0:00
The new LinkedIn Hiring Pro can't clone you, but it can streamline your hiring workflow.
0:06
From posting jobs to short-listing candidates to interviewing, LinkedIn Hiring Pro is the
0:11
hiring partner you need, so you can focus on connecting with the right talent.
0:15
In fact, small businesses report saving over six hours per week, so hire right the first
0:22
time with LinkedIn Hiring Pro.
0:25
That's a free job today at LinkedIn.com/quality.
0:30
Struggling with weight loss?
0:31
Prolon's five-day fasting mimicking diet is a clinically developed nutrition program
0:35
designed to promote fat loss while protecting lean body mass.
0:39
Developed at USC's Longevity Institute, it assists the body in entering a fasting-like
0:43
state that helps reset metabolism and target visceral fat.
0:47
In just five days, Prolon offers a science-backed approach to weight loss without extreme restriction
0:52
or guesswork.
0:53
Get 15% off plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe at prolonlife.com/now.
1:16
This is Undaunted Life, a man's podcast.
1:19
I'm your host Kyle Thompson.
1:20
Let's get into it.
1:21
Today, we got a special interview for you.
1:23
It is with my buddy Mitch Benjamin, otherwise known as Meet Mitch.
1:27
This is a fun palate cleanser episode, guys, because I know we talk a lot about super heavy
1:32
subjects and things that are very, very important, but they wear on you a little bit.
1:37
That's not what this episode is.
1:38
This one is 100% fun, because Meet Mitch is a barbecue world champion from Kansas City.
1:44
One of my favorite subjects on the planet Earth to talk about and to experience is barbecue.
1:49
This guy, he's super impressive.
1:50
He has a line of sauces and rubs that I pretty much use exclusively whenever I'm smoking
1:56
meats, and those sauces and rubs have been used in barbecue competitions all over the
2:00
world.
2:01
I mean, from basically my notes, we've got France and Australia and Switzerland and New
2:04
Zealand and the UK and Brazil and Canada, his stuff is used all over the place.
2:09
He has had a tremendous amount of barbecue competition success.
2:13
He's done really well just in the backyard, entertaining people, but he's gone everywhere
2:17
and won basically every title that I can think of that you could win in the world of barbecue,
2:22
including, you know, he won, you know, the Memphis and May world championships of barbecue
2:26
sauce several times, like just a super impressive resume.
2:29
And guys, whenever you see the video here in a second, if you're watching this on YouTube,
2:32
he has all his trophies out there in the open.
2:34
He is just real bold about it.
2:36
I absolutely love it, but also he took his competition success into the restaurant industry.
2:41
So he actually opened up a barbecue restaurant in Kansas City, which sounds crazy to do to
2:45
compete in that market, but it's called char bar.
2:48
It is one of the best places that you can get barbecue in the in the entire world.
2:52
It is, as I said in the podcast episode, it's like my happy place.
2:55
Then char bar actually won best new restaurant in Kansas City in 2015.
2:58
And again, a barbecue restaurant in Kansas City, there's nowhere to hide, right?
3:03
If it stinks, it's going to go out of business immediately.
3:05
It's thriving.
3:06
It's going well.
3:07
But also this guy, he has a tremendous amount of friends that he's created through the barbecue
3:12
world and one of the members of his team and on his barbecue team is none other than one
3:16
of the best baseball players ever to play.
3:19
And that's Kansas City Royals legend, George Brett.
3:21
So as a quick aside, I don't normally do this long of an intro, but I've got to tell the
3:24
story about how I met, meet, Mitch and how I kind of got into this whole thing.
3:28
So back in 2012, I was working for Major League Baseball kind of a unique opportunity, but we're
3:32
in the studio.
3:33
There were constantly players coming through celebrities coming through.
3:36
We would interact with them, blah, blah, blah.
3:38
But one day we're told, Hey, George Brett's coming through and I'm like, Oh, cool, George
3:40
Brett.
3:41
I obviously was a fan of baseball my entire life.
3:43
I know George Brett is, you know, his, his best years were kind of before I was into baseball
3:48
before I was born actually, but he comes in to the place where I work and it was as if,
3:53
you know, the mayor had walked in like, you know, just, and I mean that in a way that
3:56
he was just so nice and so happy to be there and so accommodating and just this big personality
4:02
told great stories with laugh and enjoy his time with everybody.
4:07
But then he and I got into a conversation because I told him, Hey, I'm from Oklahoma
4:10
and he's like, Oh, you know, Missouri were really close.
4:12
And he just asked me to my face.
4:13
He's like, Hey, have y'all any good barbecue here in New York City?
4:17
Because at the time that I met him, I think I had been in New York for three or four months
4:20
at that point.
4:21
And I just go, no, I have not found a good barbecue spot at all.
4:26
And George Brett literally looked like he was going to cry almost.
4:29
He's like, Wait a minute, what excuse me?
4:32
What?
4:33
You haven't had good barbecue.
4:34
You're telling me you've been here for this long and you haven't had good barbecue?
4:37
He goes, Okay.
4:41
And that was it.
4:42
I was like, I don't know what okay means, but he looked like he was doing some math in
4:45
his head.
4:46
And then George Brett leaves.
4:47
Right?
4:48
You're like, he's gone.
4:49
You know, we got to meeting.
4:50
It was great.
4:51
You know, you got to meet a Hall of Thamer.
4:52
You know, it's just a cool experience.
4:53
A couple of days later.
4:54
Okay.
4:55
I get an email and it's from Mitch Benjamin, the guy who we're talking about today and
4:59
talking on the show with, and it was like, Hey, by the way, you should be receiving a
5:03
package today inside of it, there's going to be dry ice.
5:07
There's going to be ribs and burnt ins and all kinds of stuff from, from me and my competition
5:12
team in Kansas City.
5:13
By the way, we've also gotten a restaurant around the corner from your workplace.
5:17
They're expecting you take the ribs and burn ins and everything by.
5:21
They're going to warm everything up in one of their industrial, you know, kitchens and
5:24
all that so you guys can have fresh, warm Kansas City barbecue.
5:28
Yeah, George Brett comes in and then a couple of days later.
5:33
He makes sure that we can have Kansas City barbecue while we're sitting in the middle
5:37
of Manhattan.
5:38
Like literally one of the coolest things I've ever experienced.
5:41
It was such a great thing.
5:42
And then I actually got to thank George Brett in person a few months later about, you know,
5:45
a few weeks later, actually at the all star game that was in Kansas City that year, just
5:49
a great guy, George Brett is such a cool guy to be around.
5:52
If you ever have the chance to meet him or be around him, I would definitely suggest you
5:55
do that.
5:56
But again, this interview with Mitch was such a fun interview to do because we don't normally
6:01
do stuff that's in this arena, but I know a lot of you guys out there are, you know,
6:05
want to be pit masters or maybe you just kind of smoke some meats on the weekend.
6:08
So we talk about some of his secrets.
6:10
We talk about his competition career.
6:12
We talk about, you know, some of the interactions he's had with, you know, sports players and
6:16
different experiences he's had with that.
6:18
This has literally taken Mitch around the world.
6:21
He is one of my favorite people.
6:22
I can't wait for you guys to hear from him.
6:24
So I'm not going to keep him from you any longer.
6:26
Let's get into it.
6:28
Mitch Benjamin, welcome to Undaunted Life of Man's podcast.
6:31
Oh, thank you so much.
6:32
I couldn't be more excited to be here and share some time with you.
6:35
Oh, this is going to be a lot of fun.
6:36
And I just got to say, right from the beginning, I called you by your Christian name, okay?
6:41
Mitch Benjamin, but nobody calls you that everyone calls you meet Mitch.
6:45
So is that a moniker that you came up with for yourself or did that just kind of happen
6:49
over time?
6:50
Where did that come from?
6:51
Unfortunately, I think I named myself a little something to do with barbecue.
6:56
Hey, only my audience will know that.
6:58
Don't worry about it.
6:59
We won't let it out to the entire world, but, you know, we're going to get into all the
7:02
barbecue stuff guys.
7:03
And guys, there's, there's so much content we're going to get into.
7:05
This is going to be a great conversation, but you weren't always a world championship
7:10
barbecue pitmaster.
7:11
Right?
7:12
You like my head.
7:13
Yeah, you didn't come out of the womb doing that.
7:15
So I guess what were you doing in terms of an introduction?
7:18
What were you doing before you were in the world of barbecue?
7:20
And I love the story about how you got into barbecue.
7:23
So take us from what you're doing before to how you got into barbecue to begin with.
7:26
Yeah.
7:27
So I actually grew up on the East Coast in Pennsylvania and Lancaster, Pennsylvania and
7:31
graduated from Penn State.
7:34
And I think end of 1994.
7:38
Shortly thereafter, I got kind of my dream job, the job that I always wanted, which was
7:42
tailor made golf company to be a sales rep.
7:45
And it just so happened that was in Kansas City.
7:47
So I couldn't be more thrilled.
7:48
So I picked up and moved to Casey and really the culture and the lifestyle in Kansas City
7:54
is very much centered on barbecue.
7:57
So I quickly was introduced to barbecue, fell in love to barbecue with barbecue.
8:02
I bought my first house and moved in next to a guy that had a swimming pool, a refrigerator
8:09
full of beer and a pit that had rolling smoke going all the time.
8:12
So as you can imagine, I'd drive pulling my driveway and walk into his house.
8:16
Not mine.
8:17
You know what I mean?
8:18
So he introduced me to barbecue in 1999, gosh, it's so long ago, I went to my first American
8:24
Royal, which is the largest barbecue competition in the world, upwards of 600 teams at times.
8:31
And I quickly found out that was also the largest party in the world.
8:34
Just so much fun, hay bales and music and girls dancing in the whole nine yards.
8:39
You know, it was just like my jaw was on the ground and the smells and the fun.
8:44
So I joined, I signed up and joined the next year for the American Royal.
8:48
I came up with a team name.
8:50
I told my buddies that they were on my team.
8:53
And next thing we know, we were, you know, slot 406 or whatever it was.
8:57
You know what I mean?
8:58
And we had a party and we just had an unbelievable time.
9:01
And through the years that party grew to be the largest of its kind at the American Royal
9:06
and really just had some fun and we started to have success.
9:10
You know, it was, it was crazy.
9:11
I think it was the first or second year in, we grabbed our last kegabear and went back
9:16
to my house before the awards ceremony.
9:19
Not even thinking about going to that mess.
9:21
And I get a call from my buddy and say, "Where are you?
9:23
You just won third place brisket out of 500 teams in the world."
9:27
I'm like, "Isch it me?"
9:29
I'm like, "Really?"
9:30
I'm like, "That is awesome."
9:31
So started to kind of take the craft seriously through the years and develop my own line of
9:37
barbecue sauces and rubs and competed with those and had a lot of success fast.
9:43
And you know, one of the big things for me also was my relationship with George Brett.
9:47
As you know, the baseball player, the heralded Hall of Famer here in Kansas City, the legend.
9:52
And you know, through the golf business, he and I became quick friends and he really
9:57
enjoys cooking and barbecuing and introduced me to the Royals and gave me an opportunity
10:02
to cook, you know, the clubhouse for the Royals, which is kind of how you and I ultimately
10:07
got together was through baseball.
10:10
He made me the ambassador of barbecue to Kansas City in 2012 during the all-star game, the
10:16
three nights.
10:17
Which is, is there a better title than ambassador of barbecue?
10:20
I love it.
10:21
I love it.
10:22
I love it.
10:23
I love it.
10:24
Like Secretary of State or any of that.
10:25
I got a cool title.
10:26
I love it.
10:27
He's so much fun.
10:28
And ultimately that led out to me being out on the field during the home run derby and
10:32
giving my ribs to Boomer and Nomar Garcia-Pera and John Crook and Adam Jones from the, what
10:40
was he with the Orioles?
10:41
He came out in bullpen and started chowing ribs and saying, "These are the best ribs
10:44
I ever had."
10:46
And George, you know, spelled out meat, mitch, M-E-A-T, Mitch.com, you know, go there to get
10:51
ribs and barbecue sauce and crash my website.
10:55
It was just a fun, fun, cool, unique opportunity, which led to many more.
11:00
I mean, from there, I had an opportunity.
11:03
The Royals and Yankees played on a Sunday night where Derek Jeter was retired.
11:09
So they, they flew me in to do the retirement party for Derek Jeter, where, you know, Michael
11:14
Jordan's there.
11:15
Reggie Jackson has tongs standing next to me, putting ribs on people's plates.
11:18
It was like I made it up, you know, like a weird science movie.
11:22
And I drew up this whole deal of what I wanted to happen.
11:24
So it's just the whole sports thing has continued to grow with Barstool Sports.
11:29
I've been there a few times, they've been out here to Kansas City to my restaurant.
11:32
And yeah, it just, it never stopped.
11:35
Finally, my, my real passion became barbecue and I became 100% barbecue and no more golf
11:40
about five years ago.
11:43
That's awesome.
11:44
I mean, you brought up so many things and we're going to get into a lot more detail and all
11:46
that.
11:47
But that's a great primer for us.
11:48
But I guess for someone like me, you know, I like eating barbecue, but barbecue still
11:52
kind of scares me the whole process because I don't want to ruin like an expensive cut
11:56
of meat or something like that, but I guess for you, since you are legitimately a world
12:00
champion pit master, what are some of the early barbecue smoking mistakes that you see
12:05
a lot of people make, regardless of the setup that they're using?
12:09
And what are the, I guess the common mistakes that people make when they're smoking meat?
12:13
Well, I've made them all.
12:14
I mean, to your point, I have burnt everything, undercooked everything, fallen asleep and
12:20
pits have gone completely stone cold for hours.
12:22
I mean, I mean, you have to make every mistake until you can get some wins in the column.
12:27
Trust me, especially with barbecue, it's a low and slow method that I use hot and fast
12:32
is also a popular, you know, auto way to go now too.
12:36
But for me, I think patience is the biggest, the biggest thing.
12:40
People they don't realize, oh, yeah, let's whip up a brisket.
12:44
Well, you know, it could be 10 hours before we're 11, 12 hours before even trying anything,
12:49
you know.
12:50
Sometimes guys will look at me and say, is it done, is it done?
12:53
And I just say no immediately before even looking at it, no one what's going on.
12:57
But right away, the answer is no, have another beer.
13:00
It's not done.
13:01
We'll get to it.
13:02
So I think patience is the thing.
13:04
I mean, a lot of, you know, people just don't have that time anymore, you know, which is
13:08
unfortunate, but to dedicate, you know, the hours and hours and hours needed.
13:12
But anyone can do it, you know, funny story, shields, which is a department store or sporting
13:17
good store.
13:18
So I'm really big in the Midwest, I'm not sure if they have them in Oklahoma or not,
13:22
but they are located in Fargo, North Dakota.
13:25
And about six weeks ago, I, they flew me out to Fargo along with about 15 other pitmasters
13:30
across the country.
13:31
Think of a Dick sporting goods, if you're not familiar with your same, same type footprint.
13:36
And barbecue for them, similar to others, is the, like Academy sports and things that
13:42
nature barbecue is the fastest growing footprint in their store.
13:46
And it's because of triggers and yetis and the coolers and smokers and, you know, that
13:53
all of this kind of stuff, backyard guys through COVID forced to cook on their own, we're buying
13:59
all this stuff, you know, buying the triggers, buying the, buying the charcoal, the pellets,
14:04
the books that I have now, you know, all that kind of stuff in there, so into it because
14:08
of COVID.
14:09
It really has really grown, grown the deal.
14:11
And I've got guys now that I've been playing golf with for, for 25 years, never cared about
14:16
a brisket and I'm getting a text from Timmy saying, Hey, fat side up or fat side down.
14:21
I'm like, Are you kidding me?
14:22
Are you cooking a brisket?
14:23
I mean, everybody's so into it right now.
14:25
It's awesome.
14:26
But I think to go back is, is not to have any fear, don't have any fear taken on.
14:31
And why I brought this shields conversation up is because we led their team.
14:35
So I had a team of 15 guys that worked on the floor and they wanted them to feel comfortable
14:39
about talking about cooking a brisket.
14:41
And we did a real brisket competition all night long, the whole deal.
14:45
I wasn't allowed to touch anything.
14:46
They had to cut it.
14:47
They had that we injected.
14:48
We did everything that we would do in a barbecue competition.
14:52
And they did it all and they had a ball.
14:54
And the whole idea was for them to be comfortable when they go into work Monday morning and
14:58
if a guy comes up and buys a trigger or is looking at it saying, Are you going to cook
15:01
a brisket this weekend?
15:03
And that guy generally says, No, no, I'm not that far up yet.
15:06
You know, we're going to look at some hot dogs over here and see how those go.
15:09
You can say, No, no, you can take this on, man.
15:11
I just did a brisket all weekend long.
15:12
It was so easy.
15:13
You know, you just need to have time and patience and really work through it, but it
15:16
was so good.
15:17
So just being comfortable with it and having, you know, no fear and having patience, I think
15:22
would be the biggest thing to start your foundation of barbecue cooking with.
15:26
Okay.
15:27
Well, I have zero patience and I'm scared to death of ruining a brisket.
15:30
But hey, you know what?
15:31
We can do a little one on one counseling session after we're done here and you can help me
15:34
out with that.
15:35
But I want to kind of get back to the competitions that you talked about because I've never been
15:38
to like a full on barbecue competition.
15:40
I've been to like, you know, the local fair, right, where you got one or two guys that
15:44
bring out pulled pork or something like that.
15:46
But for those of us, and you get into great detail this in this in the book, and we're
15:49
going to talk a lot about the book here in just a second.
15:51
But for those of you that, and for those of us that have not been to a barbecue competition,
15:55
what is it like for the, not just the spectators, right?
15:58
But also for the competitors, because you get into a lot of detail as to the timing of
16:02
when you're doing things.
16:03
And it seems like there's so much going on, but what's it like for both parties?
16:07
Well, it's, you know, your first one's always going to be very daunting.
16:11
You don't know what you're doing.
16:12
Your new kid on the block, you know, you get an assigned space.
16:16
So you roll in there with your, your u-haul full of smokers and your tables and your,
16:22
you know, you spend countless hours, you know, putting together lists of everything that
16:27
you're going to need.
16:28
And as soon as you get there and unpack, there's five things you forgot, you know, no matter
16:31
what.
16:32
It's, it's getting organized, it's keeping your spot clean.
16:37
But for me, you know, after the first second, third one, then you pull in and just start
16:42
looking for your friends, you know, it's so much fun.
16:44
It's really a community, a brethren of friendship and the barbecue community, everybody talks
16:49
about it is just so welcoming.
16:53
There is a level of competition, but not really, I mean, everyone, I think, truly is
16:58
happy for each other when they win and there to console them when they lose.
17:03
But yeah, it's, it's a cool environment and it's, it's a long, you know, again, patience.
17:08
We roll in Friday morning and oftentimes, especially at the Royal, we're not leaving
17:11
until Sunday night.
17:12
So it's a, it's a commitment, but it's fun.
17:15
So fun.
17:16
Well, and the thing about it is, is like at the end of the day, there is the camaraderie
17:20
and then there is the actual competition, right?
17:22
And so I've even watched some, some different shows where they're, they're the barbecue pit
17:25
masters that are judging things and it seems like each judge is looking for something a
17:29
little bit different, which is kind of hard to prepare for if you're actually competing
17:33
to win.
17:34
But I guess in a, in a macro since 30,000 foot view, what are barbecue competition judges
17:39
looking for?
17:40
Well, you kind of nailed it.
17:42
It's different and it's different regionally.
17:44
So we'll go to the Memphis and May world championships every year and compete.
17:48
And that's going to be a different, first of all, it's a different cut of meat with
17:52
the ribs than we're going to use, we'll do baby backs down there as opposed to the Saint
17:55
Louis style spare ribs that we'll do here in case CBS competitions in Kansas city.
18:02
Sometimes judges are running sweet.
18:04
Sometimes they're a little, you know, heat oftentimes unless you're really dialed in and
18:09
there's several guys that compete every week, you know, I'm not doing that.
18:13
I kind of just hit the big boys and have some fun, but I'll talk to guys that are out there
18:17
grind in and say, Hey, what's, what's running hot right now?
18:19
Like what's, what are the judges looking for?
18:21
Because it changes all the time.
18:23
And especially when you get to a big, big competition like the American Royal, where
18:27
you have 500 teams, you got to imagine how many judges there are.
18:33
And maybe not so, you know, maybe they're not so seasoned, you know, maybe they're getting
18:38
ordained as they walk in the tent as a judge, you know, so it kind of can become a crapshoot,
18:44
really.
18:45
So it's a, there's a lot of luck involved, especially in the bigger ones, but you'll,
18:48
you'll see that the cream rises to the top, the same guys continue to win and put out
18:53
the best product.
18:54
So yeah, my, I usually do for me, my, my favorite profile is kind of sweet with just a little
19:01
bit of heat, but you have to be careful with the heat factor.
19:03
You get one person at that table of six that does not like spice or heat and you're out.
19:08
I remember a judge at the, the, what Memphis and May is a little different.
19:14
There's a blind box competition, but then also every 15 minutes, a personalized judge
19:19
comes to your tent and sits in front of you and eats the meat in front of you and critiques
19:23
it.
19:24
And you make up, you know, stories and tell them that you raised the pig and it sucked
19:27
on your finger from, you know, two days old and you tell all these lies.
19:31
It's so funny.
19:32
And she came back at the end and we had just barely lost.
19:36
I think we were just out of the top 10 that year and she came back afterwards and she
19:39
said, Boy, your ribs are so good, but I just had a little piece of pepper get stuck in
19:44
my teeth.
19:45
I just couldn't get out of it.
19:46
So I had to mark you down and I think it really I drove, I drove eight, nine hours down
19:51
here.
19:52
It's Tuesday and you got a piece of pepper stuck in your teeth.
19:55
So I lose the competition.
19:57
That's just an example of how crazy it is, man.
19:59
You get the stars out the lineup and you got to get it right.
20:02
Hey, I completely understand that.
20:04
And I remember when I was watching, I forget what the show was, but it was the one that
20:06
Myron Nixon was on where they're kind of going around doing these competitions or whatever.
20:11
And it was like hearing them describe what they were when they were judging the different
20:15
meats.
20:16
It helped me to understand why I like certain cuts or certain ways of preparing meat better.
20:21
So for me growing up, it was always a thing like, Oh man, you just want these ribs to
20:25
fall off the bone.
20:26
And then I would have these fall off the bone ribs and I would enjoy them as much as having
20:31
a little bit of tug.
20:32
And I got that, that statement from Myron Nixon, because he's like, I like to have a little
20:35
bit of tug on my ribs.
20:37
And I was like, yeah, yeah, like I get it.
20:38
Like I want to be able to pull it off.
20:40
I want to know that I'm chewing on something, but it's got to be a little frustrating as
20:43
you're preparing for a competition.
20:44
But, but Mitch, for all the competitions that you've been to, and I don't even know if you
20:48
can even tell me how many you've been to, if you can even remember, is there like one
20:52
highlight that that sticks out above the rest, whether it was a big win or just something
20:56
you experienced whenever you were there for that day, just give me that kind of one thing
21:00
that when you think about your competition career, that that's what sticks out.
21:03
Well, I think for me, it was probably, I know it was in 2019.
21:07
So I had an opportunity to go over to Paris, France and open up a barbecue restaurant,
21:12
Kansas City style barbecue restaurant, right on the scene.
21:15
And my head chef, Paul Patterson, who I didn't know until I got there, he and I, he and I
21:20
became really, really tight friends.
21:23
And he had never been to the United States.
21:24
So I was, I knew I was after a few months, I was leaving and coming back.
21:28
And I specifically was coming back to the States to compete in Memphis and May.
21:33
So I brought him with me and we spent a week in Kansas City where he lived with my family
21:37
and got to see my friends and meet everybody, had him over at George Brett's house, had
21:41
him over at a baseball game, like just, you know, funny, funny, fun stuff.
21:46
And then I took him for a week down to Memphis and May and I put him in charge of the seafood
21:49
category.
21:50
And it was like straight out of a Disney movie, we won for best sauce at Memphis and May and
21:55
he won for the seafood dish first time and he was shaking in his boots and to have him
21:59
up on stage, hoisting that trophy above his head.
22:03
Just gave me goosebumps.
22:04
It was the coolest thing ever to, to see him thrive and have fun and just his eyes were
22:09
just wide open and it was just a cool, cool, cool experience.
22:12
Well, I'm glad you brought up that story because I remember following you, because we
22:16
were friends at this time, but I remember following on social media, I'm like, what
22:19
the hell is he doing in Paris?
22:21
Why is he still in Paris?
22:22
Like I wasn't paying that close of attention, but I'm like, okay, who's this mustachioed
22:25
guy with the, yeah, that's him.
22:27
So like explain this to me because I've never been to Paris.
22:32
It's not really a place that it's all my top list of places to go, but that is a place
22:36
that is known for its cuisine.
22:37
Okay.
22:38
It's not a place that's known for its cuisine, right?
22:40
So like I've been to like, you know, Ireland and in the UK and the rest of the UK and it's
22:44
like, okay, they're not exactly known for their, they're known for fish and chips and
22:48
whiskey if you're in Scotland, right?
22:49
Yeah.
22:50
For their scotch.
22:51
But you know, what, what made you like kind of break down that whole story of going over
22:55
to Paris to open up a pit barbecue restaurant?
22:58
It just seems like it doesn't meet what, what that culture is wanting.
23:01
Like I think of them as like wanting really expensive cheese and to look down on us Americans
23:05
as they pour really expensive wine on our heads.
23:07
Like, but just explain how all that kind of went down.
23:10
Well, I, it's a, there's a huge, you know, foody aspect in, in French, but as you say,
23:16
in France, but it, but it is French cuisine, it is five star Michelin, it's a ratatouille,
23:22
you know, it's everything a son, but Kansas City barbecue didn't really exist.
23:27
So there was someone that was working at char bar, my restaurant in, in Westport that brought
23:32
it to my attention.
23:33
And of all things, as crazy as it was, it was a Craigslist ad that said, ISO in search
23:39
of American barbecue chef to come to Paris to teach us and how to cook American barbecue
23:46
and help us open up a restaurant.
23:48
And he showed this to me and I took it home and showed it to my, my wife and kids and
23:53
like, Oh, pop, you got to do that.
23:55
Like, like you should do that.
23:56
I'm like, really, I'm just going to move to Paris.
23:58
I mean, come on, this is nuts.
24:01
So I think after about, you know, four or five course lights on a Friday, that Friday
24:05
night, I read with their urging.
24:08
I responded the next day, and this is 2019, this is in February, I get an email back asking
24:16
me to do like a zoom or a WebEx type thing.
24:18
And I didn't know what zoom was.
24:20
I had never heard a zoom, you know, what are that new shoe from, you know, what a zoom.
24:25
So I'm, I do this with her and this is how fast it was.
24:29
I think eight days later, I was on a plane flying to Paris.
24:33
So it was pretty insane.
24:35
It was intense.
24:36
So they got me a flat, you know, I didn't know anything about Europe.
24:41
And I went over there and my very first day, I showed up in the morning, and Paul, who's
24:48
from New Zealand, so he spoke English, which was the saving grace of the whole deal, comes
24:54
walking in and he says, hi, you Mike?
24:58
And I said, Mitch, he's like, close enough, follow me.
25:01
And we went back to the kitchen and a friendship was born from there, man.
25:05
And it was just the best time ever, I'll tell you, it was incredible.
25:08
So how is, how was it received, I guess, because again, I'm thinking of the hoity-toity French
25:12
men.
25:13
Yes, I'm painting a broad brush here.
25:14
But how was that style of food received there?
25:16
It was very well received.
25:18
What the other thing that you have to kind of remember is there's a lot of expats living
25:21
over there.
25:22
So I literally guys would walk in, I'd give them burn ends, ribs, and they'd get a Budweiser
25:27
and they would hug me and say, dude, you are the greatest thing I've ever seen in my whole
25:33
entire life.
25:34
Are you kidding me?
25:35
I mean, this is awesome.
25:36
So there was a big group of expats that were living over there that would gather.
25:42
It was fun for people to try new foods.
25:44
I mean, I would walk around literally with a plate of burn ends that just melted in people's
25:50
mouth and to see the joy and the excitement in their eyes and look at me and say, what?
25:54
You know, what?
25:55
What?
25:56
What?
25:57
What is that?
25:58
I was like, it's good.
25:59
Isn't it potty?
26:00
It's good.
26:01
Yes.
26:02
Yes.
26:03
That's awesome.
26:04
I mean, you're, you're, cause that's like, that's a language that goes beyond language
26:08
barriers, right?
26:09
The language of meat.
26:10
Like that is just something that people completely understand.
26:13
And as a quick aside, before we get into something else, you said it for the first time on this,
26:17
on this podcast, but you call everybody pods.
26:20
Yo pods.
26:21
Yeah.
26:22
Yeah.
26:23
Yo pods are potty.
26:24
It's on the labels of your barbecue sauce right behind you.
26:26
Then the book, not everybody, not everybody uses that, that terminology to refer to another
26:30
human being.
26:31
You want to tell us where does pods, where does pods come from?
26:34
That's P O D S Y for those of you that aren't picking it up.
26:37
But yeah, what's pods?
26:38
Well, when I moved out here to Kansas city, you know, not only was the culture different,
26:43
but the language is a little different too.
26:44
So I'd be rolling in to pro shops and speaking with pros and assistant pros.
26:49
And the big term out here was parts, you know, Hey, Pards, how are you doing short, short
26:53
for partner?
26:54
Partner.
26:55
I'm good.
26:56
Pards.
26:57
You know, and then I kind of had fun with that and threw a little night East coast in there
27:00
and said pots.
27:01
But so basically it's the same thing as calling someone partner or Pards.
27:05
I just say pots.
27:06
All right.
27:07
Sounds good.
27:08
Now that everybody knows you got to start using that language with your friends.
27:10
Everybody calls me that, by the way.
27:12
Yo, that's good.
27:13
Yeah.
27:14
I mean, you've created this influence.
27:15
I'm glad for it.
27:16
But you did mention a little second ago, Mitch, you mentioned your restaurant char bar.
27:19
So that was a restaurant that opened up in 2015.
27:23
I guess the general question is, is why open a barbecue restaurant in Kansas city?
27:28
I mean, of all places that seems like the hardest place to get another restaurant off
27:33
off the board, but you got a really cool location.
27:35
It was a really cool concept.
27:37
So kind of take us through how our bar came to be.
27:39
Well, it's kind of like dropping your shorts, right?
27:42
I mean, take a look because you are showing yourself to the world in the hotbed of barbecue.
27:47
But another philosophy is fish where the fish are, right?
27:50
If you could put out some good product and have good barbecue in Kansas city, you're
27:54
going to have lines that wrap around buildings.
27:56
People just go towards barbecue.
27:58
It's huge.
27:59
So yeah, I always wanted the maturation of the brand.
28:03
I was doing well with sauces, doing well with rubs, competition.
28:06
I was getting on TV and everything and everyone was like, you need to have a restaurant.
28:10
You need to have a grand stage for your product because you talk about it and we see pictures
28:16
of you winning, but we can't taste your product.
28:19
How can we taste what you're putting out?
28:21
I said, good idea, but Taylor made and writes me a nice check every month.
28:25
So I'm kind of digging that, you know, I'm not sure about that aspect of it.
28:30
So I was quickly introduced to my two partners that I have now and all they knew how to do
28:35
was run restaurants, successful restaurants.
28:37
They didn't know anything about barbecue.
28:39
So we were kind of a perfect marriage and it took a while to get off the ground.
28:44
But like you said, I think it was November of 2014, rolling into 15, a char bar was born.
28:50
And really I enjoyed Texas barbecue, I had spent a week traveling throughout the state
28:55
of Texas and seeing their venues.
28:58
Now from a weather perspective, they're able to be open outside a lot longer than we are
29:02
in Kansas City, but I really, really enjoyed the outside aspect, the picnic tables, the
29:06
bar, the music, the games, Kansas City didn't have anything like that.
29:11
So you've been there.
29:13
So we have like 10,000 square feet outside dedicated to all of that that I just spoke
29:17
about.
29:18
A full croquet course.
29:19
A couple of bocce ball with white crushed oyster shells.
29:24
There's throw bags, ping pong, swings, you know, all that kind of stuff really to create
29:29
a cool vibe and in a unique neighborhood in Kansas City of Westport.
29:33
So that along with about 7,000 square feet inside, it's a huge barbecue platform for
29:39
us and has been very successful.
29:41
Well, Mitch, when people talk about their happy place, you know, sometimes in their minds,
29:45
they're thinking, oh, they're at the top of a beautiful waterfall or some serene mountain
29:49
landscape.
29:50
Char bar in Kansas City is my happy place.
29:52
Okay.
29:53
Cause I was there.
29:54
I was there like a couple of months after it opened up and any time I'm even yeah, even
29:58
any time I'm in a stone within a stone's throw of Kansas City.
30:01
So I was in Lawrence, Kansas a few weeks ago, where are we going for lunch?
30:04
What do you mean?
30:05
Where are we going for lunch?
30:06
We're going 45 minutes down the road.
30:07
And we're going to Char bar.
30:08
Okay.
30:09
And I've been to some other places in Kansas City, but that's kind of the main place.
30:11
So I definitely appreciate you open that up.
30:13
And I know you got some other stuff you're working on here in a second.
30:15
We'll talk more about that as well, but we've got to get in to this book.
30:19
So barbecue revolution, innovative barbecue recipes from an all star pit master.
30:23
Obviously this is your book.
30:24
The thing about this book is it's not just a beautiful book.
30:27
It can double as a home defense device, because this thing is like weighty.
30:30
This thing is like serious.
30:32
But the thing about it is I've seen a lot of cookbooks and you know, you get a lot of
30:36
cookbooks when you get married and those different things, but I had never really found the quintessential
30:41
barbecue pit master cookbook.
30:43
You get a cookbook that had, you know, some pulled pork sandwiches or some random recipes
30:47
for this or that, but this feels like the quintessential book.
30:50
But I guess why even write a book sharing your story?
30:54
I'm sure you're writing a book five years ago wasn't on your radar, you know, why put
30:58
out your story and your competition secrets and all these recipes.
31:02
They asked me.
31:03
Okay.
31:04
That's pretty good.
31:05
You're going to give us a little bit more detail.
31:07
Yeah.
31:08
It was kind of crazy.
31:09
I mean, I have a whole room in my house almost dedicated to cookbooks on the cookbook nut.
31:14
For Christmas, I'll get 10 cookbooks.
31:17
And it's the go-to.
31:18
What do you get, Mitch, for his birthday?
31:19
I'll get him a cookbook, but make sure it has lots of pictures in it, right?
31:23
Because I won't cook a recipe if it doesn't have a picture with it that comes with it.
31:27
So when I came back from Paris with with with Paulie and brought him back, it was it was
31:33
quite quite a tale.
31:35
We landed in the Kansas City Star.
31:37
I had a full page picture of Paul and I when we landed that he didn't know about.
31:42
I had done an interview over there and had sent some pictures to an editor and that was
31:47
waiting for us when we came back.
31:49
So that was huge.
31:50
I drove him from the airport to Char bar before even getting to our house to do an interview
31:55
with the six o'clock news.
31:57
We do that interview.
32:00
We get back to my house literally about one hour later, I realized I didn't have any Jack
32:06
Daniels, which was not going to work for Paulie.
32:09
So we together drove to the liquor store, we walk in and the first person that sees
32:13
this points at Paul because he's got his hat on and he wears his leather jacket and his
32:17
white, the same as the front picture of the paper that day.
32:21
And point to him says, look, there's that guy.
32:23
And he Paul looks at me, he goes, this is going to get sick, mate.
32:26
This is going to get sick.
32:30
So we garnered a lot of attention.
32:34
Probably a month later, I was I got an email that just from an editor saying, Hey, would
32:38
you be interested in telling your story looks like you got a colorful past and writing a
32:42
cookbook?
32:43
And I said, you know what?
32:44
I would love to do that.
32:45
You know, I it was a little apprehensive at first because I have no idea what to do.
32:49
But that took about four months.
32:52
First of all, they asked if you'd like to do it.
32:54
And I said, sure.
32:55
And then for two months, they make you prove to them why they should choose you to write
32:58
a cookbook.
32:59
So it's like, you came to me, jerks, what are you talking about?
33:02
I know, I know.
33:04
But then it was about a year of writing it really through COVID.
33:06
I kind of figured that they would write it for me and I kind of sign it and smile and
33:10
take my picture next to it, but they make you do all the work.
33:13
And it was a unique time of the in history to do it because it was through COVID.
33:17
So all I could ever do was talk to my editor on the phone.
33:20
I've still to this day, don't know what he looks like.
33:22
I've never met him.
33:23
I've talked to him a million times, but you know, he would tell me traditionally he would
33:26
be there with me, you know, helping me and on site for the shoots.
33:29
And he pretty much had to give me some rope and let me roll.
33:32
And I got an iconic local photographer that helped me out, which I was excited to partner
33:37
with and that he would do it for a minimal fee.
33:39
And we spent some time shooting, as you can see in the book, tons and tons of pictures.
33:44
And we spent days in the restaurant, days in my house, out at a wagyu cattle farm.
33:50
Just had fun.
33:51
I got to pick everywhere I wanted to go.
33:52
I got to pick every recipe I wanted to do and kind of just wrote the book and came together.
33:57
And they help you at the end, obviously, put it all together and make it, you know, put
34:00
the bowl on the top and make it look pretty, but it was, it was a fun, cool experience.
34:05
And I'm proud of it.
34:06
I really am.
34:07
Well, I got to tell you, I don't use this word very often, but the book itself is gorgeous.
34:12
It is absolutely gorgeous.
34:14
The pictures look amazing.
34:15
Like it just, it's an inviting book.
34:18
It makes you, it literally becomes a page turner because yes, you have some of your stories
34:22
in there.
34:23
You've got different pictures.
34:24
You got recipes from you, recipes from other places, but I got to tell you, my heart stopped
34:28
at one point whenever I was flipping through your book, because I thought you made the
34:32
worst mistake in the world.
34:34
You included your sauce recipes and your rub recipes in the book.
34:40
Okay.
34:41
Because I use me, mid barbecue sauce on just about everything.
34:43
I put it on broccoli.
34:44
It's absurd.
34:45
I use your rubs on everything.
34:47
I don't, I don't mess with anything else.
34:49
I was shocked to see that you included those things in your book.
34:52
Okay.
34:53
Because to me, that stuff is gold.
34:55
You're literally giving gold to people.
34:56
So that's, that's my biggest question of the day probably is why did you include those
35:01
super, what I thought were super secret recipes in the book?
35:04
Yeah.
35:05
Well, you know, the barbecue community is a sharing community.
35:08
I mean, if you're not shaking, you're not trying, everyone's pulling off other people's
35:13
recipes and making them their own.
35:15
So I put it out there.
35:16
I mean, so you'll probably make that recipe and say, you know what?
35:19
I'm going to add a little bit of this or a little bit of that and make my own type style,
35:24
which is awesome.
35:25
I mean, it's, it's cool.
35:26
And at the end of the day, not everybody's pulling out a pot and pan and making all this
35:30
stuff take the time.
35:31
They want to just grab the bottle and roll.
35:34
But in another way, I've also changed co-packers twice and it's been a year long process both
35:39
times for them to get a simple recipe, correct?
35:42
So I find it very hard to believe anyone's going to nail it the first time in their,
35:47
in their kitchen, but you know, it's fun.
35:49
And hopefully, you know, I've got new sauces that I'm coming out with and I'll just continue
35:53
to, to roll.
35:55
And yeah, I think if you're going to, if you're going to come out with a cookbook, I mean,
35:58
share what you got.
35:59
Let's have some fun and, and keep going and maturing and, and, you know, evolving.
36:04
Right.
36:05
And guys, for those of you that don't really know what I'm talking about, you might have
36:08
his, his sauces or his rubs in a local store.
36:12
I mean, there's an ACE hardware a couple of miles from my house that has some, but obviously
36:15
I'll put a link in the show notes so you can go to his website and you can order that stuff
36:18
for yourself.
36:19
So you can test me and see if I'm actually being legit.
36:22
But before we move on from the book, there's so many recipes in there.
36:26
It's almost overwhelming.
36:27
So if you're like, okay, I want to maybe try this or maybe try that, you know, I want
36:30
to do a difficult one and then maybe an easy one.
36:33
Is there a recipe from your book that you personally think is especially awesome, but
36:38
that you think that some people might actually end up overlooking because they're, you know,
36:42
worried about the ribs or the brisket or something.
36:44
Yeah, for me, obviously growing up on the East coast in Pennsylvania, I have a recipe
36:49
in there that I don't know exists in any cookbook in the world and that's for scrapple.
36:54
So scrapple is kind of the, they call it the lips and ass, the stuff that hits the floor
37:00
that doesn't even make it into a hot dog.
37:02
That's, that's very popular on the East coast.
37:05
I figured, Hey, let's try to make this with, with some of your leftover pork and meat that
37:10
is actually good, really good stuff.
37:12
And I think it turned out amazing.
37:15
It's probably an acquired taste, but it is so flipping good.
37:19
And I would have put that on the cover of the, of the book, but they said, you know, we
37:23
went to sell books.
37:24
So that probably wasn't a good idea, but it actually is buried in the cover and that,
37:29
that niffs and mound of meat.
37:31
There's some scrapple in there, but I would try that.
37:33
I mean, give that a run for its money.
37:35
It's so good.
37:36
Okay.
37:37
Sounds good.
37:38
We'll make sure that gets out to everybody.
37:39
So we've talked about the book.
37:40
We've talked about char bar, but I don't know how much you're talking about it right now,
37:44
but you've got a new project that you're working on and I don't know, I don't know how else
37:49
to say it.
37:50
Cause again, I don't know if you're even allowed to talk about it, but you got a new project.
37:53
Can you give us some details?
37:55
Sure.
37:56
Well, I actually signed a lease for meat, Mitch barbecue four years ago.
37:59
That's how long that this is, as taken.
38:01
And I think we're probably about a month away, it'll be at 95th and mission and ranch mark.
38:08
And it's a big location.
38:09
It'll be meat, meat, Mitch barbecue, it'll differ from char bar a little bit in the fact
38:13
that I wanted that experience where you walk up and you kind of see some exhibition cooking.
38:19
You see guys carving out slices of meat, burn ends.
38:23
You see the smokers, you see everybody working, you have a cool menu board, you order and
38:28
you sit down and then we'll bring it to you from there and there'll be a bar, big outside
38:33
component, similar to char bar games, turf, chairs, TVs, all that kind of stuff.
38:39
So it's been a long time coming, but I'm excited that should open up and I think four
38:45
to six weeks.
38:47
And then also we're in the middle of, I don't know if you're familiar, the Kansas airport
38:51
is being completely redone.
38:53
If you fly in and out now, you can see the construction that's taking place, but there's
38:57
been a bid up that I'm part of.
39:01
And if it gets approved on Thursday in 2023, we will have a meat, Mitch barbecue at the
39:05
brand new KCI airport, which I'm really excited about.
39:08
Nice.
39:09
That is awesome.
39:10
We'll keep our fingers crossed for that one, but I just got to ask as well, like, because
39:16
I feel like I have two separate stomachs.
39:18
People don't understand me when I say that, but like I've got a stomach for meats and
39:21
all those different things, but I also have a separate stomach that is just for banana
39:26
pudding.
39:27
So can I make a request that banana pudding be in the new me Metro restaurant?
39:30
Is that is that part of the plan?
39:31
Could I, could I possibly just beg you for that?
39:33
I can tell you that I kind of have a hybrid of that.
39:36
We will have banana whoopie pies, which are to die for that you might be able to enjoy.
39:40
Okay.
39:41
All right.
39:42
Well, I will definitely put that on my Christmas list for this year that I need some whoopie
39:44
pies from you.
39:45
So I want to get into just some random questions because I was, I was preparing this interview.
39:48
I was getting so giddy to talk about different things categorically, but then I had a bunch
39:52
of just random things that came up and you brought up a little bit of it earlier, you
39:56
know, talking about George bread and talking about being able to cook for the royals and
39:59
the Yankees and different things like that.
40:00
But obviously what you've been able to do, speaking the language of barbecue has gotten
40:03
you in with a lot of different professional sports teams with locker rooms or clubhouses.
40:08
Sure.
40:09
Aside from the stuff that you've already mentioned, Mitch, is there like a favorite memory or
40:12
experience that you had that, you know, it was kind of centered around athletes or a
40:16
game?
40:17
Well, I mean, it's going to be the all star game.
40:20
And unfortunately, that's what we've already talked about.
40:21
But that was the penultimate experience just to be there with all my boys and be firing
40:27
back and forth for three days in a row to the locker rooms.
40:30
I mean, just the fun and camaraderie that takes place around the celebrity all star
40:34
game is hysterical.
40:36
I mean, just sitting in that room, feeding all the guys and the people that you see on
40:40
TV never in person.
40:42
Yeah.
40:43
Yeah.
40:44
You're right.
40:45
I mean, I was at that all star game as well.
40:46
And I'll share with you kind of a quick memory that I had because I was working for Major
40:47
League Baseball at the time.
40:48
You know, we're at the home run Derby and the all star game.
40:51
And I remember Robinson can know getting booed mercilessly at the home run Derby because
40:56
there was a Kansas City.
40:57
Oh, I just forgot to do his name.
40:58
Billy Butler.
40:59
Yeah.
41:00
Yeah, he was not selected because that was at the time where there were team captains
41:04
and they selected who they wanted to be on the AL team or the NLT and Billy Butler,
41:08
the home run hitter, a home run hitter for, you know, the local team was not selected
41:13
by Robinson cano.
41:14
And I think Robinson can know had won the home run Derby the year before, right?
41:18
And so he's, you know, the favorite to win this thing.
41:20
He goes out there in the crowd, boost him mercilessly every single pitch of the home run
41:25
Derby and he hit zero home runs during the home run Derby and I could not like the fans
41:31
cheered so loud for that.
41:33
So it was hilarious.
41:34
But this is the story.
41:35
So at this point, and I told this, uh, this in the intro, you know, I had already met
41:39
you and I had already kind of met George bread, you know, with kind of the stuff that we were
41:42
doing.
41:43
You hooked us up with barbecue.
41:44
But I remember when you and George came to our section, you know, for, for me and the
41:47
other people that were working with me and he said, Hey, how's it going?
41:50
Things are going great.
41:51
Hey, y'all.
41:52
And then y'all leave our section and not 15 minutes later, barbecue just shows up in
42:00
our section and is getting passed around and I'm like, that's kind of a cool thing.
42:04
You walk into some place, you shake hands, you high five and then like 10 or 15 minutes
42:08
later, barbecue just magically shows up for everybody to eat.
42:12
So that is one of my favorite memories as well.
42:14
But I did also want to kind of get into some specifics about you and I'm going to kind
42:18
of make you pick your favorite kid with a few of these.
42:20
Okay.
42:21
Yeah.
42:22
I'm going to make it awkward.
42:23
If you could only eat one type of barbecue meat for the rest of your life, okay?
42:30
So brisket, ribs, burn it, whatever.
42:32
You can pick one for the rest of your life.
42:34
What do you choose and why?
42:36
Whole hog.
42:37
See, I'm not going to let you get away with that.
42:40
You can't have the whole menu.
42:41
You got to select one.
42:42
I would probably say burnt ends.
42:46
Obviously they were, you know, born and created made famous here in Kansas City, but they're
42:50
so darn good.
42:52
You've had them.
42:53
They're just little pillowy puffs of magic that, like, you know, you get that nice bark
42:57
and that middle center just melts in your mouth and you can just keep popping them all
43:02
day long.
43:03
So I guess I would, I would roll with burn ends.
43:05
How about you?
43:06
Okay.
43:07
So I figured you would ask me it's so tight between ribs and burnt ends, but I would probably
43:13
say ribs and the tiebreaker for me is because I have this weird deal where I will get a
43:19
whole rack of ribs like when I go to char bar, I'll get a whole rack of ribs, I'll eat half
43:22
of it there and then I'll put the other half in the refrigerator and I'll eat it the next
43:25
day cold.
43:26
And like, like, and I'll put a little bit of sauce on it.
43:30
The sauce will be cold as well.
43:31
It's even more tug.
43:33
So thank you, Myron.
43:34
I got even more tug on my rib.
43:35
And so for me, like next day, cold, burnt ends aren't quite as good.
43:39
So that's why I would go with ribs.
43:41
So all right.
43:42
I'm glad you brought that up from Myron.
43:43
So that's one of the things that is a, as a fallacy is people say, my gosh, those ribs
43:48
were so good.
43:49
They were fall off the bone.
43:50
And if you talk to my wife and if you talk to my kids and neighbors, they won't fall
43:54
off the bone ribs, but a judge isn't looking for that.
43:57
That just means you overcooked them, right?
43:59
So there is, there is some, you know, there is some professionalism in the cooking that
44:04
we do to acquire that bite.
44:06
So where you take the bite and you come out, you see that bite mark that's left in there
44:10
and the ribs not falling down.
44:12
It's perfect.
44:13
And so that's what we're going for, but in the backyard, the kids want them falling
44:16
off the bone.
44:17
Right?
44:18
Well, I remember reading in the book.
44:19
I thought it was interesting.
44:20
You talked about chicken, you know, you have skin on the chicken and whenever you bite,
44:23
they shouldn't be having to like tug the chicken away.
44:26
There should be that perfect bite mark.
44:27
And I had never really thought about that.
44:29
And they don't want that skin, that whole skin back with exactly to perforate that skin
44:34
perfectly with your teeth and leave it there.
44:36
It's tough.
44:37
It's not easy to do.
44:38
Well, it's not easy to do.
44:39
And I'll just, I'll just be honest with you.
44:40
And this is going to make some of my listeners mad.
44:42
Oklahoma barbecue is a joke.
44:44
I swear I grew up in Oklahoma and I'm surrounded by people that thinks Chili's like, oh, those
44:50
are the best ribs in the world.
44:51
And you get these random barbecue places that people think are just the best.
44:54
And so it's like, okay, we need y'all to like expand your Kansas City territory.
44:58
Come down just a little bit Southwest that maybe, hey, I don't know if there needs to
45:02
be a meat, Mitch restaurant in Oklahoma City.
45:04
I can help you out.
45:05
Okay.
45:06
We'll work on that.
45:07
Okay.
45:08
I'm going to make you pick another favorite child here.
45:09
Okay.
45:10
That's a good one, you know, so for me it transcends food.
45:14
Sometimes it's the experience.
45:15
It's the smells.
45:16
I get goosebumps every time I walk into rendezvous in Memphis.
45:33
And they're not famous necessarily for their food, but when you walk down those steps and
45:38
sit down and you smell the air and you look around and you see the people that are working
45:43
there and the stories that they tell you and how they make you feel, I would eat there
45:48
every day.
45:49
I mean, it is, it's one of the first things when we pull into Memphis and unload and get
45:53
into our Airbnb.
45:54
We all look at each other and rub our hands together and say, let's go and we fire off
45:59
the rendezvous.
46:00
And it has nothing to do with the food, although it's fine, but it's just the atmosphere and
46:05
the vibe and how cool it is.
46:06
So I would probably be getting reservations there.
46:10
Okay.
46:11
Sounds good.
46:12
If you could only eat the barbecue made by one living pit master, I'm going to make
46:19
you pick the best friend now.
46:20
Yeah.
46:21
I'm making it super awkward and I love that you're, you know, feeling a little bit awkward
46:23
about it.
46:24
But you could eat the barbecue of one living pit master, but it can't be you.
46:29
Who would it be and why?
46:30
I guess probably Tuffy Stone.
46:32
I mean, he's hard to beat, right?
46:34
I mean, he's the, he's the guy that wears a cape that flies around the barbecue world.
46:39
So I guess Tuffy would be, Tuffy would be behind the pit for me.
46:44
Okay.
46:45
So this might answer the next question, but I'm, I'm going to open it up just a little
46:49
bit more in your humble opinion.
46:52
Who is the single greatest pit master of all time living, you know, actively in the business
46:58
or not?
46:59
Yeah.
47:00
Well, I guess you got to give it to, to Myron, you got to give it to Tuffy.
47:04
There's, I mean, what did Myron just went and become?
47:07
Was it?
47:08
Well, did he just reach the all time leader and world championships last year?
47:12
He may have.
47:13
I saw something come up here recently.
47:15
I can find it later, but I mean, he's the winningest guy that there is.
47:18
So I would have to be Myron.
47:20
Okay.
47:21
Sounds good.
47:22
Well, Mitch, we've had a lot of fun.
47:23
We've talked about a lot of things here.
47:24
This is one of the greatest subjects in the world to talk about compared to some of the
47:26
things that I talk about.
47:27
There's no wrong answer, right?
47:28
There are no wrong answers.
47:29
One of my shows whenever I have especially a fun guest, I like to do a segment called
47:34
What Would You Say to Someone That Said?
47:36
And so I'm going to say, what would you say to someone that said?
47:39
I'm going to fill in the blank, but you have 30 seconds or less to give me your answer.
47:44
This is rapid fire.
47:45
This is lightning round.
47:46
Okay.
47:47
So are you up for it?
47:48
Sure.
47:49
Okay.
47:50
Let's hit it.
47:51
First one.
47:52
What would you say to someone that said, I'm scared to smoke a brisket.
47:53
I don't want to mess up an expensive cut of me.
47:56
Well, I think we kind of hit that.
47:57
I wouldn't worry about that at all.
47:58
I just dive in and maybe start with some lesser expensive meats, you know, a pork butt.
48:03
That's a big protein that takes a long time.
48:05
You have to have the patience and the technique similar to a more expensive cut like a brisket
48:11
or something like that.
48:12
Start with a pork butt, you know, and mess around with that and screw up the cheaper cuts,
48:17
but don't be afraid at all because it's nobody's splitting atoms out here at the barbecue competition
48:23
site.
48:24
We're not geniuses.
48:25
Hey, I've ruined, I've ruined a couple of pork butts at the same time because I ran
48:29
out of pellets and I didn't know what was going on.
48:31
So I was so sad about it and one of my friends was like, could you imagine if you had two
48:35
briskets in there?
48:36
So I was like, yeah, yeah.
48:37
Okay.
48:38
That's a lot better.
48:39
All right.
48:40
Next rapid fire question here.
48:41
What would you say to someone that said, I'll have my steak well done with ketchup, please.
48:45
Oh, that's bad.
48:47
It's the worst.
48:48
I would say check, please.
48:51
Hey, I would be leaving.
48:53
I woke up or I grew up in a family that I grew up hating steak because I was given skirt
48:58
steak, like well done with ketchup, like it was like eating a bicycle tire.
49:02
So I'm with you.
49:03
I probably can't be your friend if you were to your steak.
49:05
Well done with ketchup.
49:06
All right.
49:07
Next one here.
49:08
What would you say to someone that said smoking meat is just too complicated for me?
49:12
Well, it's not.
49:13
It's not complicated.
49:14
I'd say buy my book.
49:15
So that would give you a little bit of a head start by the book, but it's not complicated.
49:21
It's easy, it just takes, it just takes patience like we talked, but it's fun.
49:26
And it gives you a long time to sip on a beer and have conversation with friends and, you
49:30
know, get it fired up.
49:31
Get it going.
49:32
Hey, like you said, you're not splitting atoms, but I think you're selling yourself a little
49:36
bit short here, but you know, we'll roll with it.
49:38
Okay.
49:39
Next one here.
49:40
What would you say to someone that said pitmasters should never share their secrets?
49:45
I disagree.
49:46
I mean, obviously I shared all my secrets and I think most do, you know, I've had the opportunity
49:50
to attend many classes from some of the best in the world.
49:54
And everyone's eager to share what they learned because no one's coming up with this stuff
49:58
on their own out of their blue.
50:00
Someone's always helped someone get to where they're at.
50:02
So yeah, I would share everything as I have and as most do if you, you know, getting conversations
50:09
with the guys at competitions and roundtables, they're quick to tell you what they do or
50:14
what they've learned or try this method or something like that.
50:17
So everyone's just trying to make the best that they can.
50:20
And everyone, as I said earlier too, is rooting for each other.
50:23
Honestly, I really believe that when it's, it's an abundance mentality.
50:27
It just goes to the benefit of everybody because if you can stand on the shoulders of giants,
50:31
you can go even further.
50:32
So I definitely believe in that.
50:34
Our next one here.
50:35
What would you say to someone that said Carolina barbecue is the best barbecue in the United
50:39
States?
50:40
I'd say, where do you live in Carolina?
50:43
There are regions.
50:44
I paint it with a broad brush, but you know, what would you say to someone that says it?
50:48
I would say that they're probably local there.
50:50
And I would say, you know, I welcome to introduce you to some Texas barbecue and some Kansas
50:55
City barbecue and expand your palette a little bit.
50:57
But there's great barbecue everywhere.
50:59
And Carolina definitely has it, Memphis has it.
51:03
It's all it's a preference comes down to preference and what you prefer, but, but I like it, but
51:08
it's definitely probably the lower on my chain.
51:11
All right.
51:12
So you hit on this.
51:13
You hit on this a little bit.
51:14
What would you say to someone that said Texas barbecue is better than Kansas City barbecue?
51:19
I would say from a brisket and from a beef point of view, they may be right.
51:24
I think that they just kill it down there.
51:26
I mean, I love it.
51:27
I love that they have the beef short ribs with the big dinosaur looking type bone.
51:31
We don't really specialize that here.
51:33
I'm going to try to introduce that a little bit.
51:35
Some guys, you know, do it here and there, but it's not up, you know, that's frequented.
51:40
But there their beef is off the charts.
51:42
It really is.
51:43
They really do the burn ends and stuff and, and the ribs are a little different and their
51:47
sauces weigh different, it's more sometimes like an agio or whatever.
51:50
But I thoroughly enjoy Texas barbecue and, and, and can't wait to get back.
51:55
I got to say, I love beef ribs.
51:57
If it's on the menu, I'm ordering it just the amount of char that you can get on that.
52:02
Like, sometimes I'll just skim off the like top level of char, like it's the fattest thing
52:06
that a human being can do, but I absolutely love it.
52:08
All right.
52:09
Just a couple more here.
52:10
What would you say to someone that said meat is murder?
52:13
I'm a vegan.
52:14
Well, everyone's entitled to their own opinion.
52:16
And as you can imagine being in social media, you get some of that, uh, you get some of
52:21
that response and, and I don't know, I mean, I, I don't, you know, that's a tough one.
52:26
You're getting into, you know, people's emotions, big time.
52:28
So I think there's a place for them to live and a place for me to live.
52:31
And hopefully we can do it harmoniously together.
52:34
Well, you gave the diplomatic response.
52:36
I'll give the rude one.
52:37
You're not entitled to that opinion because that opinion is flat out wrong, sir.
52:41
Okay.
52:42
So you have a piece of meat and going about your business.
52:44
All right.
52:45
Enough with this vegan stuff.
52:46
All right, man.
52:47
Last question of the day.
52:48
What would you say to someone that said meat, Mitch Benjamin makes the best ribs and burnt
52:52
ends in the world?
52:53
I'd say, come on in, sit down, let's hang out and watch the game.
52:57
Hey, I figured you would say something like that, but man, we've gone everywhere in this
53:00
conversation.
53:01
We've talked about a lot of great things.
53:02
I appreciate all the time, but that is all for me.
53:04
Is there anything else you want to get off your chest?
53:06
Well, I, I've, I've wanted to share one more thing because you just brought it up.
53:10
I actually had a member of my team for several years that became a vegan.
53:15
He became a vegetarian.
53:17
So, but he still competed with us, still traveled with us, still did everything.
53:22
But when it came down to trying, you know, stuff before we put it in the, the little
53:26
white box, you know, the little, the blind box.
53:29
Yeah.
53:30
Yeah.
53:31
Before doing that, he wouldn't try it.
53:32
And there was a competition in Kansas City where as cool as it was a black car rolls in
53:37
and it's George Brett and Rush Limbaugh get out and it's stay there on a Saturday and
53:42
they're there all day, right?
53:44
And Rush is so into everything.
53:46
He's wanting to see how, you know, what we're doing, how we're cutting and he's eating.
53:49
I mean, he's got barber, you saw us all over him and we're towards the end.
53:54
It turns and everything.
53:55
And he notices that my, my buddy on the team isn't trying anything.
53:57
And he, he looks at him and he says, Hey, Greg, what, what's going on?
54:01
He goes, I'm a vegan.
54:02
I don't eat any of this stuff.
54:03
And he goes, that is the ultimate form of hobby.
54:08
You stay out here all weekend long and don't try anything.
54:11
I've never seen anything like that in my life.
54:14
That was kind of a funny thing.
54:17
That was kind of a cool testament to vegan still being able to barbecue.
54:20
Hey, that, that is actually one of the things because you, you legitimately and literally
54:24
do not get to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
54:27
And by the way, your Rush Limbaugh impressions pretty spot on.
54:29
I'm sure, you know, may he rest in peace, but you might have a future on Saturday night
54:33
live.
54:34
If they need somebody to come in and do Rush Limbaugh.
54:35
But Hey man, again, I super appreciate it, but Mitch Benjamin, thank you so much for
54:39
coming on Daunton life.
54:40
A man's podcast.
54:41
Thank you so much.
54:42
I really appreciate it.
54:43
Take care.
54:44
Have a great week, buddy.
54:45
There you go.
54:46
Guys.
54:47
I hope you enjoyed my time with meet Mitch Benjamin as much as I did.
54:48
But before we let you go, we are going to do a quick resilience boost.
54:51
As you know, by now, add on Daunton life, our mission is equipping men to push back
54:54
darkness.
54:55
And specifically we do that by providing content like this podcast that helps you forge spiritual
54:59
mental and physical resilience.
55:00
So here's what we got for you.
55:01
We got the link here to meet Mitch's website.
55:04
So you can check that out.
55:05
You can buy his sauces.
55:06
You can even buy the book there, all kinds of stuff.
55:08
And that's what the next thing is.
55:09
The next link is actually a link where you can get a signed copy of barbecue revolution.
55:13
I would absolutely suggest you do that.
55:15
So right in time for Christmas guys, you got a lot of dudes in your life that need this
55:18
book.
55:19
And then I've got the Amazon link to the same book as well.
55:20
Guys, thanks so much for listening to this podcast.
55:22
We do appreciate it.
55:23
Wherever you're listening to this, please subscribe, rate and leave us a five star positive review.
55:27
If you don't mind, also, if you want me to come speak at your live event or on your podcast,
55:31
just shoot me an email to info@undaunted.life.
55:34
That's I N F O at undaunted.life.
55:37
You can also follow us on Instagram and TikTok and like us on Facebook.
55:40
Then you can also check out our website for everything else, including how to donate to
55:43
keep more content like this coming your way.
55:45
Just go to www dot undaunted.life.
55:48
And we also want to thank the band.
55:49
August Burns read for allowing us to use their music for our content.
55:52
The entire auto track on this podcast is our song, cutting the ties, which is off their
55:55
10th anniversary re-recording of their album Leveler.
55:58
The links are in the description.
56:00
I'm your host, Kyle Thompson.
56:02
Remember, keep pushing back darkness, keep forging spiritual, mental and physical resilience.
56:09
You're seeking the Lion of Judah.
56:39
Thank you.