The Business of BBQ

Welcome to Murphysboro, ILEver wonder if you’ve got what it takes to venture out on your own and start your own BBQ catering or restaurant business?  I know I have, and I do.  I mean, who among us hasn’t walked away from a BBQ joint thinking, “My BBQ is at least that good”.  Do you get stoked when friends and family lavish compliments on you and your BBQ and tell you that you should go into the restaurant business?  I’m guilty on this one too.

If you answered either of the above questions in the affirmative, then a great place for you to start is with OnCue Consulting’s Business of Barbecue.  OnCue is the hospitality consulting service from 17^th Street Barbecue.  Amy & Mike Mills are the father daughter combination and driving force behind the venture.  They operate BBQ restaurants, catering, and vending operations every day and have a wealth of knowledge in what it takes to be successful.

In December,  my wife spotted their ad for the 2-day “Business of Barbecue” seminar in the KCBS newsletter The Bullsheet.  She contacted Amy and the two conspired to enroll me in the January class as a Christmas Gift.  So last week I made the trek to Murphysboro, IL, and along with 19 other folks who share a BBQ dream, I got a first hand look at the operation and a ton of information to think about.

We met on Sunday night at the Marion, IL location of 17^th Street Barbecue for a welcome reception.  That’s where I got my first look at the kitchen operations for a BBQ restaurant.  We got a personal tour from Amy, then a nice reception with drinks and appetizers.

Mike Mills at the Ole Hickory pit named Black BettyMonday morning we arrived at the banquet facilities at 17^th Street’s restaurant & catering operations in Murphysboro, IL.  We kicked off the day with more eats, while Amy laid out the agenda for the next 2 days.  We each introduced ourselves to the rest of the class and I began to realize that I’m not the only one who has dreams that they aren’t quite yet ready to reach for.  There were a number of folks in the class who were in the process of opening a BBQ business (restaurant, catering, or vending), but there were also a good number of folks who were there to satisfy there own curiosities.  To their credit, it didn’t matter to Mike & Amy where you are in the process; they shared their insight and experience equally.

We split into 2 groups, ribs & chicken.  Mike took a group into the catering kitchen and we spent some time learning about preparing and cooking ribs for the restaurant.  The other group teamed up with one of my Mike’s very capable pitmasters to do the same with chicken.  On Wednesday, the groups reversed and did the same.

Amy Mills with Braddog

Later on Tuesday, we wrapped up the marketing & PR piece of the seminar and then spent time as a whole class working on butts & brisket for the next day.  At the end of the day, we had another great meal and had the opportunity to network with our classmates.

Wednesday, we covered vending and catering until it was time for the butts & brisket to come off the cooker.  We enjoyed the butts & brisket for lunch, then wrapped up our second day with a discussion on pricing, a trip to the company store, and both individual and group photos with Mike Mills.

Overall, it was a great experience and one that I’d highly recommend.  Mike, Amy, and their capable staff were great hosts.  I came away energized and ready to put a few cooking techniques into practice.  I also came away with a whole new perspective on the business of barbecue.  Am I ready to run out and open a restaurant?  No, but I have satisfied many of my curiosities and I know where to turn for help when I am ready to chase my BBQ dream.

OnCue consulting can be reached here:

OnCue Consulting Offices

Pittsburgh, PA
Murphysboro, IL
Hingham, MA

Telephone:   +1 781 799 7202

                     +1 412 418 4418

Fax:              +1 412 246 7060

Web:                http://www.ruoncue.com

Cheers,
Braddog

The Legend & Me

I have the good fortune of living in the middle Mike Mills' BBQ empire.  I've enjoyed the BBQ at his restaurants in the midwest for quite awhile, and frankly it's the yardstick that I use to measure most other BBQ restaurants (not to mention my own BBQ).  I've also had the pleasure of making the virtual acquaintenace of Mike's daughter Amy via the very active BBQ community that exists on the internet.

Last night my family treated me to dinner at 17th Street Bar & Grill, Mike Mills' restaurant, for my birthday.  As I commented via Twitter on the way to dinner, "If I can't BBQ myself then I'll gladly eat at 17th Street".  Amy picked up my message on Twitter and let me know that it so happened that Mike was going to be at the O'fallon joint for last night's airing of "Food Feuds" on the Food Network.  She let Mike know I was on my way and asked him to say hello.

Sure enough, Mike found us shortly after I arrived and I had the opportunity to chat with him for several minutes about the Food Network competition, eating and enjoying other folks' BBQ, and the possibility of joining him for one of his On-Cue classes after the first of the year.

In spite of his accomplishments, Mike was as common as cornbread.  He is exactly who I thought he'd be after reading his book "Peace, Love, and Barbecue".  It was like chatting with an old friend.  Mike even sent around some special appetizers for us to sample and made a second stop by our table just to make sure that things were good.

Mike Mills and his family are perfect examples of the kind of folks that I've had the good fortune to meet along the way as I've enjoyed this uniquely American pastime called BBQ.

Oh, and congratulations to Mike and the crew at 17th Street for the win over Pappy's Smokehouse on Food Feud last night.

Cheers,
Braddog

Review: Peace, Love, and Barbecue

I grew up in southern Illinois and was attending Southern Illinois University about the same time that Mike Mills was opening his first restaurant, 17th St. BBQ, in Murphysboro, IL.  My roommate and I would occasionally make the trip to Lake Egypt to eat BBQ at a place that we liked, but we were totally unaware of the happenings less than 10 miles away from campus.

Mike Mills is an author, a restauranteur, a Memphis in May Champion, and is referred to as The Legend in BBQ circles.  This book, Peace, Love, & Barbecue: Recipes, Secrets, Tall Tales, and Outright Lies from the Legends of Barbecue, is his perspective on the culture of BBQ.

Peace, Love, and Barbecue isn't an autobiography, though it tells Mike's story from his viewpoint.  It's not merely a cookbook, though it's chocked full of awesome recipes from some of the best BBQ'ers in the country.  It's not an instructional guide, but there are lots of tips and recommendations throughout the book.  It's not a travel guide, but you could use it to locate the best BBQ  joints in the country.  This book is all of those things and more.

For every beer you drink, throw on about 6 lumps of charcoal or one small stick of wood - Mike Mills

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, hearing from the who's who in the BBQ world, perusing the recipes and planning my next BBQ experiment, and getting a deeper look at the culture around one of the most uniquely American foods, BBQ.  This is a must read for anyone who cooks as a hobby, aspires to cook competitively, or simply enjoys good BBQ.

So here's wishing you Peace, Love, and BBQ!

Cheers,
Braddog