Big Apple BBQ 2007

The smoke was billowing, the sauce was bubbling. The beer was chilling, the beans were heating, the slaw was cooling and the dogs were licking their chops.

It was a great day for eaters, a nightmare of a day for vegetarians and cardiologists. It was the 2007 edition of the Big Apple Bar*BQ & Block Party.

For the fifth year in a row, barbeque experts from around the USA gathered in Madison Square Park to cook, sell their tastiest creations and preach the gospel of the grill.

Although some folks decried the BBQ’s lack of a representative from Kansas City, the fest included pitmasters from Alabama, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virigina, Boston and even Manhattan, dishing up tons of ribs, sausages, pulled pork, chicken, Brunswick Stew, beans, pickles, cole slaw, apple turnovers and blueberry pie.

And for dieters, it was a terrible, awful, no-good, very bad day.

Big Apple BBQ Welcome sign

Eating Baker’s Ribs

Manning the grill at Jake’s Boss BBQ

Cooking pig skin at Ed Mitchell

Dining on the curb

Bench full of barbeque eaters

Feeding the dogs

Eating from paper baskets

Using newspaper boxes as tables

Wendy the Snapple lady

Basting ribs at Rack & Soul

Picnicking on the grass

Using a window ledge as a table

Stirring the Proclamation Stew Crew’s Brunswick Stew

Ryan Shaw singing

Licking up every last drop

Big Apple Bar*BQ & Block Party
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Eater: Let the Dieting Commence
Off The Broiler: Big Apple Block Party
Chowhound: Big Apple BBQ