Radke Nancy - Dinosaur Bar-B-Que: an American roadhouse: over 100 recipes from the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Syracuse, New York

Copyright 2001, 2009 by John Stage and Nancy Radke
Photography copyright 2001 by James Scherzi
on the table of contents page 1989 by Jeff Davies
1991 by George Frayne, Commander Cody

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Originally published in hardcover in the United States in 2001

The Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Restaurant Logo is a registered trademark of Dinosaur Bar & Char, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stage, John, 1960
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que : an American roadhouse : over 100 recipes from the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Syracuse, New York / text and recipes by John Stage and Nancy Radke; photography by James Scherzi.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. Barbecue cookery. 2. Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (Restaurant)
I. Radke, Nancy, 1952 . II. Title.
TX840.B3 S722 2001
641.76dc21 2001000391

eISBN: 978-0-307-79131-3

Jacket design by Holly Boice Scherzi
Copy Editors: Margrit Diehl and Rebecca Pepper
Print Book Project Editors: Meghan Keeffe and Lorena Jones
Photography Assistants: Dan Guzelak, Joe Scherzi, and Jennifer Dargan
Food and prop styling: Nancy Radke with assistance from Martha Williams
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que liaison: Abigail Doyle

v3.1

We dedicate this book to the staff
of the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.

Wed also like to express our gratitude to all of our great customers who continue to endure the lewdness, the crudeness, the noise, and the general chaos of our happy little restaurant.

Id like to send out special thanks to all the Dino people who have helped make this book possible, especially the staff at both the Syracuse and Rochester restaurants and my partners, Mike Rotella, Larry Luckwaldt, and Nancy Luckwaldt.

For their shared commitment to excellence and service, thanks also go to our extended Dinosaur family of purveyors, who provide us with the finest quality ingredients.

And then there are our customers, our blues performers, and our friends; without them none of this would make any sense.

Id also like to thank my mother and sisters for always having good food on the table, my father for keeping cold beer in the fridge, and my son, Dylan, for stretching his teenage palate.

The Garcia family in Miami helped to shape my culinary skills. They offered me hospitality and introduced me to the world of Cuban cooking. Ill always be grateful.

Finally, thanks to Nancy Radke, Jim Scherzi, and Holly Scherzi, as well as to the cookbook team of Martha Williams, Margrit Diehl, Rebecca Pepper, Dan Guzelak, Joe Scherzi, and Jennifer Dargan. Its been a pleasure and a tremendous learning experience working on this book with you.

Id like to thank my family, who has always been there to eat every version of every recipe, especially my husband, Gary, whose wholehearted support means everything to me; my daughter, Lydia, who has the most discriminating taste buds in the world; and Bob and Sue Romig and Ruth and Ray Radke, the best parents and in-laws a girl could ever have.

Then there are the folks who opened up the world of barbecue to me. Special thanks to my co-author, John Stage, for teaching me how to smoke a mean pork butt and use seasonings with abandon and skill, as well as the staff of the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, who were always available to answer my questions and show me the inner workings of the pits, kitchen, and restaurant.

Debbie Van Ausdale greatly helped my research for the book by giving me my first ride on a Harley, as well as some valuable insights into the joys of riding motorcycles.

My cooking buddy, Martha Williams, whose advice makes me crazy and keeps me honest, helped out in so many ways during the project, and my cleaning buddy, Nora Jacobs, helped me return my kitchen to its pristine state after wild recipe-testing sessions. I cannot thank you both enough.

The folks at Ten Speed Press were extremely supportive of our first venture into the world of publishing and deserve special commendation, especially Dennis Hayes, who put the book team together, Meghan Keeffe, who shepherded us through the editorial process, and Phil Wood, Kirsty Melville, Lorena Jones, and Nancy Austin, who patiently waited for us to produce the book.

Last but not least, Id like to thank Margrit Diehl and Rebecca Pepper for their wonderful editorial work, and my colleagues Jim Scherzi and Holly Scherzi for putting the Dino vibe into the book.

History has a funny way of writing itselfof taking on a life of its own. So when folks ask me how we came up with the idea to start a honky-tonk blues barbecue joint in Syracuse, New York and name it Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, all I can say is evolution.

We hatched the idea for the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in 1983 at the Harley Rendezvous, a massive motorcycle gathering near Albany, New York. They had plenty of everything there except good food. Hanging with my buddies, Dino and Mike, and being the hungry men we always were and the good cooks we fancied ourselves to be, we found the pickins slim. A few cases of beer later, some rotgut grub in our bellies, and absolutely nothing to lose, we decided to get into the business of feeding bikers. Hell, we were at these gigs anyway, might as well make a few sheckles.

When we sobered up the next day, it still seemed like a good idea to us. We were good cooks, we loved to eat, and most important we believed that bikers deserved a decent plate of food! All fired up, we decided we were going to hit all the biker gigs up and down the East Coast. Throwing in the swap meets, tattoo shows, and club functions, we were sure we had a recipe for success. So who cared if we never had any food service experience?