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You are here: Home / Eat. / The Best of The Big Apple Barbecue Block Party

The Best of The Big Apple Barbecue Block Party

By Chris Cockren 23 Comments

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Everything you need to know about the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in NYC’s Madison Square Park.  

Another year, another Big Apple Barbecue Block Party.  This one was my fourth I believe.  My, my… how time flies.

So let’s hit it.

For those who don’t know, the Big Apple Barbecue brings some of the top pitmasters from across the country for two smoked meat-tastic days at Madison Square Park in NYC the first weekend of every June.

It gets crowded quick.  How crowded?  Exhibit A:

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

And Exhibit B:

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Seriously, I think like over 100,000 people descend upon the park over the course of the weekend.  That’s a lot of people consuming a lot of smoked meaty goodness.  #lifeisgood

Some things to expect at The Big Apple Barbecue Block Party?

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Seeing all the famous pitmasters doing their thing, hanging out together, and completing all sorts of media interviews.

You better believe new pitmaster of NYC’s Blue Smoke, Jean-Paul Bourgeois (who replaced the legendary Kenny Callahan, one of the Big Apple Barbecue founders), did tons of interviews.

Oh, and you may spot some well-known celebrity chefs too.  Below are 3 pitmasters along with Chef Tim Love (2nd from the right).  The dude has the life… hanging out with all the pitmasters, trying all sorts of free food.  Must be rough man… must be rough.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

There’s free music all weekend long, so bring a beach blanket and sprawl out with your ‘cue on the lawn anywhere you can find room in Madison Square Park.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

And beyond the scheduled bands they have playing throughout the weekend, maybe you’ll get an impromptu concert by a New Orleans street band (with a dancing conductor pig to boot).  These guys were freaking awesome.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Oh, and expect all the pitmasters to try to one-up each other with the most creative t-shirts for their crew.  Memphis Barbecue might take the cake with their shirts.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

…I managed to get my hands on a crew tshirt from 17th Street Barbecue thanks to my buddy and barbecue guru James.  It looks just like the New York Times logo, but says New Pork Times.  Get it?  Pork?  Barbecue?  I know, super clever.

Ok, back on track:

You’ll see lots and lots of smokers.  Like, a ton of them.  And expect to start smelling all those hardwoods burning from blocks away.  It’s pretty amazingly intoxicating.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

And last, but not least… expect this.  That’s right, lines that put Disney World to shame:

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

This was the line for Pitmaster Ed Mitchell right when the festival opened at 11 a.m.  Just to be clear, this line extended over a full city block.  That’s over an hour wait.

Now, if you play your cards right, you can skip the regular peon line for the more prestigious fast pass line.

Pay $125 up front through the official Big Apple Barbecue Block Party site and you will get $100 to spend on food and access to shorter lines (and the extra $25 acts as a donation to the Madison Square Park Conservancy).

See, a much shorter line…

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Ugh, yea, not really.  Unfortunately so many people at this point know about the whole fast pass thing that those lines can be pretty long as well.  Better than that regular folk line, but not all that fast.

So what’s all this fuss about?

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

THIS guy.  Pitmaster Ed Mitchell.  The king of whole hog barbecue.  He’s super popular with ‘cue lovers, and happily poses for photos with anyone that asks… like that guy above.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Check out the set-up Ed Mitchell brings with him from North Carolina.  And even all those smokers weren’t enough.  Word on the street was he ran out of whole hog by like 3 p.m. on Saturday.  It’s a hot ticket item.  Get in line early if you want to guarantee a taste.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

And here it is.  Ed Mitchell’s incredibly juicy, full on pork goodness whole hog.  He seasons it with just a bit of apple cider vingegar and red pepper flakes.  It’s truly and utterly fantastic.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

But I have to admit, although it is incredibly good AND is still in my opinion the best whole hog offered at the Big Apple Barbecue:

a) his portions are getting smaller and smaller every year as he gains more and more popularity.

b) for the first year ever, I enjoyed other ‘cue offerings more than Ed Mitchell’s.

Let’s take a look at Ed Mitchell’s whole hog competition…

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Skylight Inn’s Whole Hog was probably my second favorite.  It has crunchy bits of skin studded throughout that added lots of extra porky flavor into the mix.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Rodney Scott’s whole hog offering was definitely the most generous in quantity.  The cracklin’ was quite enjoyable, although most of the flavor of the actual pork came from the sweet and spicy sauce they slathered on it.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Unfortunately, someone’s got to lose, and that would be Martin’s Bar-B-Que whole hog.  Quite frankly, it was disappointing.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Newcomer to the festival, Pitmaster Bill Durney of Brooklyn’s Hometown Bar-B-Cue impressed the heck out of me.  It was the longest line we waited on my far (1 whole hour), bit his Texas-Style Beef Rib was well worth the wait.

And a nice touch… since the line was so long, Bull Durney sent out his crew to give us some free samples.  I excitedly gnawed on the rest of that beef rib the crew member is holding right up there.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

And look at these gigantic beauties.  Look at that rub.  Look at that juice.

Do you want to cry because it’s so stunning?  I do.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

And there it is.  The cross-section of beef rib perfection.  What I wouldn’t give to be that cutting board right about now.

Hands down this was one of the best 3 things I ate all day.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

They actually cut the incredibly juicy rib meat off of the bone and served it up like so…

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Every single year, Blue Smoke makes their Salt n’ Pepper Ribs.  But with a new Pitmaster at the helm, they changed it up this year.  Crazy, I know.

Pitmaster Jean-Paul Bourgeois’ Louisiana Andouille and Chow Chow was fan-freaking-tastic.  It’s not quite the level of amazingness that is Jim n’ Nicks sausage (by the way, where were they this year?!?!), but it was still pretty darn legit.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

The pieces of meat they used in their sausage were real top-notch quality.  And the chow chow was vinegary goodness, which cut right through the rich, fatty pork.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about Daniel Delaney and his Brooklyn’s Briskettown.  The man knows his brisket, and they have pretty cool-looking shirts.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

The brisket is super moist, full of rich beefiness, and has a solid, flavorful bark.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

See the guy in the blue shirt right there?  That’s Daniel Delaney.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

And here’s where Delaney Barbecue gets HUGE props in my book.  Like, this is majorly important in my eyes.

The dude pays attention to detail.  Every other pitmaster at the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party used the generic stock supply of buns and bread.  Delaney?  No way.  The guy special ordered these beautfiul brioche style buns from Amy’s Bread in NYC (one of the legit bread bakeries in the city), and then dipped them in butter and toasted them.

If that’s not impressive, I don’t know what is.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Oh, and those tomatoes were these really delicious herilooms.  Their fresh flavor were perfect alongside the rich, fatty meat.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

But here’s the deal.  The end all be all.  In my 4 years of attending the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, I learned something really important.

You know what makes this weekend so special?  Do you want to know why we keep going back, year after year?

Friends.

Spending time with the people we love.  Eating food together.  Sharing experiences.  Creating memories.  That’s what makes the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party so special to us.  Being with our friends.  The smoked meat doesn’t hurt, not going to lie.  But it’s our friends that make it an extraordinary experience.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

Valerie + Asheley were ready to go!  …after a quick stop at Starbucks, of course.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

It was Ashley + Tyler’s first Big Apple Barbecue Block Party.  Don’t they look thrilled?  That’s the biggest smile I’ve ever seen Tyler make.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

It was Michelle + Josh’s first time too.  They were both super pumped (and excited to be kid-free for the day!)

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, Madison Square Park, NYC

And then, of course, there was Steve + I.  So pumped to be this dude’s best man for his wedding in a few short weeks.

And there you have it folks, another year of the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in the books.  I better see you there next year.  You know you want to go.  ðŸ˜‰

Filed Under: Eat., NYC Tagged With: big apple barbecue block party

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alice // Hip Foodie Mom

    June 13, 2014 at 3:38 am

    Holy crap! Now this is a post!!! Wow! Now, I have to ask you. . did you consume each one of those whole hog pork sandwiches?! Ed Mitchell’s looks fabulous! Dude, looks like so much fun and what better way to spend with 100,000 of your closest friends in Madison Square Park. seriously, I love events like this: outdoors, plenty of food and music. Doesn’t get much better than that!!! love this!

    Reply
    • Chris

      June 13, 2014 at 8:38 am

      Asheley and I shared everything. We still ate a ton, don’t get me wrong… and honestly we each had our own Ed Mitchell whole hog sandwich. BUT, here’s the secret… we don’t eat any of the bread. It’s all about the meat, so the buns just get tossed to the side. There’s no time to waste precious little room on mediocre carbs when smoked meat is involved!

      Reply
      • Derek The Zen Chef

        June 13, 2014 at 9:52 pm

        Ah, like your attention to stomach space budget, heheh. All those delicacies look just as delicious as I remember them being from my meat-eating days. I am so glad you had a great time there.
        Best,
        Derek the Zen Chef

        Reply
        • Chris

          June 14, 2014 at 3:35 am

          The stomach space is key in events like that hahaha. Thanks Derek!

          Reply
  2. Allison

    June 13, 2014 at 6:18 am

    What a fantastic event! I love summer food fests! I always love seeing pics of NYC as it’s one of my favourite places on the planet. So many great people, places, and restaurants. And I DO want to go next year!!! Great photos too by the way! 🙂

    Reply
    • Chris

      June 13, 2014 at 8:39 am

      They’re the best, aren’t they?! You totally should go next year!!!

      Reply
  3. Pam

    June 13, 2014 at 8:57 am

    What a fun and tasty event!

    Reply
    • Chris

      June 14, 2014 at 3:28 am

      It surely was Pam!

      Reply
  4. Krista

    June 13, 2014 at 10:45 am

    Ughh… jealous! I live in BBQ central… Texas! So I know some good BBQ but to be there with all those “big guns”, I think I would have walked about 10 lbs. heavier… but I wouldn’t even care. Well worth it. Looks like you had a blast… loved the pics too Chris!

    Reply
    • Chris

      June 14, 2014 at 3:30 am

      Living in Texas…. lucky!! Yea, having all those guys in one place for a weekend is pretty amazing. And I’m pretty sure I walked away a few pounds heavier lol

      Reply
  5. Liz

    June 13, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    What a fun event to attend with friends! So many delicious options…it looks like you really know the booths to zero in on! That brisket has my mouth watering!

    Reply
    • Chris

      June 14, 2014 at 3:33 am

      Hahaha we sure do Liz! We plan out our eating very carefully haha

      Reply
  6. Alyssa

    June 13, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    Delicious!! I would not have known which direction to go – I’d be wanting everything! Looks like great weather to be hanging outside with friends and eating AH-MAZING BBQ, too. Next week on our move/road trip we’re driving through the entirety of Texas. Totally planning our stops based on BBQ places! These pictures have me so looking forward to it.

    Reply
    • Chris

      June 14, 2014 at 3:34 am

      Oh man driving through Texas?!?! That’s amazing! Not sure if you follow Krista over at joyfulhealthyeats.com, but she actually lives in Texas and might be able to give you the down low on some places. She’s cool like thta.

      You totally need to take photos of your Texas eating adventures so we can all drool along for the ride!

      Reply
  7. David

    June 14, 2014 at 4:52 am

    Man, this looks like it was loads of fun! You know what else is fun? The Clifton Park BBQ Block Party. There’s no lines, plenty of seating and clean restrooms. Oh, and there’s a beer fridge loaded with brewskies (……or wine…….) nearby.

    Reply
    • Chris

      June 15, 2014 at 4:27 am

      hahahahahahhahahaha this was hysterical David. The Clifton Park BBQ Block Party sounds like a fun time, especially with the clean restrooms. With eating offers like that, we may become neighbors after all haha

      Reply
  8. Layla

    June 14, 2014 at 5:49 am

    Your killing me! I wish I was in NYC right now. The block party looks so fun!

    Reply
    • Chris

      June 15, 2014 at 4:26 am

      Next year make a vacay out of it!

      Reply
  9. Shelley

    June 15, 2014 at 2:50 pm

    Yes, yes I do want to go! What an event! And seriously, your pics and writing were so terrific, I almost felt like I actually was there! Fave part of the whole post though? Your comment about friends really being the best part – so true! 😀 Staring down an upcoming family vacation to NC’s OBX and I’ve gotta tell ya – one of the (many!) things I’m looking forward to is some great Eastern NC-style ‘cue! Seriously good stuff!

    Reply
    • Chris

      June 18, 2014 at 1:41 am

      Thanks so much Shelley! And wow, that NC vacation is sounding pretty awesome… totally need to eat a bunch of ‘cue!

      Reply
  10. Kelly

    June 15, 2014 at 6:17 pm

    Looks like such an awesome event! Great pics and the food looks amazing 🙂 Love summer outdoor events like this – they are so fun especially when you have good company and fantastic food!

    Reply
  11. Bri | Bites of Bri

    June 16, 2014 at 12:14 am

    This sounds like so much fun! Oh and the food looks pretty good too 🙂

    Reply
  12. Matt

    June 26, 2014 at 11:00 am

    That looks like a great reason to take a trip. Thanks for sharing your photos!

    Reply

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