On this episode of “Hot Off the Press,” Chef Pete shoots the bull, or the hog rather, with barbecue royalty Pat Martin at his newly-opened Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint in downtown Nashville, and special guest Billy Durney from Hometown Bar-B-Que in Brooklyn, New York.
Two years in the making, the downtown Nashville location of the Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint empire opened this past August and is a 13,000 “pit master playground” that includes a private dining area upstairs, a downstairs casual restaurant and a beer garden bar.
Pat Martin’s whole-hog approach to barbecuing makes him one of the most popular pit masters in the restaurant industry. Martin says the legendary West Tennessee-style whole hog technique to cooking that he uses creates the most unique taste you can get with barbecue pork — slowed-cooked over coals, but not overly smokey, with a delicate, floral flavor.
Martin jumped in with both feet and opened his first location 10 years ago in Nolensville, Tennessee—just south of Nashville—with only one employee and a $65,000 line of credit. What started out as a very small operation with no refrigeration, his dad washing dishes and mom making coconut cakes to sell, has now grown to four restaurant locations and features on Food Network, Travel Channel, Cooking Channel, and The Today Show.
Martin is also a member of Fatback Collective — a philanthropic group of restaurateurs, pit masters, chefs, farmers and writers who strive to help others in times of need in the diverse and modern South. Find out more about Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint by visiting www.martinsbbqjoint.com.
Chef Pete and Hometown Bar-B-Que’s Billy Durney first met at the Big Apple BBQ Block Party charity event in Madison Square Park last year.
Durney spent almost 20 years in the security and private protection field, where he kept a close eye on some of the country's most public figures. What started as a hobby of smoking meat in his backyard for family and friends and delivering to local bars and restaurants, finally became a longtime dream fulfilled for the Brooklyn native when Hometown Bar-B-Que opened in the beautiful little sea village of Red Hook in 2013.
Hometown Bar-B-Que has been featured in Bon Appetit and The New Yorker. Follow Durney on Instagram or visit www.hometownbarbque.com.