– A Texas pitmaster has been honored by the James Beard Foundation as the best chef in the Southwest region. Congratulations, Aaron Franklin:

 

– Here’s more on the big win for Franklin and for barbecue in the Dallas Morning News. 

– Aaron Franklin shared his reaction to winning the James Beard award with TMBBQ. 

– The Austin American Statesman also had some things to say about Franklin’s award. 

– A pretty clear video of some vandals at Pecan Lodge in Dallas:

 

– Someone stole this poster from the bathroom of Pecan Lodge in Dallas, but it wasn’t the people in the photo. 

– A barbecue got out of hand at a San Bernardino apartment building and caused $150,000 in damage. 

– Hint, they’re not asking about the Salt Lick:

 

– Now that beef prices are high and the supply is still low, cattle thievery is on the rise, especially in East Texas.

– The Dallas Observer tried Fat Cow BBQ in Lewisville and called it “strip mall barbecue that doesn’t suck.”

– Smokin’ Guns BBQ in Corsicana made the local paper because I wrote a review about them.

– They’re even playing with barbecue at Harvard:

 

– Danny Meyer, founder of Shake Shack, credits the great barbecue in Austin as a reason why they chose to expand to Texas. 

– Some details on how the smoker resolution is coming along in Austin. 

– NPR talked to Barry Estabrook about pork production and his new book Pig Tales: An Omnivore’s Quest for Sustainable Meat:

 

– South Carolinian Robert Moss came to Texas to eat some shoulder clod. He wonders why we don’t eat more of it.

– Then Robert Moss talks about the most underrated barbecue in South Carolina.

– The American Royal barbecue competition is moving from its long time home beside the Kemper Arena to Arrowhead Stadium.

– Meat Fight is coming:

 

– On Marc Maron’s WTF podcast (NSFW) he talked a bit about Opie’s Barbecue in Spicewood. “It’s like Disneyland, but all the rides are meat.”

– The Smoking Ho reviews Aaron Franklin’s new barbecue book.

– Lance Kirkpatrick of Stiles Switch made a barbecue video for Target:

Texas Smoke from Homestead Creatives on Vimeo.

 

– Ten things you didn’t know about barbecue from MSN, except if you read this site you probably know them all.

– Meathead over at Amazing Ribs discusses barbecue rubs, and advocates for salting your meat separately from the seasoning rub.

– You can now buy frozen pizzas at HEB with burnt ends as the featured topping.

– In case you missed the Red Dirt Festival:

 

– Brooks Place BBQ in Cypress is now serving breakfast. 

– Babb Bros. BBQ in Dallas has moved to a new location and opened back up this week. 

– The Dallas Observer is fond of the brisket at Heim BBQ in Fort Worth, but they really loved the bacon burnt ends. 

– And finally, a sad note. Food writer Josh Ozersky passed away earlier this week. Rather than sharing an obituary or one of the many heartfelt remembrances, I leave you with his final blog post. It was about bacon, and he would have wanted you to read it and immediately go eat some hickory smoked bacon: