Introducing Sauce King NYC, New York's First Virtual Sauce Competition
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With food events canceled in New York City this summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, now's a perfect time for virtual events to step up and provide some entertainment until things get back to normal.
Enter Sauce King NYC, a new virtual sauce competition from Food Karma Projects, the company that produces Brisket King NYC and Rib King NYC. Sauce King will encourage sauce makers who specialize in BBQ sauce, hot sauce, marinades, condiments, and more to enter their sauces to be judged and given awards by top food media personalities.
Food Karma's new Sauce King NYC will put top sauces head-to-head in a new virtual competition.
Sauce submissions are open from now until August 30, 2020, and each submission costs $65. The sauces will be judged at a small live event in September, which will be broadcast live online so people can learn about the judging, sauces, and more. Winners in every category will be announced at a separate event in October.
Winners will be awarded an opportunity to participate in Food Karma’s culinary festivals, be featured in NYC BBQ Weekly and The Smoke Sheet, and be invited to a closed-door event where sauce makers can pitch to investors who can help them ramp up production.
The Sauce King NYC winners' announcement in October will likely coincide with Brisket King NYC, which is now set for October 14. Keep an eye out for more details for Sauce King in the near future as well.
Food Karma Projects has hosted big BBQ events like Brisket King NYC for years, but in-person events like this are on hold for now. (Photo by Sean Ludwig)
Food Karma Projects head Jimmy Carbone additionally said he's still planning for Pig Island NYC to take place in September and for Brisket King NYC to take place in October. But the COVID-19 situation in the fall will ultimately determine viability.
"Being in New York City, we are different from most parts of the country," Carbone said. "We're going to get through the summer and see where things are at."
At the very least, it's exciting to see new event ideas and models pop up to test the waters. Sauce King NYC will be a fun event to watch as it grows and more details are released.
Sean Ludwig
Founder, NYC BBQ
EAT ALL ABOUT IT
Here are the top BBQ and related food news stories you need to know about this week:
On top of some delicious BBQ, now you’ll also be able to see a drive-in movie at Juicy Lucy BBQ in Staten Island. (Photo by Sean Ludwig)
Staten Island’s Juicy Lucy BBQ, the winner of the 2019 Brisket King competition, has announced it will soon open a drive-in movie theater to provide more entertainment options during the pandemic. Owner Richie Holmes just announced the creation of his new “Juicy Lucy Tailgate Community BBQ,” in which you can get BBQ and watch a movie in the restaurant’s three-acre lot. The first movie that will be shown will be Star Wars: A New Hope and the first night of operation should be Friday, June 12.
Big Barlows BBQ & Catering in Barnegat, NJ has created another insane food item — the three-pound Mighty Memphis Burger. The new item features one pound of hamburger, one pound of pulled pork, a half-pound of bacon, onions, cheddar, and beer cheese sauce.
The New York Times shouted out a new food news site by food writer David Joachim called DigestThis.news. The site is an offshoot of AmazingRibs.com, the most popular barbecue site on the internet.
Eater NY critic Robert Sietsema wrote about the joy and anxiety of going to eat takeout dishes in NYC, including hot dogs from Gray’s Papaya and spinach pizza from Stella’s in Chelsea.
Pig Pit BBQ, located in the Albany area, spoke with WNYT about the meat shortage and said they were almost back to normal when it comes to most meat prices.
Finally, if you need to add some rubs to your backyard meats, you may want to try one of these 13 rubs from Upstate New York, including some from Wing-A-Lings, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, and Rodfather’s BBQ & Catering.
IRL BBQ
NOTE: Given the coronavirus crisis, we will be leaving this section blank until things get back to normal. Some events have been canceled entirely while others have been postponed to the fall. Many events are now up in the air, but I’ll be doing my best to keep the website up to date with events and dates that have been confirmed.
Check out the full up-to-date NYC BBQ calendar here.
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