Pat Martin's family doesn't have a long-standing tradition of smoking meat, but he has become one of the chief proponents of the western Tennessee style.
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Pat Martin is an unlikely champion of the western Tennessee style of whole hog barbecue, an esoteric — and recently endangered — form of the art. Yet this son of a bond trader, who followed in his father's footsteps in that profession, one day decided to quit his office job and open a barbecue restaurant. Eight years later, he has four restaurants in two states, is a founding member of the barbecue advocacy group the Fatback Collective, has become a fixture at the annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in NYC, and was recently invited to cook at The James Beard House.
Published Oct 31, 2014
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