After years of laboring on farms, in restaurant kitchens, grocery stores and dining rooms owned by others, brothers-in-law Jim Smith and Nick Gohlmann punched their timecards for the last time and opened their own catering and barbecue business in Cross Lanes. They'll pit their ribs, pulled pork and pulled turkey sandwiches against other vendors at Blues, Brews and BBQ June 26 and Wine and All That Jazz June 27 on the University of Charleston campus.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Jim Smith and brother-in-law Nick Gohlmann have worked just about every area of food preparation. Between the two of them, they've farmed, stocked groceries, served and prepared food in hot dog stands and five-star restaurants.
Three years ago, Smith from Cross Lanes and Gohlmann from Hurricane opened Good Stuff Good Times catering company, but kept their day jobs. After a year, they punched their time cards for the last time and drove into the catering business full time. They dubbed their barbecue business Ridgeview Barbeque after Jim and Wendy Smith's address.
The Smiths and Nick and Nicki Gohlmann will fire up their 20-foot smoker and park their green trailer on the University of Charleston's campus this weekend for two FestivALL events: Blues, Brews and BBQ and Wine and All That Jazz. They'll douse the pulled pork sandwiches with homemade barbecue sauce designed to appeal to nearly every palate.
Barbecue sauces inspire fierce preferences, often inspired by geography, Smith said. East Carolina residents insist on a tangy, vinegar-based sauce, while a sweet, thick Memphis-style tomato sauce is popular farther west.
"Ours is a combination of the two," Smith said. "They say you can't please everyone, but I'm going to try. We've never had a complaint about the sauce."
Is coleslaw a condiment or a salad? It depends on your hometown. "We always ask customers if they want slaw on or slaw off their barbecue," he said. "It's never a question in the Kanawha Valley. It's always on."
Ridgeview Barbeque joins Pig Out BBQ from Madison and Porkers BBQ from Cross Lanes as the featured barbecue suppliers Friday at the brews and Blues, Brews and BBQ. Ridgeview and Pig Out return Saturday for the wine and jazz event, but Porkers will not.
In addition to the pulled pork and ribs, Ridgeview will serve a pulled turkey sandwich made of turkey they smoke for six hours, then pull and shred the meat and douse it with a garlic butter sauce.
"It probably would be a healthy alternative without the garlic butter," Smith said.
Pick up an ear of roasted corn, coleslaw and meaty baked beans to round out the plate. The Smiths add a generous helping of pulled pork and onions to the beans and bake them three to four hours in a sweet sauce.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Jim Smith and brother-in-law Nick Gohlmann have worked just about every area of food preparation. Between the two of them, they've farmed, stocked groceries, served and prepared food in hot dog stands and five-star restaurants.
Three years ago, Smith from Cross Lanes and Gohlmann from Hurricane opened Good Stuff Good Times catering company, but kept their day jobs. After a year, they punched their time cards for the last time and drove into the catering business full time. They dubbed their barbecue business Ridgeview Barbeque after Jim and Wendy Smith's address.
The Smiths and Nick and Nicki Gohlmann will fire up their 20-foot smoker and park their green trailer on the University of Charleston's campus this weekend for two FestivALL events: Blues, Brews and BBQ and Wine and All That Jazz. They'll douse the pulled pork sandwiches with homemade barbecue sauce designed to appeal to nearly every palate.
Barbecue sauces inspire fierce preferences, often inspired by geography, Smith said. East Carolina residents insist on a tangy, vinegar-based sauce, while a sweet, thick Memphis-style tomato sauce is popular farther west.
"Ours is a combination of the two," Smith said. "They say you can't please everyone, but I'm going to try. We've never had a complaint about the sauce."
Is coleslaw a condiment or a salad? It depends on your hometown. "We always ask customers if they want slaw on or slaw off their barbecue," he said. "It's never a question in the Kanawha Valley. It's always on."
Ridgeview Barbeque joins Pig Out BBQ from Madison and Porkers BBQ from Cross Lanes as the featured barbecue suppliers Friday at the brews and Blues, Brews and BBQ. Ridgeview and Pig Out return Saturday for the wine and jazz event, but Porkers will not.
In addition to the pulled pork and ribs, Ridgeview will serve a pulled turkey sandwich made of turkey they smoke for six hours, then pull and shred the meat and douse it with a garlic butter sauce.
"It probably would be a healthy alternative without the garlic butter," Smith said.
Pick up an ear of roasted corn, coleslaw and meaty baked beans to round out the plate. The Smiths add a generous helping of pulled pork and onions to the beans and bake them three to four hours in a sweet sauce.
That's plenty of time to sample a pulled pork sandwich from your favorite vendor, or a funnel cake or deep-fried Oreo or Twinkie from Tastee Chef. Tickets are $12 for Blues, Brews and BBQ, which starts at 5 p.m. Friday, and $18 for Wine and All That Jazz Festival, which starts at 2 p.m. Saturday and continues until 10 p.m.
"I'm not supposed to eat it, but I do anyway once a year," said Conrad Haskell, who coordinates the food vendors for both events. "I don't miss Pig Out BBQ's pulled pork sandwich. You have to use two hands to hold the sandwich, they're so big."
The events are the two major annual fundraisers for Fund for the Arts. The wine and jazz festival has attracted about 7,000 jazz lovers in recent years, while the barbecue and blues event pulls in almost that many.
In addition to barbecue and ribs, festival attendees may chow down on flavored popcorn from The Paupers, ice cream sundaes and cones from Ellen's Homemade Ice Cream, roasted ears of corn from the Knights of Columbus, crepes and desserts from Café Creperi, rib eye steak sandwiches from Mountain State Catering in Bridgeport and pepperoni rolls, Philly cheese rolls and broccoli cheese rolls from Risin' Dough Bakery, fried whitefish sandwiches from the Leonards and ribs, burgers and hot dogs from Freeman's Family Catering.
"The food venders prices are essentially the same as they charge in their restaurants," Haskell said.
The University of Charleston holds the beer concession on Friday and wineries from all over West Virginia will sell wine at Saturday's festival. Water, soft drinks, iced tea and lemonade also will be available. No coolers are permitted.
Saturday marks the 10th year for Wine and All That Jazz, featuring jazz trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard at 8:30 p.m. and the fifth year for Blues, Brews and BBQ featuring blues singer Janiva Magness at 10 p.m.
Tickets may be purchased at The Wine and Cheese Shop at Capitol Market, the Clay Center, The Fund For the Arts office at 803 Quarrier St., or through the Web site www.fundfortheartswv.org. At the gate, tickets are $15 for Blues, Brews & BBQ and $20 for Wine and All That Jazz.
Reach Julie Robinson at jul...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1230.
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