Episode Transcript
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(00:12):
It's time for Barbecue Nationwith jt so fire up your grill, light
the charcoal, and get yoursmoker cooking.
Now from the Turn It Go Burnit studios in Portland, here's jt.
Hey, everybody.
Welcome to the nation.
That's Barbecue Nation.
I'm JT along with my co hostand hall of famer, Leanne Whippen.
Our respective studios on eachcoast there, we'd like to thank you
(00:33):
for joining us today.
We'd also like to thank thefolks at Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Beef the way nature intended.
And also the Oregon DungenessCrab Commission.
I have to tell you, Leanne, Idid another show last week with the
Crab here television deal, andI never had so many people come by
the set after the segment was over.
(00:54):
They did.
Yeah.
Good stuff.
Great stuff.
I made.
I made crab tacos, so.
Street tacos.
They were good.
Anyway, enough of that.
We'd like to welcome to theshow the, the Go to girl, the barbecue
heiress, Amy Mills from 17thStreet Barbecue.
Hey, Amy.
Hi.
Thank you so much for having me.
It is always a delight to be here.
(01:16):
Great.
I like that.
I like that.
Very few people say that bythe time the show's over, but it's
all good.
So, you know, you're a verybusy, busy person.
What if you.
You haven't been on the showin like four years?
So I wanted to kind of firstof all get caught up with what you've
been doing.
Well, a lot has happened infour years for sure.
(01:37):
But probably the two mainthings are the, that we have built
our factory at 17th streetwhere we bottle our barbecue sauces
and co pack for other people.
And in the front of thatbuilding, we have now a new coffee,
breakfast, brunch, lunch,specialty grocery shop called Fay.
(01:58):
Wow.
Where did the name come from?
Faye is my grandmother.
So this business is an ode tothe female side of our company and
of our legacy.
But she was an amazing woman.
She was widowed, had five children.
She was widowed.
Three of those children werestill at home.
And she had a six month old baby.
(02:18):
So she had her last child whenshe was 46, which is quite unusual.
And she was a college educatedwoman born in 1903, so very uncommon
for females to be educated atthat time.
But she very quickly figuredout how to make a living and a life.
And she bought property andconverted some of it to be rental
(02:39):
property.
She became the first FullerBrush woman in the country and she
went selling brushes while menwere away at war.
And she made our familybarbecue sauce and she would decant
it into Sterilized glassketchup and mayonnaise bottles and
jars and sell that to friendsand neighbors.
So very industrious.
(03:01):
And, you know, she really madeher mark on her children and, of
course, on her 10 grandchildren.
So it's her name.
It's also my daughter's name,but really a nod to the feminine
side of our business.
I love that.
Was that your dad's mom?
Yes.
Okay.
Yes.
We called her Mama Faye.
She was affectionately knownby all of her grandchildren.
(03:23):
And until probably around her90th year, she made barbecue sauce
for the restaurant every week.
Now, of course, at that point,we had to make more to augment what
she made, but she still madeit and delivered it.
Is it the same recipe that youuse now?
Fantastic.
Wow.
That's incredible.
(03:43):
Did she get to see, like, yourdad's success and stuff?
She got to see a lot of hissuccess, but she would say, you know,
you could never get a very bighead in my family.
And she would say, well, Mike,poor Mike.
I feel like his success hascome too late in his life.
You know, I just don't knowabout all of this.
So he passed away in 2000,right after Christmas, in 2000.
(04:07):
So she did not see the openingof Blue Smoke.
She.
She really did not see therise of the popularity of barbecue.
So she.
You know, she missed that.
I'm sure she's seeing it from above.
But there you go.
You know, a lot of good thingshad happened up until her passing
as well.
So she was watching the rise,and she just didn't really quite
know.
You know, she would never wanthis head to get too large.
(04:29):
Did she have more than thesauce but a larger effect on what
you do in the restaurant orhow it started?
No.
Well, I think she had really.
My.
Her husband probably hadreally more effect on the fact that
my dad loved to barbecuebecause he.
(04:51):
His job.
He sold cigarettes and soapsuds for the Palmolive Pea Company
by day, and so he traveled allover southeast Missouri, southern
Illinois, and western Kentucky.
And at night and on weekends,he would barbecue.
And when neighbors saw himbuilding a fire, they would bring
meat over for him to cook for them.
Anytime they went camping,which was a huge family pastime,
(05:14):
all the people in thecampground would end up at their
campsite eating the barbecuethat he was preparing.
And my two older uncles, therewas an age range of 19 years in my
grandmother's five children.
So my two oldest uncles, theylived in Cape Girardeau, Missouri,
at the time, and they had abarbecue stand at the pool in Cape
(05:34):
Girardeau.
The family actually moved toMurfreesboro when my dad was six
months old.
Okay.
So for all intents andpurposes, he considers this.
That he's from Murfreesboro.
Oh, for sure.
But in order to make money inhigh school, my dad made barbecue
pits out of 55 gallon barrelsand sold them to people all from
(05:56):
that time on.
People would bring him meatand he would barbecue for class reunions
and parties and differentthings in the sev.
In 1975, he bought a tavern.
And it was a gas station thathad been converted into a tavern.
And it was really a place forhim and his friends to hang out before
and after work.
But on the weekends he wouldhave barbecues and fish fries and
(06:18):
he would give the food awayand in order to entice people to
come and buy more dollar beers.
Yeah.
So the barbecue is a very circuitous.
It permeated his life.
There's a.
This common thread from mygrandparents through my dad to now,
but it really didn't become alivelihood until the mid-80s.
(06:39):
Got it.
Does your.
Does your daughter help you at all?
No, my daughter lives in Napa Valley.
In that.
In Napa, California, and myson lives in Boston, so they're both
on opposite sides.
I do have a vegetarian brotherand he's helping me too much either
at the moment, but you never know.
Was he adopted?
(07:01):
As my agent said, angermanifests itself in many ways.
Oh, my.
That's like, cannot make.
Yeah, I. I don't think so.
That's like.
I'll tell you a really bad joke.
A vegan and a vegetarian climbto the hike of the top of a mountain
and they both jump off at thesame time to see who gets to the
(07:23):
bottom first.
Who wins?
Nobody.
Society.
You can use that one.
Feel free.
Amy, to do this.
Or not.
Or not.
Your.
Your legacy, you're tied soclose to your dad.
(07:46):
About that.
How.
I mean, this is going to soundlike a really almost dumb question,
but how close were you?
I mean, everything I've everseen about you and I.
And I met you last year, butyou guys were just like hand in glove,
so to speak.
Well, we really were.
And I feel so fortunate that Iwas able to move to the Boston area
(08:08):
and have a very big life inBoston, really, before coming back
into the family business.
But I still lived there andworked for 17th Street.
I.
As long as I had a cell phoneand a computer and FedEx, I was able
to work from pretty much anywhere.
And I did a lot of flying backand forth or Also meeting up with
our team at different barbecueevents across the country.
(08:29):
You know, being able to writebooks together was really awesome.
The first book, we reallytraveled all over the country and
hung out with friends, and Iwould record them, ask them questions
and get them telling stories,and I would record them and then
come back and transcribe allthese little tiny cassette tapes
and then try to craftvignettes from that.
(08:50):
But, you know, really, whenyou are an adult and head of your
own household, you reallyrarely have that much time.
Time to spend that much timewith your parents.
So it was truly a gift.
Have you thought about takingthose pieces that you took, the video
and putting it together and,like, putting it out so people could
see it?
(09:11):
No, but I could.
You know, wishes and wishes,but the sound quality is so poor
on those.
But you never know.
Yeah.
Probably have somethingcleaned up and maybe.
Yeah, it would be interesting,I think.
Yes.
Oh, they.
They have technology now thatcould help you with that.
Amy.
Sure.
Yeah.
Go through it.
Who knows what's on there thatI would have done?
(09:34):
Realm.
A lot of bleeds.
Tapes, too.
Leanne.
Yeah, yeah, that's what I figured.
Yeah.
Well, you know, it's.
It's.
Things have changed in thebroadcasting business now, Amy, So
something that probablyshouldn't have.
Couldn't have been played, youknow, 15 years ago.
Nobody.
Nobody cares anymore.
(09:54):
It's.
Oh, well, I think you couldget canceled for some things now.
Yeah.
Things.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I feel really fortunate tohave had just this incredibly close
relationship, you know,working here every day.
There's not a day that goes bythat I don't invoke his name or think
about him in some way.
(10:16):
But for years, I could.
Would always say, for every100 great ideas I had, I got to maybe
execute two.
I was very much the gas and hewas the brakes.
But we had such a greatrelationship, and in fact, we were,
you know, approached by peopleto do shows, and we did sizzle reels
and did all kinds of things,and people would always say, you
(10:36):
know, we need more tension andmore drama, and we didn't really
have that.
Yeah.
Certainly disagreed with,like, any family, but we really had
a special relationship, andI'm forever grateful for that.
Yeah.
But I know he hasn't been gonethat long, but do you.
What would you guess he wouldthink about today's barbecue media?
(10:59):
Well, I think he would thinkthe same thing he did four years
ago, really.
I think, you know, he's.
He's forgotten more aboutbarbecue than most people will ever
know.
And I. I think he would be afan of some of it.
I think he would roll his eyesat some of it.
You know, he was.
Was a very plain spoken man.
(11:20):
He certainly understood theneed for media and he understood
the need to put on a show andto do all of those things.
You know, he really was not.
He didn't even have acomputer, so I would have to pull
things up on a computer andshow him or pull things up on my
phone.
He did really not understandsocial media.
He would see things thatpeople put on there and he would
(11:41):
say, do they know that's there?
And I would say, well, not.
He's not big on grandstandingor any of those things.
But he didn't have to be.
He didn't.
He didn't have to.
He was Mills.
So, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
We're going.
A quick break.
We're going to be back withAmy Mills from 17th Street Barbecue,
among other titles, rightafter this.
(12:01):
Stay with us.
Hey, everybody, it's Jeff here.
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Heritage steel cookware.
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(12:22):
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It's got all the great stuff.
Just go to HeritageSteel usand find out more.
You'll love it.
I guarantee it.
(12:42):
Welcome back to the nation.
I'm JT along with my co hostLeanne Whippen.
And today we're talking withAmy Mills from 17th Street Barbecue.
How is 17th street evolved?
I mean, when your dad firststarted it and you were there and
all this, and that's been awhile now.
So how has it evolved?
(13:03):
I don't want to say to keep upwith the times because you were always
in the forefront of things.
But has.
Has the menu changed a lot?
Has the techniques changed?
I mean, your dad was such anicon for developing techniques and
knowing what to do.
And, you know, when you buy atavern early on in your life, you
(13:26):
get the feel for things.
And I'm not being facetious.
I know a lot of people thatown bars and stuff that are probably
some of the most brilliantpeople I've ever met, and that's
without alcohol.
So how is 17th street evolvedsince your dad first started it?
Well, in the very beginning,it was really a lot of home cooking
(13:46):
with barbecue.
And the menu evolved.
It got larger.
When we opened all thoserestaurants in Las Vegas, we had
quite a large menu.
Everything from it's shrimp.
We had fettuccine Alfredo andwe had.
We had all kinds of Things, fish.
And for a while we had, we ranwith the exact same menu so people
(14:07):
could have the same experiencein either place.
Then we took some of thosethings away and really got back to
barbecue basics.
After we, you know, closed fora little bit during COVID and reopened.
We reopened with a one pagemenu that was very much strictly
barbecue.
And we really got rid of allthe fluff and we did a lot of soul
(14:27):
searching.
Everything we took off themenu was somebody's favorite.
But things had to have earnedtheir place on the menu.
We looked through all kinds ofproduct mixes and really figured
out the best items and theworst items and we got rid of a lot
of items.
And it was a, a littledifficult because, you know, in the
beginning you're, you've takenaway something, you're a loyal customer.
That's right.
(14:48):
But we are, are very consciousat 17th Street.
Half of our business is out oftown, out of state, out of country.
Every single day.
I took a picture of one of ourchalkboards last week.
We had someone from India,France, Belgium and Portugal in the
restaurant that day.
So that is.
So you're, you're a totally destination.
Exactly.
So those people are coming for barbecue.
(15:10):
I always look on social mediaand I look at all the features other
people are having.
And every time we try to havesomething that's a feature doesn't
always sell very well becausepeople are coming for the tried and
true favorites.
So it's, it's hard to beinventive with that menu.
That is what's been fun aboutFaye, which is a very different kind
(15:30):
of a menu.
In fact, this weekend welaunched a biscuit Benedict that
is over the top with theseamazing biscuits that we make that
are all hand formed andlaminated and beautiful tall layers.
And then we are using ourchopped brisket, poached eggs and
a hollandaise.
And it is over the top.
It's sold out every day.
So that's where we're able tohave a little bit of fun.
(15:51):
But we have really justdecided that 17th street is, is what
it is.
I mean.
Right, right, right, yeah.
Are coming well, especiallywhen they're traveling so far.
They aren't going to try theoff things.
They're there and then theyhave to leave.
So they have to try the, youknow, the basics.
Even the locals and my dadused to say this all the time.
(16:11):
People eat two or three thingsoff of a menu.
They rarely eat all around the menu.
So I think, you know, we haveworked on some sandwiches that incorporate
more than one barbecue Meat.
I think we could do somethings like that, but we're not going
to come in with somethingthat's totally different and get
people to jump on the bandwagon.
(16:32):
In the winter.
We tried doing prime rib onthe weekends, and we have amazing
prime rib.
Could barely sell.
The prime rib.
Isn't that something.
We sold it on Monday is shavedprime rib sandwiches.
And they couldn't get it.
I don't know.
I don't know what people want.
Not that they don't want that.
Did you find that when you.
When you trim down your menus,but the items you kept were those
(16:56):
already your top sellers, eventhough you looked at other things
and, you know, the Alfredo'sor what have you, and I'm sure they
sold well just because of thenotoriety of the restaurant.
But the top ones were, youknow, brisket and links or whatever.
The top for sure is a pulledpork sandwich.
Ribs, french fries, baked beans.
(17:17):
It's all your top favorite barbecue.
Yeah, yeah.
So that is what.
That's what we have now.
Interesting, interesting.
What's your favorite, by the way?
Somebody just asked me thisthe other day, and it's hard to choose
a favorite, but if I'm justeating on a daily basis, I eat a
lot of our cheeseburgers.
We have an amazing littletavern quarter pound delicious certified
(17:39):
Angus beef cheeseburger or avery humble pulled pork sandwich.
I eat a lot of sausages andpimento cheese, and I eat a lot of
turkey.
I don't eat ribs even weekly,probably, but every time I eat ribs,
I think, oh, my gosh, whydon't I order these more?
(18:01):
Yeah, for sure.
You know, the pulled porksandwich and the ribs are the.
And then, of course, I lovepork steak.
Yeah.
These amazing smoked and thengrilled off pork steaks that are
over the top.
Yeah.
You guys ever make or try a.
A brisket and link sandwich?
There's a.
There's some barbecue.
There's a barbecue restaurantout here.
They've got three locationsand they make a brisket and link
(18:24):
sandwich, and that's their top seller.
It's all good.
That's kind of what we'reworking on, is some different, you
know, pork, brisket, linkpork, different combinations of barbecue
meats.
Yeah, I would look for that.
Maybe in the fall or winterwe'll have some of those things.
We have our kitchen working on those.
But again, it's.
It's really hard to docreative things when we're so busy
(18:46):
just doing the normal things.
Right.
Or you can empathize with thisin A kitchen.
Leanne?
Yeah.
I don't have a person whosejob it is to be creative and come
up with things because we'reall just doing the normal thing.
We're busy doing the normal thing.
How many employees do you have?
So right now we have about 65employees across all of our seven
(19:07):
businesses.
And we only have 1 17th street now.
So we had as many as four inthe early in the aughts.
And in October of last year,we closed a restaurant that was about
20 miles away from us inMarion, Illinois.
Just the business climate hadreally totally changed in that area.
(19:29):
And we had so much going onright here in these two blocks with
all these businesses andespecially the factory, that it just.
It became, you know, anuntenable situation.
Tried to run that well.
So we had 105 employees.
And really, after Covid, wecould never get that restaurant.
Required 60 to 65 people to run.
(19:51):
After Covid, we never had morethan 38.
And when we closed, we had 25.
Wow.
Very difficult to not openseven days.
It was just.
Yeah, it was hard.
So we have a much better.
I bet you have a lot lessstress in your life.
I mean, it's still there, butyou don't have that.
(20:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
We're going to take another break.
We're going to be back withAmy mills along with Ms. Leanne and
myself right after this.
Hey, everybody, it's JT and Ihave eaten.
If you've ever looked at me,you know that.
(20:36):
But I have eaten seafood allover the world, and I can tell you
there's no place better thanhere in Oregon and our Dungeness
crab.
If you want to learn moreabout Oregon Dungeness crab, just
go to oregondungeness.org andfind out how to cook it, how to catch
it, where to buy it, and thesustainability of what they're doing
there in the Oregon Crab Commission.
(20:57):
Check it out.
Welcome back to the nation.
That's Barbecue Nation.
You can hear us on a whole tonof radio stations across the country
and of course, the podcastversions that come out right after
(21:17):
the radio shows drop.
You can go tobarbecuenationjt.com you can listen
to the shows on there, and youcan find us on Facebook and Instagram
and all the social media platforms.
I'm kind of like your dad, Mike.
Unfortunately, I've had tolive with and learn how to utilize
this stuff.
But the social media aspect, Ijust as soon do something else, you
(21:40):
know, not spend my day workingon that.
We'd like to thank also again,the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission
and from their motto is FromSea to Plate and Painter Hills Natural
Beef.
So I want to ask you.
You, too.
Now, I've got two televisionstars on the screen with me right
here.
Leanne the Barbecue Brawl together.
(22:00):
She was one of the judges.
Yeah.
How do you.
How do you like working intelevision when you do that?
And how do you.
How do you put up withsomebody like Leanne who you know
very well, and I'm sure youknow a lot of them very well, but,
you know, it's as a production value.
There are long days and thingslike that.
(22:22):
I just wanted to get your takeon that.
Television is really an honorand a privilege.
It's so much fun whenever youget to do it.
It's definitely not allglamorous there.
It's so hard, very long hours.
It's a lot of hurry up and wait.
And I don't think people everrealize that you might start at 4:30
in the morning and not finishuntil 9 or 10 at night.
(22:43):
And they only see 22 minutesof what took a whole day to produce.
So it's very difficult toreally explain that to people.
You know, there are people,lots of opinions about what went
on behind the scenes, and theyreally have no idea.
But I have to just say, and Italk a little bit about that barbecue
brawl experience because thefinale was all women, and I have
(23:05):
never been prouder.
I'm getting goosebumps talkingabout awesome that was to watch Leanne
and Susie just take over theshow, hang in there and win.
But I really saw Leanneperform a miracle that day, was in
awe because that, the final.
The finale of that was smokinga hog or it was like a little suckling
(23:29):
pig, really.
But it caught on fire.
And I watched her put thatfire out, manage the, you know, manage
that whole experience whenthat could have just.
You could have just walkedaway because that was a dire thing
that was happening, and.
And it still tasted good andshe still pulled off the win, and
that was huge.
Well, thank you.
Yeah, it's kind of a fog rightnow, but, yeah, a lot of barbecue
(23:52):
prayers.
A lot of barbecue prayers.
And I sat there with ChrisLilly and Mo Kace on watching that,
and we were just in an awe ofthe talent.
And, you know, only experiencecan guide you through something like
that because things go wrongall the time when you're cooking
barbecue.
But if you don't have thefoundation and the experience, you're
(24:14):
just going to throw up yourhands, you're not going to know what
to do.
Or you're going to dosomething instinctually that's the
exact opposite of what youshould do.
You know, adding too muchoxygen or, you know, doing all of
those things.
So she managed that like a pro.
And I, I sad that they cutthis out of the kind of finale.
It didn't belong, but it was amoment that we all shared at a communal
(24:38):
table at the very end.
But the fact that it was womenwere the last ones standing.
I, I actually like being a female.
I like it when somebodyunderestimates me because you can
really go in for the, thezinger, you know, all these people
on these shows.
So it's a very tight knitcommunity and you know, quickly you
(24:58):
have to learn that.
You just have to, you can't doanything in favor or really in disfavor
of someone.
You have a whole panel ofpeople who are deciding things.
You know, you would get areputation very quickly if you tried
to manipulate.
Shows are not manipulated.
You know, there it's very muchthe chips fall where they may and
it's very, it hurts to sendsomeone home who you know is a fabulous
(25:21):
cook, but they just happen tonot cook something great in that
particular.
Yeah, they just had a bad daybecause everybody has them.
Yeah, it's not even a bad day.
Just like one bad cook.
Yeah, part of that whole daycould be horrible and, and there
that person goes.
And it really stinks when thathappens because very beginning everyone
says, well, we know who'sgoing to win and it's never who you
(25:42):
think.
That's so true.
Any show I've ever been on.
So interesting.
Do you have any upcoming shows?
I don't.
How about you?
No.
I mean, Jeff and I didgrilling at the Green, which is,
you know, like a lifestylebarbecue golf show and that'll be
streaming hopefully in the fall.
(26:02):
We've already done what, six.
We did seven.
We did seven.
Seven.
So that'll be coming out soon.
But other than that.
No, no, I'm, I'm ready anytime.
Or almost any.
But it's good to get a break.
But yeah, you just kind ofmiss it.
Yeah, well.
Plus, the best thing istelevision is the gift that keeps
(26:22):
on giving because the rerunsare running all the time and they're
always new to somebody.
So I can tell by my onlinestore when episode of something is
airing because orders startcoming through close together.
So you know something ishappening or somebody will text you
a picture or put it on socialmedia on TV right now.
So it's, it's always a Thrill.
Yeah.
(26:43):
And it's a thrill for otherpeople to see, you know, their hometown
friend or, you know, hometowngirl or guy on tv.
So that television has been ahuge boon to the barbecue world.
I will have to.
I'll tell you a cute story.
Leanne will appreciate thisbecause she's met my wife.
We were out yesterday, and wewere talking to a young lady that
(27:04):
we know, and she was talkingabout food shows, and I kind of talked
a little bit, just very briefly.
I did one a long time ago, andmy wife looked at me.
She goes, you know, I finallysaw that show.
It's been like eight yearssince I did it.
I said, you did?
She goes, yeah.
It wasn't a very good show.
(27:28):
I do, however, think Amy'sright, that it definitely helps business
because even with all thePitmaster shows, whatever.
I definitely, you know, Dad'spig powder, it gets a hit all the
time.
I almost always know when ashow is aired from the sales.
And, you know, Leanne, theshow that you filmed here with Pitmasters
(27:50):
that season, where everyonewas traveling.
Yeah.
And hooked a hog here.
And that show keeps airing,and our contest has changed and grown
so much since that time.
It's kind of amazing.
But some people see that andthey think it's.
That happened last year.
Like, they don't know.
Yeah, they don't know.
So.
Interesting story about thatparticular show.
(28:11):
We had to do Memphis and MayRules and KCBS because it's a multi,
which makes it one of the mostdifficult contests that I have ever
experienced.
I mean, I actually had thespreadsheets, and it was amazing,
but I knew I was going to haveto do Whole Hog, and I did not.
I couldn't do it on the pitsthat I had.
And your dad had a pit readyfor me.
(28:35):
Even with Fuel, everythingready to go to do a Whole Hog here.
I was expecting I'm going tohave to, you know, set this up.
It was in place completely.
It was a rotisserie.
He had them, like, I don'tknow how he had them stuck together
so that it would fit the hogand it was ready to go.
And I was just absolutelyblown away.
I still think about that timethat he did that just out of the
(28:58):
kindness of his heart.
I mean, I just.
Well, he was so proud of you,and he loved putting you out there.
He was.
Yeah.
It was just.
It was an amazing experience.
Your dad was your dad here.
Your dad was here.
I don't think he was there forthat one.
I don't think he was there forthat Show.
I don't think Kathleen werehere to judge that contest since
you were here.
Maybe, I don't know, I'm not sure.
(29:21):
But it was.
And that's one of my favoriteall time contests.
I mean the setting is soquaint and it's always full and everyone's
close together and you havethe twinkle lights at night.
It's just really, it's abeautiful contest this year.
So that contest is coming upthe 19th through 21st this year and
(29:41):
we have, we're going to have ahundred teams.
So now it's tri sanctioned.
It's nbn, KCB steak.
The stake is a double header.
So we have nine teams who arecooking both NBN and kcbs.
I don't know how many will bealso stake because the stake people
take their own registrations.
So at this Moment I have 74teams signed up combo NBN and KCBS.
(30:07):
And then we'll have easily 25or more Cook off team or steak team.
So we're just trying to figureout where to put everyone.
We actually have a wait listwhich is crazy.
Yeah, I'm surprised that youcould fit that many teams.
Yeah, they're all around.
They're in our restaurantparking lot.
They're in front of therestaurant, they're on the side.
They're taking over the townback of the building.
(30:28):
They're everywhere.
It's crazy.
That's awesome.
Are you judging Amy?
No, no, I'm producing so I can't.
We're running around the whole time.
We have, you know, a wholefleet of judges.
We'll have over 100 judges whowill come in.
Oh good, it's a big one.
And when is that again?
(30:49):
It is the 19th through 21st of September.
September.
The Thursday night is reallysort of fun and efficient.
Wing ancillary.
Friday night is steak, thefirst of the stake.
And then of course the othertwo contests are running concurrently
on Saturday and then there'sanother stake on Saturday.
Wow.
(31:09):
So the key to this contest toois that you can be a person who's
just on autopilot at an NBN ora KCBS contest and you have your
timeline down.
But now you have to finagleyour timeline because if it's spread
out more so that if people dowant to cook both contests within
a 30 minute period, they'returning in two different sets of
ribs and then two differentsets of pork.
(31:31):
And obviously NBN doesn't havebrisket or chicken, but the timeline
is different and so it messespeople up sometimes.
Yeah.
And then you get into finals, and.
Yeah, it's.
It's a nightmare.
I think this year we haveeight hogs so far who are cooking,
and we go down.
(31:51):
I don't know if we go downfive or six places.
I'm confused now.
I think we call six.
So two people won't get theirname called that.
Wow, that's great.
And then on Sunday or Monday, do.
You just kind of collapse overafter awards Saturday night?
Okay.
(32:12):
Oh, that's.
That's.
Then we have to clean it up.
Although we have an amazingcleanup, volunteer cleanup crew,
but it's a lot of stuff to putaway and sort out the next day.
Do you close the restaurantduring that time, or are you still
running the restaurant?
We're still running the restaurant.
It's super busy.
And this year, I don't knowwhat people were thinking, but it's
also SIU family weekend, so weget a bump from that, too.
(32:36):
There you go.
We're going to take another break.
We're going to come back, wrapup this part of the show with Amy
Mills and, of course, Leanneand myself in just a minute.
So stay with us.
You're listening to Barbecue Nation.
(32:58):
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(33:53):
Welcome back to Barbecue Nation.
I'm JT along with LeanneWhippen and Amy Mills from 17th Street.
She's got a.
A big bash coming up.
I don't know.
You call it a bash, A contest,a kabash.
What do you want to call it?
It's a contest, and it's a fun one.
Okay.
And so if you're in the areathere, I would recommend you.
(34:16):
Can.
Can people just come for free,or do you have to buy tickets?
Admission?
What?
So people, you can wander allaround for Free.
We have free live music onFriday night, but the ticketed events
are a fish fry on Thursdaynight and a grand champion big buffet
meal on on Friday night.
And those are opportunitiesfor our sponsors to come through.
(34:38):
And we have a, you know, giantarray of food that they can eat and
free draft beer.
And then people sort of spillout into the street and listen to
the music and wander up anddown and look at the teams and look
at the rigs and have a great time.
Might have to show up not thisyear, but I'm gonna have to show
up there one of these timesand experience that I've not been
(35:00):
there.
So isn't, isn't that bylinelike Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lard MurphysboroBarbecue Cook off.
When I was trademarking Praisethe Lard, I had to trademark it in
all these different categoriesand so we called the contest that
too, so it could betrademarked as an event name.
So yes, and it's, this is its37th year.
(35:24):
A unique thing about it thisyear too is that Illinois soy has
come on as a main sponsor andthere's a separate points chase that's
happening.
It's where the culminationwhere the fourth contest in this
little grand slam points chase event.
And it's going to be the callthe combined scores in chicken, chicken,
(35:46):
pork and ribs who will winseparate trophies, separate money
for this Illinois soy.
We're calling it the field of beans.
I like that.
Really kind of a cool, a coolthing that is happening this year.
Yeah.
Are you still doing yourconsulting work?
Yes.
So I'm not doing as muchprivate consulting because I don't
(36:08):
have time, pay a lot of moneyfor that if I'm leaving the building.
But we have our classes and wehave one coming up at the end of
October.
We had one earlier this yearat the beginning of March.
So we do a catering masterclass, a business to barbecue class
and a whole hog extravaganza class.
(36:29):
And people come from all overthe world to learn about the business
of barbecue.
Some people are very new, somepeople are, you know, mid professional
level.
And some people are very, youknow, legendary in their own right.
But people know, smart peopleknow you could come to an event and
learn just one or two thingsthat could really transform your
(36:50):
business or, you know, makeyou a lot of money or just, you know,
be a great idea or an easierway to do something.
So we are really proud of the,the barbecue restaurants that we've
helped incubate all over theworld and really the success that
people who are alumni of ourclass have had.
It's really awesome.
And how do they register for that?
(37:12):
On our Shopify store site,shop17bbq.com, there is a seminar
tab and you register rightonline there.
That's great.
Do you miss being at the pitswith your dad?
I mean, he must have been justincredible to hang with and yeah,
(37:33):
I know you're the daughter dad thing.
I get that.
It must have been great.
Just the, the, the knowledgehe just kind of oozed out of his
pores there.
Oh, totally.
I totally miss it.
Yeah.
Do you ever take somebodyunder your wing there at 17th street
(37:54):
and say, this is the way mydad taught me.
I don't know that I havenecessarily done that, but we are
really fortunate here to haveabout a quarter of our staff has
been here from 9 to 25 years.
Wow.
So everybody that's in chargeof something was here when my dad
was here and was taught theMike Mills way.
(38:16):
And we talk a lot about doingthings the Mike Mills way.
And every now and thensomething will go off and I'll think,
you know, how did this happenor what happened here?
And we realize, well, we'renot doing it the way we were taught
to do it.
And you know, constantly whenyou have new people come in, everybody
thinks that they will have anew, better, different or easier.
(38:37):
Easier is always the thing wayto do something.
And we've already tried allthose ways and they didn't work.
So we have to gently takepeople back to the right way, which
is the Mike Mills way.
What did Amy, put on yourprognostication hat for a second
here?
What do you see coming up for17th street, say two years and five
(39:01):
years down the road?
Well, that is a great question.
We are really deep in makingsure that our two new businesses
have a solid foundation andare grounding and thriving.
So I see our factory beingbusier and busier and our sauces
and rubs on the shelves ofmore and more stores, not only here,
(39:25):
but all, all over the world.
And I see our coffee shop, youknow, continuing to grow and thrive.
That was an eye opening experience.
And I know that Leanne canrelate to this, but I really expected
it to just be as smooth and,you know, as smooth and as profitable
as 17th street right off the bat.
(39:47):
And I'm realizing that that isnot the case.
It's a very different.
It's a different clientele,it's a new.
It's growing a whole new business.
And you really.
There are no shortcuts to that.
And so every day we're stillworking on.
On both of those businesses.
So are you.
What's good is, I think.
I would think, is that you'rehitting all the meal periods, you
(40:09):
know what I mean, from themorning to the night, you know, so
that helps.
But, yeah, it's.
It's two different beasts.
Yeah, totally different.
And, you know, we really hadthe opportunity to, in opening this
restaurant, price things wherethey should be from the beginning.
You know, at 17th street,sometimes we're still catching up.
(40:29):
You.
It's hard to.
When I even look back at 2018prices and what they are right now,
it is very shocking to me.
It's shocking for yourclients, as on your guests as they
come in and they see that creep.
But at Fay, we were able rightoff the bat, to say, this is what
it costs to hand make everysingle thing in here and do it really
(40:50):
well.
And so it's not cheap.
It is not a five or sixdollars giant farmer's breakfast
with all, you know, thingsthat are not made from scratch.
So people who care about thatare coming and people who don't,
there are other options forthat person, too.
What's the greatest, greatest joy?
(41:14):
Something you look at, excuseme, every day and just kind of smile,
you know, quietly off to yourself.
You just kind of smile aboutsomething there.
My greatest joy is the people,and the people who've been here for
all of this time and seeinghow proud they still are to be part
of 17th street and to be, youknow, such fervent Mike Mills disciples,
(41:40):
that I just is a thrill.
And it's a thrill to me tohear people talk about my dad and
talk about why we do thethings we do.
I love sitting in therestaurant each evening and hearing
our servers.
Many.
They're all newer people,obviously, to our team, but people
who just take so much pride inbeing part of something that's bigger
than themselves.
17th street has been aneconomic driver in our little town
(42:03):
for years.
Our contest was started as aneconomic driver because our town
was really faltering.
And we continue to be a ruraltown, you know, on the lower economic
end of things in our area.
And we don't, you know, we're.
Our little downtown isstarting to grow and thrive, I think,
(42:25):
you know, rural America isdefinitely making a comeback.
And Main Street America ismaking a comeback.
But throughout all of this,17th street has been a constant,
and people have come heredaily from all over the world.
And the fact that they stilldo that, we're still getting on the
best of barbecue lists andstill getting all of those awards.
And of course, none of thatcan happen without all the people
(42:47):
who make it possible.
So it's, it's still alwaysabout the people.
Excellent.
Amy Mills, real quick, how canpeople find you if they're, you know,
if they're not in Illinois,but website, social media, all that?
Our website is 17bbq.com.
Super simple.
You can shop from that website.
(43:09):
It'll take you over to ourShopify page or you can go to shop17bbq.com
and then all over the socials.
We're at 17th Street street,spelled out BBQ.
Okay.
Excellent, Amy.
Thank you.
Amy is going to stick aroundfor a few minutes for the after hours,
but we thank her for joiningus here on the nation.
(43:30):
So for Leanne and myself, wewill be be back next week with another
edition that you won't want tomiss, I guarantee it.
Go out there.
Remember our motto, turn it,don't burn it.
Take care, everybody.
Barbecue Nation is produced byJTSD LLC Productions in association
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