Newton in the Kitchen
Burnt Ends and Brotherly Love at Blue Ribbon BBQ in West Newton
Geoff Janowski, owner of Blue Ribbon Bar-B-Q, talks about how his brother got him started down the barbecue path, how a meat smoker can improve reheated food and why the Blue Ribbon truck is looking for a potential new home.
You might think that Geoff Janowski would attribute the tremendous success of Blue Ribbon BBQ to his keen business acumen. Or his many years of being a chef in a variety of local venues. But no- Janowski says that someone else should be given a good share of the credit: his older brother, Chris. “It was really Chris’ idea to bring this barbecue concept to Boston,” says Janowski. “He had the dream; he had the vision.” Ten years ago when Chris left Massachusetts and Blue Ribbon and moved back to Virginia (where he’d gone to college), he still had a strong hand in running the business from afar. But after time, according to Geoff, he saw that his younger brother was very capable of doing things on his own and had learned well from him. Chris …
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Wendy Schapiro
11:00 am on Friday, November 2, 2012
Alan, I could not agree more. Since the column isn't about me, I couldn't include this but I just got back from a trip to Austin, and I'd totally match Blue Ribbon against any of the bbq I had there- even the legendary Franklin's or Salt Lick! more ›