Week 1: Chris Lilly Week 7:
Week 2: Charlie Vergos Week 8:
Week 3: Week 9:
Week 4: Week 10:
Week 5: Week 11:
Week 6: Week 12:
Pitmaster: Charlie Vergos aka "Mr. Downtown"
Still Living: No, died in 2010
Restaurant: Rendezvous, Memphis, TN; Food can be ordered through FedEx and shipped to any location
Years in Business: Began barbecuing in 1948, found a coal chute in the basement of his diner and eventually expanded from serving ham and cheese sandwiches to ribs, his restaurant is now run by his kids
Vitals: Second generation Greek American, brought the concept of a dry rub to Memphis which is similar to traditional Greek and Cajun seasonings; One of the first restaurants to offer barbecue through FedEx shipping to any location in the United States; Unique in that only charcoal is used to smoke meats
Specialties: Ribs!! Although a rub is put on the ribs, the folks at Rendezvous consider their ribs a cross between wet and dry ribs. They discourage people from referring to their ribs as dry. Also, they still offer ham and cheese sandwiches on the menu as an appetizer or entree. Most people do not know that Charlie Vergos was serving ham and cheese sandwiches before he was serving ribs.The most interesting item on the menu is the barbecue shrimp. It is cooked in a skillet and requires 24 hours of advanced notice to order them.
Qoute: “People want to get into too much philosophical detail about barbecue. From my perspective, there are two things that make barbecue special—and two things only. One, it tastes really good. And two, it never goes out of style,” John Vergos, co-owner of the Rendezvous and the son of Charles Vergos, menshealth.com profile of restaurants in the Southeast
Sources:
Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous
WMCTV
nytimes.com
menshealth.com
Videos:
Interview with John Vergos, Son of Charlie Vergos
Interview with a Manager at Rendezvous
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