BAPTISM BY BRISKET
Friends, pull up a pew. I'd like to share the story of my Baptism by Brisket with you.
Like a lot of Dallasites, I grew up eating BBQ at catered events, Dickey's, Sonny Bryan's and Spring Creek BBQ. The beef was mostly dry, the sausage straight from the House of Eckrich, the sides swimming in butter or water. Onion rings, hot rolls and BBQ sauce were the main attractions. And I always ate my BBQ with a pitcher of sauce poured on it. (BTW, thank you Spring Creek BBQ, for the institutional plastic plates complete with guardrails to separate my beans from my fresh rolls.)
In short, I was a heathen.
After years of wandering in the wilderness, I heard about a place in the Farmer's Market in Downtown Dallas...Pecan Lodge. While their lines were long, I figured that wouldn't be a problem on a Wednesday. I concluded a meeting and headed over there.
It was 10:15 am, they opened at 11 am, and I was the 10th person in line. Nobody was in the Farmer's Market except for me and a bunch of beef heads hungry enough to wait for the restaurant to open. When I got to the counter, I ordered a three-meat platter: beef, pork and jalapeno sausage.
I think there were sides and sauce on the plate, but I don't remember much after my first taste of the beef. It melted in my mouth and took me to places I have never been. Fireworks exploded in the sky and delicate wisps of smoke clouded my brain.
If you were there that day, you might remember me. I was the man kneeling at a plate, tears in his eyes, mumbling "amen, amen, amen" over and over. I left Pecan Lodge converted. No more BBQ chains for me. I was baptized in the River Fourton and never looked back.
Within a week after dining at Pecan Lodge, I purchased my first smoker. I had to recreate that experience for myself.
Thank you Pecan Lodge. Thank you Justin and Diane Fourton for changing my life.
Like a lot of Dallasites, I grew up eating BBQ at catered events, Dickey's, Sonny Bryan's and Spring Creek BBQ. The beef was mostly dry, the sausage straight from the House of Eckrich, the sides swimming in butter or water. Onion rings, hot rolls and BBQ sauce were the main attractions. And I always ate my BBQ with a pitcher of sauce poured on it. (BTW, thank you Spring Creek BBQ, for the institutional plastic plates complete with guardrails to separate my beans from my fresh rolls.)
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| Pecan Lodge ambrosia tray |
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| The plate for overindulgent diners at Spring Creek BBQ |
After years of wandering in the wilderness, I heard about a place in the Farmer's Market in Downtown Dallas...Pecan Lodge. While their lines were long, I figured that wouldn't be a problem on a Wednesday. I concluded a meeting and headed over there.
It was 10:15 am, they opened at 11 am, and I was the 10th person in line. Nobody was in the Farmer's Market except for me and a bunch of beef heads hungry enough to wait for the restaurant to open. When I got to the counter, I ordered a three-meat platter: beef, pork and jalapeno sausage.
I think there were sides and sauce on the plate, but I don't remember much after my first taste of the beef. It melted in my mouth and took me to places I have never been. Fireworks exploded in the sky and delicate wisps of smoke clouded my brain.
If you were there that day, you might remember me. I was the man kneeling at a plate, tears in his eyes, mumbling "amen, amen, amen" over and over. I left Pecan Lodge converted. No more BBQ chains for me. I was baptized in the River Fourton and never looked back.
Within a week after dining at Pecan Lodge, I purchased my first smoker. I had to recreate that experience for myself.
Thank you Pecan Lodge. Thank you Justin and Diane Fourton for changing my life.
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| DMN photo from the link above |
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