Pig Island 2021 Hosted the Perfect End-of-Summer Picnic
Pig Island 2021 attracted hundreds of barbecue lovers.
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Last weekend, some of the top pitmasters and chefs around the country gathered together to honor fallen heroes and celebrate small meat producers at Pig Island NYC 2021. Held on the grounds of Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island, Pig Island attracted hundreds of barbecue lovers for a perfect end-of-summer picnic.
Pig Island 2021 featured tons of delicious pork dishes including whole hog from Holy City Hogs.
With the event being held on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, it also importantly helped raise money for the Friends of Firefighters nonprofit. Multiple raffles were held to spur large donations for the organization, which provides mental health and wellness support for NYFD firefighters and their families.
The Friends of Firefighters nonprofit raised money at the event.
Pitmasters and chefs who attended also won awards for their dishes. The event’s top prize, Best In Show, was awarded to pitmaster Tank Jackson with Rob Nelson and Trevor Kunk. They served whole hog sourced from Jackson’s Holy City Hogs operation, plus Kunk’s savory and tender collard greens.
Rodrigo Duarte (right) and Tank Jackson were the top two prize winners of the day.
The prize for Best Whole Hog was awarded to hog farmer and chef Rodrigo Duarte, who has been raising Portuguese Alentejo hogs in New Jersey since 2016. Duarte served up whole hog over a bed of Prime 6 coals and cut off pieces of the hog as people came up in line. (Those who missed Duarte’s meats can try them at Caseiro E Bom in Newark, NJ.)
The fantastic spare ribs from Jase's BBQ won the people's choice award at Pig Island 2021.
The Friends of Firefighters Peoples' Choice Award and Bad to the Bone went to Jase Franklyn of Jase’s BBQ in Queens, who made some killer pork spare ribs. Franklyn infuses his American barbecue with Caribbean flavors, including spice profiles from Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.
Kim Plafke of The Meat Hook celebrates her award win at Pig Island 2021 with her team.
Another standout chef performance from the event was from Kim Plafke of The Meat Hook in Brooklyn. She and her team served “hangover cure breakfast sandwiches” with pork and egg, plus beer-brined whole hog served with a spicy chimichurri. She was rightly awarded the “F-ing Brought It Award.”
Mario Chape of Big Papa Smoke'm always brings his A-game at Pig Island.
Multiple judges told me this was one of the most challenging food events they had to judge because the food quality was so high across the board. Other awards were given to chef Jesse Jones, Mario Chape of Big Papa Smoke’m, and Angelo Competiello of Brick + Dough. More winners from the event can be found in Food Karma Projects’ recap here.
All in all, Pig Island NYC 2021 was a massive success with perfect blue-sky weather and a crazy amount of delicious food. As for other BBQ events, the slate will lighten up in the fall, but more local gatherings will likely be added to the calendar soon.
Sean Ludwig
Founder, NYC BBQ
EAT ALL ABOUT IT
Acclaimed pitmaster and barbecue book author Myron Mixon will soon be opening one of his restaurants in Hoboken, NJ.
Here are the top BBQ and related food news stories you need to know about this week:
Pitmaster and restauranteur Myron Mixon will soon be opening a barbecue joint in Hoboken, NJ. The restaurant, aptly named Myron Mixon’s Pitmaster Barbecue, will open by early October and was featured on Eater NY’s list of NYC’s Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings for Fall 2021. Other openings of note include Charles Pan Fried Chicken and Rowdy Rooster. READ MORE.
The New York City Food and Wine Festival will be held once again this October. The New York Post’s Jennifer Gould reports that the events will be slightly scaled back because of COVID. Still, dozens of fun events like the Backyard BBQ will be held in conjunction with the festival. READ MORE.
The crew from Oink and Moo BBQ & Burgers will soon be opening a new location at the Bell Works complex in Holmdel, New Jersey. READ MORE.
Erik Ofgang of Connecticut Magazine profiled Hindsight BBQ in Connecticut and said it should “be a spot on barbecue fans’ bucket lists.” (The restaurant impressed at the Rib King NYC event earlier this year, so I can second this review.) READ MORE.
Marty’s, a popular Fort Lee-based fast-casual burger joint, will soon open its second restaurant in Jersey City. READ MORE.
IRL BBQ EVENTS
The NYC Food & Wine Festival’s popular Backyard BBQ event will be back this October with a full lineup of great pitmasters.
Here are the top BBQ and related food events coming soon to the New York metro area:
October 14-17, 2021: The New York City Wine & Food Festival will return in a more limited format this fall. It will see the return of the “Burger Bash” hosted by Rachael Ray and the “Backyard BBQ” hosted by Andrew Zimmern. BBQ lovers will certainly enjoy both the Burger Bash and Backyard BBQ, but other fun events will be held too. BUY TICKETS HERE.
October 15-16, 2021: Tickets are available now for the Hartford Rib Off, an annual charity fundraiser in Riverside Park in Hartford, Conn. The proceeds from the two-day event will benefit The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford, Journey Home of Hartford, and The Hartford Rib Off Scholarship Fund. Tickets can get you access to admission, parking, kids’ activities, an all-you-can-eat buffet, free barbecue samples, a tasting cup with continual pours, live music, unlimited soft drinks, and access to vendors. BUY TICKETS HERE.
October 16-17, 2021: The 8th Annual Hot Sauce Expo NYC will be back for two days in fall 2021. The event will be held at the Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint and will feature tons of hot sauce samples, barbecue, and beer to purchase, fun on-stage events, and more. BUY TICKETS HERE.
SAY HELLO
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