Ari White (left) of The Wandering Que was crowned 2016 Brisket King of NYC.

It was another amazing night of “kosher bacon” loveliness as we crowned a new King of Brisket! On Wednesday, March 16th, Texas-born Ari White of Wondering Que was the Judge’s favorite, taking best in show for his Lamb Brisket.

Winners in all categories:

Smoked category
Runner up: Izzy’s Brooklyn Smokehouse
1st prize: Blue Smoke

Brisket Innovation category
Runner up: Pitmaster Robbie Richter
1st Prize: Cannibal

Cured category
Runner up: Marlow & Daughters
1st Prize: The Wandering Que

Brisket King of NYC
Runner up: Izzy Eidelman of Izzy’s Brooklyn Smokehouse
Brisket King of NYC 2016: Ari White of The Wandering Que

Some other favorite dishes of the night:

                                   Dickson’s Meats Whole Roast Beef Chuck

Get tickets now for 2016 Brisket King of NYC, taking place on Wednesday, March 16th, at Sanders Studios (Brooklyn) from 6-9:30PM

ALL-INCLUSIVE TICKETS ON SALE HERE. INCLUDES ALL YOU CAN EAT AND DRINK; FULL-ACCESS TO EVENT! TAKES PLACE ON 3/16/16 (FROM 6-9:30 PM) IN BROOKLYN. VIP TABLES (FOR SIX) ALSO AVAILABLE!

“Meat” 2015’s Best Butcher of NYC Jay Fox, who will be carving up a whole beef shoulder at this year’s Brisket King of NYC.

When this artisan butcher comes to Brisket King of NYC on Wednesday, March 16th, the thing he’ll most be looking forward to isn’t winning the crown in the fifth annual “kosher bacon” competition. What he’s most anticipating is being at the center of an incredible beef carving demo as he brings an entire beef chuck shoulder to the event.

“I don’t remember ever seeing a public beef butchering event,” Fox noted earlier this month while removing the cheeks from a beef head at his butcher shop, Hudson and Charles, in the West Village. “People do pig carving demos, but a cow is just so big.”

Fox is one of NYC’s many emerging “meat chefs” who are interested not just in great recipes but the actual meat and artisan practices of craft butchery. His beef is grass-fed and grass-finished from a Finger Lakes farm he works with exclusively.

This “Battle of the Meats” continues to show off both new and established meat chefs and this year we expect to have 20+ chefs and butchers all competing for the glory of beef! Confirmed chefs/restaurants thus far include (subject to change):

• Marlow and Daughters
• Schatzie’s
• Chef Ari White – Gemstone Catering
• The Cannibal
• Jimmy’s No. 43
• J. Fox of Hudson & Charles – with a live butchering demo
• Pitmaster Robbie Richter
• Jake Dickson of Dickson’s Farmstand Meats
• Beast of Bourbon
• Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
• Hill Country Barbecue
• Izzys Brooklyn Smokehouse
• Kimchi Smoke/Robert Austin Cho
• Mable’s Smokehouse
• NYC Hot Sauce Co.
• Ribs Within
• East Village Meat Market
• Many more to come…

As part of our continuing pursuit of working with local farms, we will be creating a special sustainable meat/butchering demo with Slow Money NYC; WÜSTHOF will provide awards for best brisket in several categories along with the award for the new Brisket King.

Also included in the all-access ticket: specialty craft beer and an Indie Spirits line-up curated by Modern Distillery Age Magazine. Also we’ll have Ciders of Spain Avalon from Asturias, produced by Trabanco. All in attendance will enjoy three+ hours of some of the city’s best brisketeers, beer, wine and spirits!

Get your tickets here ($90/pp) and be sure to check out the city’s first public beef carving demo at Brisket King of NYC!

This year’s signature meat event will harken to the rich ethnic culinary heritage of New York City, focusing on up-and-coming meat chefs and artisan butchers who will deliver fresh takes on “the Kosher Bacon” that is brisket. Celebrating our city’s great meat culture, this year’s entries will include everything from traditional brisket to Jewish-style meats to Asian influenced BBQ.

Among the special features for this year’s event will be a beef carving demo by J. Fox of Hudson & Charles, who will be bringing a whole beef shoulder to the event! Your ticket includes the demo, along with all-you-can-eat brisket and all-you-can-drink beer and spirits.

Our first four years of Brisket King of NYC introduced the public to new chefs (John Brown Smokehouse in 2012; Daniel Delaney of Delaney BBQ won in 2013) chefs putting a unique spin on brisket (Will Horowitz, 2014) and established BBQ masters (Billy Durney of Hometown BBQ is the reigning King). This “Battle of the Meats” continues to show off both new and established meat chefs and this year we expect to have 20+ chefs and butchers all competing for the glory of beef! Confirmed chefs/restaurants thus far include (subject to change):

• Marlow and Daughters
• The Cannibal
• Butcher-Chefs Jocelyn Guest and Erika Nakamura
• J. Fox of Hudson & Charles – with a live butchering demo
• Pitmaster Robbie Richter
• Jake Dickson of Dickson’s Farmstand Meats
• Beast of Bourbon
• Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
• Hill Country Barbecue
• Izzys Brooklyn Smokehouse
• Kimchi Smoke/Robert Austin Cho
• Mable’s Smokehouse
• NYC Hot Sauce Co.
• Pig Guy NYC
• Ribs Within
• Many more to come…

As part of our continuing pursuit of working with local farms, we will be creating a special sustainable meat/butchering demo with Slow Money NYC; WÜSTHOF will provide awards for best brisket in several categories along with the award for the new Brisket King.

Also included in the all-access ticket: specialty craft beer and an Indie Spirits line-up curated by Modern Distillery Age Magazine. This year we are also selling a limited number of VIP tables for six. All in attendance will enjoy three+ hours of some of the city’s best brisketeers, beer, wine and spirits!

ALL-INCLUSIVE early bird tickets are $70 and available here. And be sure to check back closer to the event for updates.

Brisket King of NYC Returns Wednesday, March 16th, 2016

What others are saying:
“The now annual ‘Brisket King’ competition has become a late winter staple amid New York City eventgoers, growing larger and larger with each passing year. With more than a dozen options to choose from – and with the many big names representing New York’s barbecue scene – it’s no surprise that the crown is such a highly sought after achievement.” - Local Bozo review of 2015 Brisket King of NYC

We’re in a new and bigger space this year at Sanders Studios, which will allow us to bring even more meaty awesomeness and possibly a “Brisket” week with details to follow. Expect two dozen chefs, plus spirits, wine, beer and VIP areas.

ALL-INCLUSIVE early bird tickets are $70 and available here. And be sure to check back closer to the event for updates.

Looking to compete or interested in being a sponsor? E-mail us today and we’ll reply with more information.

From 2015:

The winning brisket from Hometown BBQ. Photo courtesy of Chopsticks and Marrow.

On Monday, March 16th, we crowned a brand-new Brisket King of NYC! The bragging rights went to Pitmaster Billy Durney of Hometown BBQ (Red Hook, Brooklyn) with his traditional smoked brisket.

Winners include:

• 1st place Smoked Category + 2015 Brisket King of NYC: Billy Durney of Hometown BBQ
• 2nd place Smoked Category: Matt Fisher, Fletcher’s Brooklyn Barbecue, with Brisket Bulgogi
• 1st place Innovation Category: Ari White, Wandering Que, with Sous Vide Brisket Nigiri with Lamb Bacon
• 2nd place Innovation Category: Fletcher’s Brooklyn Barbecue
• 1st place Cured Category: Bacsynski’s East Village Meat Market
• Honorable Mention: Morgan’s BBQ (Brooklyn)

For more photos, check out Local Bozo’s gallery here.

PREVIOUS NEWS FOR BRISKET KING 2015

Brisket King returns for a third year to a larger venue! Where else to crown the King of Brisket than in Kings County? That’s right, we’re heading for Brooklyn (Fort Greene) where 20+ chefs will compete for the glory of beef! Anticipated chefs/restaurants to be present (subject to change):

• Food Network Kitchens
• Beast of Bourbon in Brooklyn
• Chef Paul Denamiel
• Ben’s Best
• Hill Country BBQ
  
• Kimchi Smoke/Robert Cho
• Hometown BBQ
• Chef Brian Perrone (Slows in Detroit, MI)
• Morgan’s BBQ
• Pig Guy NYC
• The Wandering Que
  
• Dinosaur BBQ
• Ben’s Best Deli (Rego Park, Queens)
• Fletcher’s Brooklyn BBQ
• Chef Jesse Jones
• East Village Meat Market with chef David Navarro of Jimmy’s No. 43

In addition, we’ll have 15+ distilleries curated by Modern Distillery Age:

• Tap Whisky
• Brinley Gold Shipwreck Spiced Rum, Coffee Rum & Vanilla Rum
• Meletti 1870, Amaro & Cioccolato (Market Street Spirits – Opici)
• Teeling Irish Whiskey
• Michter’s Whiskey (Chatham Imports)
• Menage a Trois Vodka (Trinchero Family Estates)
• Pig’s Nose and Sheep Dip Blended Scotch Whisky, Sheep Dip Blended Islay Malt and The Feathery Blended Malt (all Frederick Wildman & Sons)
• Tito’s Vodka
• 4 Roses Bourbon
• Proof Positive Beverages (Golden Moon, Merlet, and Brovo Spirits)
• Scorpion Mezcal

Plus we’ll have both people’s choice and judges awards (special guest judges to include author Stevie Pierson [The Brisket Book], reps from Katz’s Deli, and chefs and personalities from The Food Network). Plus craft beer from Coney Island Brewing.

Tickets available now.

Tickets are now available (get Early Bird here) for 2014’s best meat event, Brisket King of NYC! VENUE CHANGE: This event will be taking place at The Firehouse (87 Lafayette) on Wednesday, February 12, 2014 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM!

Tickets are selling fast, and we’ve yet to announce the full spirits line-up curated by Modern Distillery Age Magazine (stay tuned.)

If you came last year, you know that this is the brisket event of the year! You’ll get special VIP access to some of the city’s best brisketeers, with three hours of beef, beer, wine and spirits! This year’s confirmed chefs will include:

Among the already confirmed chefs:

Fletcher’s Brooklyn BBQ
East Village Meat Market
The Butcher Bar
Hudson Valley Harvest
Duck’s Eatery
Dinosaur BBQ
Simon Glenn of Tchoup Shop
Clay Gordon
Emma Feigenbaum
Joe and Mrs. Doe
Chef Jesse Jones
Brian Perrone of Slows (Detroit)
The Wandering Que (Kosher)
Kutshers Tribeca
plus Special Guest and 2013 winner Dan Delaney of BrisketTown will be mingling with partiers!
Many more to come…

Celebrity judges include:

Peter Kaminsky (Bacon Nation)
Stevie Pierson (The Brisket Book)
Jimmy Carbone, Jimmy’s No. 43
Annie Hauck-Lawson (Gastropolis)
Jacob Schiffman, The Food Network
Rozanne Gold, James Beard Award-winning chef

Plus Tito’s Vodka and Lagunitas all night long! Additional details to follow.

URGENT BREAKING NEWS…

BRISKET KING OF NYC IS SOLD OUT!!!

No tickets will be available at the door.

Get in on our early bird ticket prices and save. We’re offering both VIP and general admission tickets to Brisket King of NYC 2013 on February 20th, 2013 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Santos Party House at a substantial discount. Put a little brisket in your new year.

Confirmed participants include:

• 2012 Brisket King of NYC John Brown Smokehouse
• John Stage, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
• Hugh Mangum, Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque
• Daniel Delaney, BrisketTown
• Will Horowitz, Ducks Eatery
• Lee Scheffler, Chef de Cuisine at Sarabeth’s
• Simon Glenn, Tchoup Shop
• Ari White, Pitboss of Hakadosh BBQ & Texas Roadside Smokehouse
• Matt Fisher, Fletcher’s Brooklyn Barbecue Pitmaster
• Chef Paul, MangoSeed Restaurant
• Andrew Burman, Taboonette
• Chef Robbie Richter
• Melt Shop Grilled Cheese
• East Village Meat Market
• Møsefund Farm’s Mangalitsa Pork Brisket will team with a guest chef TBA
• Jimmy’s No. 43 will team with High Point Farms
• Hudson Valley Harvest will team with an upstate farmer
• Adirondack Grazers Grassfed Beef Co-Op will team with a guest chef TBA
• With additional BBQ chefs and food purveyors TBA

This event will be co-hosted by:

• Jacob Schiffman, The Food Network
• Annie Hauck-Lawson, Brooklyn Mompost and “Gastropolis: Food and NYC”
• Jimmy Carbone, Jimmy’s No. 43

Confirmed judges include:

• Matt Bean, Sports Illustrated
• Rozanne Gold, Award-winning Chef and Author
• Peter Kaminsky, “Culinary Intelligence” and the upcoming “Bacon Nation”
• Julia Moskin, The New York Times
• Brian Perrone, Slows Bar B Q, Detroit, MI
• Stevie Pierson, “The Brisket Book”
• Mory Thomas, The Food Network

Exclusive beverage purveyors include:

• Lagunitas Brewing Company, Petaluma, CA
• Asturian Ciders of Spain from Rowan Imports
• Indie Spirits Curated by Modern Distillery Age Magazine including:
  • Cayrum
  • Koval Distillery
  • Tequila Semental
  • Tito’s Handmade Vodka
  • Tuthilltown Spirits
  • Warwick Valley Distillery

And check out Stevie Pierson’s “The Brisket Book: A Love Story with Recipes”:

Happening Tonight – November 28th from 6:30-8:30 p.m.!

Food Systems Network NYC’s annual meat panel Sustainable Meat Distribution: Channels and Challenges, the Second in a Series on Distribution, which was rescheduled due to Hurricane Sandy, will take place tonight, November 28th from 6:30-8:30 pm at Brooklyn Winery, (213 N. 8th St., Brooklyn, NY 11211). Moderated by Mary Cleaver (Founder and President, Green Table + Cleaver Co.), FSNYC’s 2nd annual Meat Panel will focus on the relationships and business practices that tackle the challenges of getting grass-fed meat from the farm and into the city.

For more details please visit the FSNYC website announcement.

The Meat Hook’s butcher, Sara Bigelow, hosted a small gathering in the snow last night, carving 1/2 steer for chefs to cook at tonight’s Modern Beefsteak & Spirits Celebration from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Hudson Terrace.**

The steer was sourced from Adirondack Grazers, a Washington County co-op of grass fed beef farmers. Representing the co-op was Sarah Teale, who regaled the group with stories about the various farmers in the cooperative (some family farms, hipster farms, old time farmers, etc.). Brooklyn Brewery donated some of their Oktoberfest (which went well with the carpaccio treat that Sara offered participants). Brooklyn Kitchen owner Harry Rosenblum and Jimmy Carbone rounded out the hosts, helping explain the transition of Meat Week NYC from an event to help farmers to an event to raise hurricane relief funds for the Rockaways.

If the pictures below are any indication, tonight’s spread at Hudson Terrace will be amazingly delicious!

**You can no longer buy tickets online, but you can pay $45 cash (or check made out to Rockaway Beach LLC). Hudson Terrace is located at 621 West 46th Street. 100% of tonight’s proceeds go to hurricane relief in the Rockaways.

Butcher Sara Bigelow breaks down 1/2 steer as Jimmy Carbone, Harry Rosenblum and Sarah Teale of Adirondack Grazers look on.

Beef Carpaccio! Delish!

Last year, Food Karma Projects created Meat Week NYC to support small livestock farmers upstate after Hurricane Irene tore through the region. Now post-Hurricane Sandy, we’re turning our focus to those in desperate need in the Rockaways.

Harry Rosenblum of The Brooklyn Kitchen/Meat Hook and other summer Rockaway Beach concession operators (Roberta’s, Rockaway Taco) are desperately raising urgent funds now for people in the Rockaways who have lost everything. Our meat will be purchased from Adirondack Grazers, a small co-op of grass fed beef farmers.

Among upcoming events, we’re committing all the ticket proceeds from our Modern Beefsteak & Spirits Celebration (Thursday, November 8^th) to their efforts.

Please support the meat farmer and NYC establishments that have been struggling in the devastation from Hurricane Sandy. Great attendance at these events will help get local businesses back on their feet!

It’s time for carnivores to come together and celebrate sustainable meat! From November 3^rd-11^th 2012 NYC will celebrate all things beefy (and porky, lamby… oh, you get the idea). Celebrate local chefs, butchers and regional farmers by joining us for:

• Sara Bigelow of The Meat Hook will break down ½ side of beef from Adirondack Grazers Cooperative on Wednesday, November 7^th at The Brooklyn Kitchen.
• Several meat-centric dinners including an all-beef dinner at Jimmy’s No. 43 (Monday, November 5^th).
• Food Systems Network NYC’s annual panel “Sustainable Meat Distribution: Channels and Challenges” at Brooklyn Winery (RESCHEDULED for November 28th).
• Modern Beefsteak & Spirits Celebration! On November 8^th, at Hudson Terrace join Time Out NY and guest chefs Mary Cleaver, Ian Kapitan, and others TBA, for:  
  • A walk-around tasting event, featuring food prepared by five chefs working with the ½  steer broken down earlier in the week at The Brooklyn Kitchen;
  • 12 indie spirits curated by Gregg Glaser (Modern Distillery Age);
  • Craft beer and live music from SisterMonk!
  • For an additional donation, take the Joios Blind Tasting Challenge!
• East Village Meat Market will be sampling cooked/smoked meats on Saturday, November 10^th.
• The Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, NY, will conduct several sustainable-meat-related tours on November 3^rd-4^th and 10^th-11^th. 
• General meat demos at places such as Union Square Greenmarket, Brooklyn’s The Meat Hook, and Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, among others.
• Beginning November 12^th, Food+Tech Connect presents “Reimagine, Prototype & Build the Future of Meat.” Join the online conversation, “How can information and technology be used to hack (or reimagine) meat?“
  

One of the key events of Meat Week NYC will be working with Adirondack Grazers Cooperative, a co-op of grass-fed beef farmers in Washington County, which will be bringing meat to several of the events including Modern Beefsteak & Spirits.

We’re happy to announce that two small farms will be sourcing pork and rabbit for the upcoming Meat Week NYC events.

Cascun Farm 

Clawhammer Farm

In celebration of the farmers, markets, and chefs who bring sustainable meat to our tables, Meat Week NYC (November 4^th-10^th) will feature tastings, parties, butchering and cooking demos, market tours, panels, and much more. As a preview to NYC Meat Week, Slow Food NYC will be producing Women Know Pigs, on October 23^rd at 6 p.m., bringing together a woman pig farmer, a woman butcher, and a woman chef talk about the swine they’ve known working in traditionally male-dominated professions. Join pig farmer Becky Mumaw of Clawhammer Farm, butcher Sara Bigelow of The Meat Hook, and Chef Julia Sullivan of Haven’s Kitchen (where the event will be held), for a fun and delicious, educational event.

Half a humanely raised, heritage breed pig will be butchered for practical education and the other half will be prepared for gustatory enjoyment.  The pig will be accompanied by local wines selected for the occasion. The butchered cuts will be auctioned at the end of the evening for taking home (cash, checks, and credit cards accepted).

Proceeds from Women Know Pigs will support the programs of not-for-profit Slow Food NYC, including the Urban Harvest program of good food education for New York City kids at schools in the South Bronx and Harlem, on the Lower East Side, and in Brooklyn and at a summer urban farm in East New York. More than 1,000 kids learn about the importance of good, clean, and fair food to their health and well-being, the health of their families and communities, and the health of the planet.

Haven’s Kitchen is located at 109 West 17th Street (between 6th & 7th Aves.), and tickets can be purchased here.