Hopefully for all of us it was a busy Spring. A lot has happened since the launch of the Barbecue Association, yet it seems we are moving at a snail’s pace. With summer here, so is the Fourth of July! Everyone knows it’s un-American if you don’t eat BBQ on and around the Fourth, so hope you all had a bustling week-end! Since someone declared June to be BBQ and Grilling month, a lot of media focus has been on our craft and love……barbecue. Thumbs up to the following:

• The June issue of Texas Highways had several features on Central Texas. An article on Luling starts off with the City Market BBQ and a photo of the market and Joe Capello. A piece on Organic Farms included Austin’s Boggy Creek Farm with Carol Ann Sayle and Larry Butler. And there’s an excerpt from the new book “The Tex-Mex Cookbook” by Rob Walsh. Rob is also the author of “The Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook’.
• In early May, the Austin American-Statesman restaurant critic Dale Rice wrote a piece in the XLent Magazine titled “Up in Smoke”, which addressed the issue of sauce vs. no sauce on your ‘cue. Roy Perez of Kreuz Market was on the cover. Other smoky spots highlighted were: Salt Lick, Artz’ Rib House, Louis Mueller’s and Cooper’s.
• The Austin Chronicle restaurant Poll 2004 came out in late May also, with the readers poll honoring the Salt Lick, number one, and runners up were Rudy’s, The County Line, Ironworks, and Ruby’s. Critics’ picks for favorite were John Mueller’s BBQ, Artz’ Rib House, and Sam’s BBQ. For Best Restaurants within 60 miles, kudos went to R.O.’s Outpost in Spicewood and the Salt Lick in Dripping Springs.
• Finally, throughout June the Food Network TV has been running a series of programs focused on barbecue. (In some cases they’re actually grilling, but here in Texas, we know the difference.) There were at least two episodes of “BBQ with Bobby Flay” centered on Austin area joints. These included Sam’s BBQ, Ben’s Long Branch BBQ, Ruby’s BBQ, The Salt Lick in Dripping Springs, and Cooper’s in Llano.
• Finally, the July issue of Bon Appetit has a feature article titled: “The Great Texas Barbecue Secret” by Alan Richman. As you might guess, it’s about Central Texas BBQ links and their German-Czech origin. All the sausage greats are mentioned: City Market in Luling, Black’s, Smitty’s, Kreuz’, Fuschak’s Pit Bar-B-Q, Sam’s, Taylor Café, and the Elign trio: Cross Town, Southside and Meyer’s.

It’s hard to keep up with all the press at this time of the year, but we’re all for it! We have a good regional food reputation here in Central Texas and so many of you have been mentioned or featured in various magazines, newspapers, documentaries, etc. It’s difficult to keep track of it all! (Forgive us if we’ve missed some.) Please let us know where we can read about ya’ll, so we can spread the barbecue word.

As far as progress with the Association, we have heard back from some of you regarding the Steering Committee, and some of you expressed interest, but a lack of time. We completely empathize with that statement! Your opinions and input are valuable, and we realize much business will need to be conducted by phone or email to accommodate our busy schedules. So far the following have generously volunteered to be members of the Steering Committee: Margaret Valenti, Dawn Orsak, June Baumoal, Glenn Garrett, and ourselves, Patricia Mares and Luke Zimmermann. We hope to call a meeting later this summer to set up an agenda.

Barbecue Rules!!

Pat Mares
Luke Zimmermann