people at the party were all saying that was the best brisket they ever ate!  That means a lot coming from Texans! The people I fed that day were Coach Chavis, Coach Price, Coach Hagen, Coach Moorehead and former UT Coach Joseph who now at A&M. We were very fortunate to hang out at Dr JP Bramhall’s house to do the cooking and his son Bobby is now attending Law School at Tennessee.  It’s such a small world!

We have been fortunate to feed the football teams at the University of Tennessee every year since we opened in 2009 with the exception of the Kiffin era. In fact last month, we were able to feed the entire Defensive side of the football and their coaches.  Coach Jancek and his staff are outstanding leaders of men.  I cannot leave out feeding Coach Lawson and the strength coaches, those guys are the unsung heroes of team! Hopefully one day soon, we will be cooking for Coach Jones and his staff!

As you can see I have been blessed to be around some great coaches in the SEC!  I hope everyone can get a chance to gather around a smoker or grill on football Saturdays and enjoy great food and great friendships!  You never know where it might lead!

Keep the fire burning!

George

Meet The Team Series: Marlowe Whittaker

{Meet The Team}

      A George’s Blog Series

Marlowe Whittaker

Catering Sales Manager

Years Employed at Dead End: 2 Years

Where Are You From: Born in Memphis, TN. Raised in Chattanooga, TN.

Tell us a little about yourself…

If you had told me seven years ago that I would have a career in the hospitality industry, I would have told you that you were crazy.

My original plan was to graduate from the University of Tennessee with a degree in international business, move overseas and work for a global powerhouse. But as I have learned during my time here in Knoxville, plans are meant to change. And luckily for me, my plans morphed into something I could have never imagined.

I spent my first two years of college just going through the motions; taking course, after course. While my friends were diving deeper into their majors, I just couldn’t find any real passion for my classes. I started thinking about what I love in life and things that I am good at. I knew I liked working with people. I was always trying to plan trips and parties. And I loved food!

After a hard slap of reality, I decided that I needed to make a change. I applied to several internships in Knoxville to test out different career options. Whether the internship was for a week or a year, paid or unpaid, I was willing to work. And after several weeks of interviews, I landed a spot with Visit Knoxville as their Community Outreach Intern. I would be working closely with the Director of Community Outreach, making sure all of the city-wide events ran smoothly.

The highlight of this position was planning Boomsday 2010. I spent all year researching sponsors, creating marketing strategies, setting up event layouts and working with vendors to prepare for this epic event. I got to see the largest fireworks display in the US come to life, from start to finish. And on the night of Boomsday, when every detail was in place and every attendee was patiently waiting for the first firework to light, I knew I could do this forever.

So seven years later, here I am…Catering Sales Manager of Dead End BBQ. And I couldn’t be happier. I actually get to work at a job that combines everything I love: people, parties and food. Plus, I work with some of the most amazing people in the business. From the owners to the restaurant managers to the Catering Team, everyone puts their heart and soul into making each day at Dead End a success. You just can’t ask for anything more than that. I’m truly am blessed.

When you are at work, what is your “go-to” meal?

My “go-to” meal….that’s tough. I don’t think I have one. Currently, I’ve been trying to eat on the healthy side of barbecue, so anything with our smoked chicken is my “go-to”,

But the smoked sausage and cheese appetizer is the best thing on the menu!             

Hands Down! I could eat it all the time.

What is your favorite saying that has been posted on the Dead End Sign?

“I like pig butts and I cannot lie.”

Share a memorable experience you’ve had during your time at Dead End…

My most memorable experience would be the first time I catered The Coaches Clinic at the University of Tennessee. Now, for those of you who aren’t familiar with this event, let me give you a little info.

For two days in April, high school football coaches from all over the US come down to Knoxville to learn about football. They go to seminars, listen to speakers, run drills, etc. And for the past several years, we have catered their lunch.

Well this was my first large, catered event with Dead End and by large, I mean we fed 600 hungry, ex-football-playing men.

After preparing for this lunch for a month, the team woke up bright and early to gather the food and load the catering vans. We drove to Thompson Boling Arena and began setting up for the lunch. Three hours and three buffet lines later, my nerves hit me all at once. This was it. My initiation into Dead End BBQ Catering.

The coaches came flooding down the arena stairs, lining up for our East Tennessee barbecue. They were hungry and in a hurry. I was manning buffet #1, prepared to give each person their portion of pork and chicken. The first couple of guys came through the line and everything was great. But before I knew it, all 600 men were pushing through the buffet lines. Pork and chicken were flying everywhere. My adrenaline was pumping. I was just trying to keep these giants happy and fed. I look over and the rest of my team had the same sense of urgency; running around restocking sides but just as they refilled the macaroni and cheese, the green beans would be empty.  

It thought it would never end. But as I plated my last pulled pork sandwich, I looked up and the sea of men was gone.

In 30 minutes, we had fed 600 football coaches.

Best. Event. Ever.