🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <ysk203bi56l.fsf@brain.intr.net> Hunter@intr.net writes:

> The most recent (and closest to correct) answer to the question of the
> origin of the Red Hot and Blue BBQ chain came from Brian Wommack:
> 
>   "Actually, Red Hot and Blue started in DC area by some Tennessee Hill
>   staffers who missed the 'que from back home.  It's gradually expanding
>   beyond the D.C. area."
> 
> 
> BZZT!  Nice try, but no.
> 
> I'm really surprised that the dc.dining crowd doesn't have some political
> types who would remember.
> 
> Red Hot & Blue was founded by Lee Atwater, Ronald Reagan's eccentric PR
> guru, George Bush's campaign manager, and former chairman of the Republican
> National Committee.

Not so fast, there.  Lee Atwater was indeed one of the original backers of
the restaurant, and he certainly qualifies as a "hill staffer who
missed the 'que from back home", but he wasn't the sole founder, just
one of the boys in the band.  The closest to correct answer is indeed
the correct one.  The group decided that their idea of the best BBQ
was Corky's in Memphis (now a big biz operation with their own FedEx
shipping point next door) but didn't want to open a Washington branch
of Corky's.  They got "Corky" to develop a sauce for them, help select
cooking equipment, and train the cooking staff.

I've been to Corky's and indeed they've captured the spirit without
cloning the restaurant.

> Atwater played blues guitar, and loved BBQ.  He founded RH&B while he was
> working in the White House.

That's true.  I believe it was Atwater who contributed the concept of
the R&B background music and blues festival posters and photos.

> According the the Anapolis Capital, they now have "locations in Arlington,
> Va., Washington, D.C., Frederick, Gaithersburg, Laurel and soon in
> Baltimore, this chain also has expanded to the south, and even invaded the
> traditional bastion of Carolina barbecue -- Raleigh."

I was in Nashville this summer, and there's a branch there now, too.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)