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MEMPHIS BBQFest > 2023 > 1 Month Away - $100,000 budget due to inflation! (1 Viewer)

BroncoFreak_2K3 said:
There is no doubt watching this take shape over the years that you definitely have your #### together with this...The line of success forms behind you. :thumbup:

I have to say, I really do like the layout of your site this year more than any other that you have shown.
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Thanks. Honestly we've been lucky to add quality guys that bring huge attributes to the table. @sbonomo and his brother are both incredibly active year round even from the west coast, and are absolute MACHINES in the kitchen and bar once fest gets going. Obviously Tipsy is a rock star when he's able to come up. We've got team attorney's who keep everything on the up and up with insurance, taxes,etc. We have liquor reps, guys with light and sound contacts, scaffold guys who pull favors for Memphis in May so that they pull favors for us when on site, guys who are remarkable fundraisers, Guys who bust their asses when stuff needs to get done, etc. 

It's become somewhat of a family that keeps in touch year around and we've all sort of learned our place and role and what we nee to do make this work... and almost without exception, they are all really great guys to hang out with as well. It's a really cool thing to be a part of. Cheesy, but true. 

Thanks on the layout! The more "open" floorplan is going to be really nice I think. Looking at last year's layout, it seems so tight and cluttered. Things should flow infinitely smoother this year. 

The chaos leading up is frustrating... but I am really really looking forward to this week.... We aready have people going out of their way to walk past our booth to see what we're doing this year. Wait till they see what we have in store :)
 

 
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JaxBill said:
So do you ever run into any of the members of your old team?
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On great terms with most. One of them was the guy who brought the random $1000 to the table from a client today. Another did the design work for our shirts this year, gratis. 

They understood why we split. It's remained very amicable. 

 
[icon] said:
Not sure what you mean by this. 

Source of meat: 
• $600 worth of Compart Duroc Ribs for comp day... ordered through a butcher here in Memphis who handles all of our bandsaw trimming, etc. Not sure on the ancillaries. We have kitchen team that have that nailed down. Sbonomo is part of that crew and can probably answer it. 
• Mass feeding meat was ordered in bulk through my buddy who is the exective chef over BB Kings Restaurant group. they are located at the head of beale very close to park entrance and get excellent bulk discounts so they have everything ordered onsite and holding for us till wednesday. 

Cooking meat:
• Our pitmaster this year is Daren Sarphie, also out of New Orleans. tipsy simply couldn't commit the time with the restaurants in flux, his insane hours, and trying to spend more time with his family. Daren has been comp cooking for a few years now and has some hardware under his belt. He's very new to MBN style and baby backs so this will be a learning experience for us all. We're here to have fun and if we can take home hardware that's a nice bonus :)
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What about the ancillary dishes :) - smoked fried wings, smoked salmon with dill, white wine sauce, smoked crispy duck breast with a port wine reduction and I forgot what we are doing for beef :)

 
sbonomo said:
What about the ancillary dishes :) - smoked fried wings, smoked salmon with dill, white wine sauce, smoked crispy duck breast with a port wine reduction and I forgot what we are doing for beef :)
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That's why I said "not sure on the ancillaries"... didn't know where you guys were sourcing your meat. I know they sound f'ing fantastic!! 

 
Soooooo our scaffold guy changed the design at the last minute to 29x29 despite us having ordered at 30x30 tent for our top deck. "No problem.. I can build "knee outs" on the exterior to hold the tent... "trust me" 

Tent company refused to put the 30x30 on our top deck... the same top deck that is supposed to house our huge 100 person CDW/Cisco Sales meeting dinner they paid $16,500 for.... the same top deck that's likely to get soaked since it's supposed to RAIN all day Thursday. :hot:

Slid out of the office 20 mins early yesterday when I heard and spend the next 20 mins screaming on the phone while on the way to pick up @sbonomo at the airport. Grabbed him and hit the house for some good bourbon from my cabinet (2015 Pappy Van Winkle 12yr, 2015 William LaRue Weller 12yr Cask Strength, and 1792 Port Finish) while working on team stuff. The GF got home and stu took us out for a much needed sushi dinner to decompress. 

Stu and the GF are running errands today, going shopping for the team dinner he and his brother (arriving today from AZ) will be cooking up. I'm at work till 11am then heading home to load #### up and head downtown. We are in damage control on sponsor dinner, talking to them today. Hoping they're not too pissed. HOPING the rain gets out of town early on Thursday and we can just set up dining under the tarps and pull them right before dinner. Will see. 

2 more hours and BBQfest officially begins. :banned 

 
Icon,

Are you guys in the same spot as last year? I got lucky and I won't be in Japan this year so I'll be down there helping all day Thursday through Saturday. We are at R-085.

 
We are at R091 afew doors down. Feel free to swing by during the day and ask for Stu or I and we will get you set up with bands! 

 
Now tent company has ####ed up table order for sponsor dinner. All high tops instead of banquet tables. 

Unreal the ineptitude. If they don't fix it they will sink our $16k sponsor dinner and possibly #### us for good with that sponsor. Going to discuss options with two team attorneys tonight. 

 
good god the problems you are having already....sorry bro.

i've been pretty bummed all week knowing the fun I'm missing.  Loading up Darren with the jambalaya for the team this morning really clinched it...that should be my truck loaded with stuff.

was going to try to sneak up for Friday night & leave after awards on Saturday...then the catering orders started rolling in and I know its impossible now.

 
Neil, You know we miss your portly, self-important ###. We actually toasted to ya last night. Greg/Woody from Portland came by looking for ya and he was bummed you weren't here. Sending a good Oregon IPA back with Sarphie for ya.

finally got tents (20x25 not 30x30) and tables/chairs. The odd size tent really screwed up the series of tarps layouts I  designed to hold off the storms. We got it rigged somewhat but we will see how it goes. Luckily rain odds went way down and we may get away with a couple scatterd showers and MAYBE they blow over by sponsor dinner which would be HUGE for us to deliver seating as promised.

grinder bought nice 32oz RITC (same as yeti) tumblers for the team and significant others. I had them all laser engraved with team logos, and his cousin did cut vinyl names and logos from fave teams on them. They look awesome and will be amazingly handy in the heat this week. Presented them to everyone and was a huge hit. 

We somehow broke two 70" flatscreens. We think the Nolan guys who mounted them screwed the brackets in to tight. Nolan sent two more down and we got them mounted up. That we are in a position to hot swap 70" TVs was comical to surrounding teams... None of which have any TVs at all. Comments from passers by are entertaining. It seems many people can't figure out if we are a BBQ team or a concert stage with all the sound and lighting. :lol:

bonomo twins, livy, Frulla and Sarphie cooked up an AMAZING gourmet taco bar. I'll let stu elaborate, but there was carne asada, carnitas, scratch guac, pico, salsas, etc. Scott flew in tortillas from AZ. It was some of the best mex I've had. Everyone raved. 

Team chemistry is the best I've ever seen on any team I've ever been a part of. Wish you were here to be part of it, tipsy. Everyone is jiving... Most if not all folks are busting ### when needed and getting along great. Even campbell is laughing and being cool with everyone :)   this year is going to be one for the books no matter how we finish. 

Video guy josh is all over the place capturing the experience. I Am so glad we hired him this year. Will be a killer sponsor tool, but also I'm going to be really happy to have a memoir of sorts from this year I think. 

Tonight my friend Susie will be buzzing the park in a C17. Below deck Flight plan has already been filed as a training exercise. A wing tip to our booth is planned. If weather permits, josh is sending up the drone to try and capture it from altitude with our booth in the foreground. She will text us from the runway with exact fly over time. Should be during sponsor dinner which they will love.

stu can prob offer his thoughts too, getting a bit more rest before heading to the park. cooking team has been on site for an hour working on the days meals :)  

today will be shoulder, ribs, brisket, quail, scotch eggs, jambalaya, beans, slaw, wings, boudin, and maybe some gator (buddies two doors down are smoking a 12 footer). 

Fest opens to the public today... Let the ####show begin.

 
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Glad you got your tent issues solved. We threw ours up Tuesday afternoon before the rain. 

I made the comment to several guys in our team that the Saucespects booth was basically going to be "Club Saucespects" come Thursday/Friday night. They're pumped to have y'all as neighbors. Tell your guys to introduce themselves when they have the "time." :D

As for the Thursday rain, looks like mid-morning is forecast to be the worst of it, with the afternoon/evening chances lessening. Fingers crossed.

For everyone else reading this, my booth (R92) is directly beside to Icon's, and I'll be down there on Thursday. PM me for my number (or Icon, he also has it) if you're stopping by for a bite or a beer!

 
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Jesus Christ... Just got back with $2000 in cash (tips for the night) and a sore back.  We've had a party or two before but tonight was ridiculous... I can't begin to get into the crazy that went down but I'll say that before the sun went down we had a "get handcuffed by Shelby county deputies, then hit golf balls (while cuffed) off our custom made driving range AT the police boat idling in the middle of the Mississippi River" contest... All captured by a phantom drone shooting 4K video from overhead. Then a c17 piloted by one of our buddies did donuts over the park (our booth was center point) for a bit at an entirely unsafe altitude.  once all that settled down stuff really started to get crazy. 

Canadian national BBQ team brought molson and hats, Mexican national BBQ team brought Mexican wrestling masks and cocaine. at this point I have NO idea what's in my locker down at the park. 

Our bar is depleted.... Our kegerator is ####ed up. We have the top keg-line guy in the state Coming in from 2 hours away in the morning to gut it and figure out what the hell is going on. Our poor liquor rep / beam sponsor probably expected 15 cases of booze to last more than Thursday..... 

I need sleep. Tomorrow is the actual "big" day. 

tipsy... Damn dude we missed you. 

 
[icon] said:
Jesus Christ... Just got back with $2000 in cash (tips for the night) and a sore back.  We've had a party or two before but tonight was ridiculous... I can't begin to get into the crazy that went down but I'll say that before the sun went down we had a "get handcuffed by Shelby county deputies, then hit golf balls (while cuffed) off our custom made driving range AT the police boat idling in the middle of the Mississippi River" contest... All captured by a phantom drone shooting 4K video from overhead. Then a c17 piloted by one of our buddies did donuts over the park (our booth was center point) for a bit at an entirely unsafe altitude.  once all that settled down stuff really started to get crazy. 

Canadian national BBQ team brought molson and hats, Mexican national BBQ team brought Mexican wrestling masks and cocaine. at this point I have NO idea what's in my locker down at the park. 

Our bar is depleted.... Our kegerator is ####ed up. We have the top keg-line guy in the state Coming in from 2 hours away in the morning to gut it and figure out what the hell is going on. Our poor liquor rep / beam sponsor probably expected 15 cases of booze to last more than Thursday..... 

I need sleep. Tomorrow is the actual "big" day. 

tipsy... Damn dude we missed you. 
Click to expand...
[icon] the Facebook page looks great.  Looks like a blast! Love the driving range. LOL

 
Jeez, I can't watch that while I'm at work and have to get up at 8am tomorrow for a kid's tennis tourney.

Well, I guess I can...

Everything looks fantastic Icon, your team is thebomb.com

 
I'll second Icon's sentiments about last night. Club Saucespects & it's people were great, fun neighbors. My guys sang your praises for passing the fifth around during the morning session (thanks). The music was top notch (I had several folks ask why we didn't just have y'all point a speaker directly into our booth.) Holy hell...

Although I stayed sober (I had my son with me most of the night), I had a blast too. Our booth fed lots of happy folks, who got funky to the Saucespects DJ next door.

At one point I stood on our top deck overlooking the Mississippi River & could see the white dance floor laser light (or whatever the hell it was) moving out over the water. It looked like the dance floor went a few hundred yards into the river. :D

Got to enjoy a nightcap with Icon during the afterparty/cleanup/cool down session & met a few other team guys there.

Oh, and did I mention that on top of all of this, the band Cracker played a killer show show on the main stage that a lot of folks missed? I only caught the last three songs, and geez, their guitarist is fan-freaking-tastic.

I hate that I'll miss the "big night" tonight. Toast one for me, GB. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

 
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Every year I follow the Memphis in May BBQ through Icon and this thread vowing next year is the year I'm going down there. This year I ended up using my spring travel time and funds by going to Colorado, next year I'm just going to plan ahead and make it happen.

Until then I will continue to enjoy it vicariously through Icon and this thread, keep the photos and updates coming!  

 
Jack's Old South w Myron Mixon won grand champion after placing 1st in whole hog. 

I love MIM....but KCBS is a much more credible way of judging.   Interacting with judges isn't the most fair way IMHO.

 
tipsy mcstagger said:
Jack's Old South w Myron Mixon won grand champion after placing 1st in whole hog. 

I love MIM....but KCBS is a much more credible way of judging.   Interacting with judges isn't the most fair way IMHO.
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Yeah, I remember watching something about the judging at that contest. Was actually really surprised that was how they did it.

 
tipsy mcstagger said:
two good years in a row with that mustard sauce...nice work Icon.   What was the poultry?
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Thanks GB :thumbup:

Poultry was actually @sbonomo's dish! It was a smoked duck breast. He can provide more info on it. Very very tasty stuff. 

Load out day.. So tired and sore. More details and pics to come later today or tomorrow. So damn tired. 

I only slept 10 hours in 3 nights (wed/thurs/fri)

 
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Load out went remarkably easy with hired labor on hand for heavy lifting and dirty work (pulling carpets, etc). I still feel like I've been run over by a truck, but it was totally worth it. Was in bed by 5pm. Woke up from 7-9pm or so then back to sleep for the night. I feel like I'm about 80% of normal right now. 

Saturday we had a crew come in and provide IV bags for the team (containing saline, glucose, B12, Zofran, Zantac, and Toradol) to help get everyone back on their feet for comp day. It helped quite a bit but still had leg cramps due to dehydration and fatigue Sat PM and Sunday. 

More pics: 
• 4lb Porterhouses cooked cowboy style (on raw coals) then smoked for beef entry. 
• Smoked BBQ Salmon with creamy lemon dill and capers sauce on a toasted crostini for seafood....
• Sbonomo's duck breast poultry entry (7th place) getting prepped 
•  Walking Tomato Base sauce into judging tent
• Judging table for saturday
• End of day Saturday before heading home to close out the festival
• The booth after tear down. 
 

 
culdeus said:
Have you ever posted your mustard sauce? Or is it some sort of trade secret?
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I'd rather not share the exact recipe for obvious reasons... but here are some basics:

4 parts yellow mustard1 part honey / light brown sugar / white vinegar Also includes: molasses, cayenne pepper, paprika and black pepper

IMO it's all about keeping it simple. I used to use white pepper in there too... the container went missing saturday so I went without it and moved from 11th to 5th. Had a rub/sauce whiz (chuck Averwater) in the booth and talked about it a bit. He's big on simplifying ingredients. "If you can't taste it, take it out". 

My tomato base has a few more ingredients but I'll likely be streamlining it a bit as well. 

 
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[icon] said:
Thanks GB :thumbup:

Poultry was actually @sbonomo's dish! It was a smoked duck breast. He can provide more info on it. Very very tasty stuff. 

Load out day.. So tired and sore. More details and pics to come later today or tomorrow. So damn tired. 

I only slept 10 hours in 3 nights (wed/thurs/fri)
Click to expand...
@tipsy mcstagger @[icon] - So the smoked duck breast was inspired by a classic French preparation with a crispy rendered skin, smoked with a pecan/walnut blend and topped with a play on a classic au poivre sauce using a Tawny Port in place of the brandy and reduced significantly longer to focus the flavors.  I built the box with a duck fat fried fingerling potatoes that paired perfectly with the duck.  All in all I thought the breast was a bit over (more medium than medium rare) but the judges obviously loved it.  I wish I had more detailed pictures, but we were in the weeds trying to make all of the components in the 30 minutes I had between dishes.  EXTREMELY please with the outcome.  Not bad for my first entry in MIM ever.  If I can find any pictures I will post them.

 
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[icon] said:
Neil, You know we miss your portly, self-important ###. We actually toasted to ya last night. Greg/Woody from Portland came by looking for ya and he was bummed you weren't here. Sending a good Oregon IPA back with Sarphie for ya.

finally got tents (20x25 not 30x30) and tables/chairs. The odd size tent really screwed up the series of tarps layouts I  designed to hold off the storms. We got it rigged somewhat but we will see how it goes. Luckily rain odds went way down and we may get away with a couple scatterd showers and MAYBE they blow over by sponsor dinner which would be HUGE for us to deliver seating as promised.

grinder bought nice 32oz RITC (same as yeti) tumblers for the team and significant others. I had them all laser engraved with team logos, and his cousin did cut vinyl names and logos from fave teams on them. They look awesome and will be amazingly handy in the heat this week. Presented them to everyone and was a huge hit. 

We somehow broke two 70" flatscreens. We think the Nolan guys who mounted them screwed the brackets in to tight. Nolan sent two more down and we got them mounted up. That we are in a position to hot swap 70" TVs was comical to surrounding teams... None of which have any TVs at all. Comments from passers by are entertaining. It seems many people can't figure out if we are a BBQ team or a concert stage with all the sound and lighting. :lol:

bonomo twins, livy, Frulla and Sarphie cooked up an AMAZING gourmet taco bar. I'll let stu elaborate, but there was carne asada, carnitas, scratch guac, pico, salsas, etc. Scott flew in tortillas from AZ. It was some of the best mex I've had. Everyone raved. 

Team chemistry is the best I've ever seen on any team I've ever been a part of. Wish you were here to be part of it, tipsy. Everyone is jiving... Most if not all folks are busting ### when needed and getting along great. Even campbell is laughing and being cool with everyone :)   this year is going to be one for the books no matter how we finish. 

Video guy josh is all over the place capturing the experience. I Am so glad we hired him this year. Will be a killer sponsor tool, but also I'm going to be really happy to have a memoir of sorts from this year I think. 

Tonight my friend Susie will be buzzing the park in a C17. Below deck Flight plan has already been filed as a training exercise. A wing tip to our booth is planned. If weather permits, josh is sending up the drone to try and capture it from altitude with our booth in the foreground. She will text us from the runway with exact fly over time. Should be during sponsor dinner which they will love.

stu can prob offer his thoughts too, getting a bit more rest before heading to the park. cooking team has been on site for an hour working on the days meals :)  

today will be shoulder, ribs, brisket, quail, scotch eggs, jambalaya, beans, slaw, wings, boudin, and maybe some gator (buddies two doors down are smoking a 12 footer). 

Fest opens to the public today... Let the ####show begin.
Click to expand...
So the team dinner taco bar:  I stared with a classic play on a salsa verde or tomatillo salsa, classic guacamole and pico de gallo.  I cook this at home all the time but completely under estimated how long it would take to prep for 80 people.  Next my bro made a pot of pinto beans (anyone that has tried to cook these understands how hard it is to make in 3-4 hours) and classic Spanish rice.  Las I made three protein's:  1). Classic Carne Asada that I was able to find pre marinated.  2). Pollo Asada which I marinated myself with onions, bell peppers, quartered oranges salt, pepper, garlic, chili powder, smoked paprika, so on and so on.  I was able to find thinly sliced chicken breast or this would have killed me.  Last but not least 3).  I made a play on carnitas.  As mentioned earlier, I completely under estimated how long the prep would take.  I was going to make a classic shredded carnitas but opted for large 2" chunks so they would cook faster (I would later cut this into much smaller pieces to be served on taco's).  This was marinated and cooked in orange juice, quartered oranges spiced with 10-11 different spices.  By far the carnitas came out as my favorite with the smoky flavor.  All in all we went through 15 pounds of carne asada, 10 pounds of chicken asada and 10 pounds of carnitas.  Amazing how much people can eat.  I am sure there were several other things out there but It is all a blur now.  If anyone is interested, I was so tired I only had 1 taco :)   Started at 7:30 am, made it home at 12:30.  Worked until 3;30 then back down to start smoking meats the next day at 7:30.  FUN FUN!

 
sbonomo said:
So the team dinner taco bar:  I stared with a classic play on a salsa verde or tomatillo salsa, classic guacamole and pico de gallo.  I cook this at home all the time but completely under estimated how long it would take to prep for 80 people.  Next my bro made a pot of pinto beans (anyone that has tried to cook these understands how hard it is to make in 3-4 hours) and classic Spanish rice.  Las I made three protein's:  1). Classic Carne Asada that I was able to find pre marinated.  2). Pollo Asada which I marinated myself with onions, bell peppers, quartered oranges salt, pepper, garlic, chili powder, smoked paprika, so on and so on.  I was able to find thinly sliced chicken breast or this would have killed me.  Last but not least 3).  I made a play on carnitas.  As mentioned earlier, I completely under estimated how long the prep would take.  I was going to make a classic shredded carnitas but opted for large 2" chunks so they would cook faster (I would later cut this into much smaller pieces to be served on taco's).  This was marinated and cooked in orange juice, quartered oranges spiced with 10-11 different spices.  By far the carnitas came out as my favorite with the smoky flavor.  All in all we went through 15 pounds of carne asada, 10 pounds of chicken asada and 10 pounds of carnitas.  Amazing how much people can eat.  I am sure there were several other things out there but It is all a blur now.  If anyone is interested, I was so tired I only had 1 taco :)   Started at 7:30 am, made it home at 12:30.  Worked until 3;30 then back down to start smoking meats the next day at 7:30.  FUN FUN!
Click to expand...
Yeah it was amazing but it would have been nice to have not been delayed in getting everything set up (thanks mahaffey tents) and had more help onsite for you earlier in the day. We got down there a bit later than we all would have liked as well, which didn't help. 
 

Mario & the rest of the Mexican national BBQ team has offered to bring in a staff of 10 and cook tacos for us one night next year. I'm not sure how they could improve on what you guys did, though it would require less effort on you guys' behalf :)

The next big focal point for the team will be improving food prep/service and lessening the load on team resources there. Be it through hired pitmasters to handle the prep/cooking of mass feed meals... through better planning and processes... or any number of other means. But that's our last big area in need of improvement to make life easier for those involved . 
 

 
Holy carp that looks amazing. How did I miss this multi-year thread. Must mark my calendar and find a way of telling the wife that "I'm running out for some milk"

@[icon] you guys have any of that swag for sale? logos and shirts looked cool.

 
[icon] said:
Mario & the rest of the Mexican national BBQ team has offered to bring in a staff of 10 and cook tacos for us one night next year. I'm not sure how they could improve on what you guys did, though it would require less effort on you guys' behalf :)

The next big focal point for the team will be improving food prep/service and lessening the load on team resources there. Be it through hired pitmasters to handle the prep/cooking of mass feed meals... through better planning and processes... or any number of other means. But that's our last big area in need of improvement to make life easier for those involved . 
 
Click to expand...
WOW - That would be so great....believe me what I did was amateur at best!

 
glvsav37 said:
Holy carp that looks amazing. How did I miss this multi-year thread. Must mark my calendar and find a way of telling the wife that "I'm running out for some milk"

@[icon] you guys have any of that swag for sale? logos and shirts looked cool.
Click to expand...
We have about a dozen shirts left from the 2 runs we made. Unfortunately we're on hold right now because some executives from Molson Canada saw them, loved them, and said they wanted a bunch. One guy on the team took a couple business cards and will be in touch this week. Should know more soon on what's left, GB.

 
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