Rio Grandé B-B-Q Catering

Jon Clark was born in a suburb of Washington, DC in 1966, where he spent the first few years of his life. During that time his father, a physicist with NASA stationed at Goddard Space Flight Center in MD, and a native of Henderson, TX was ever on a search for Barbeque. He would stop at every clapboard shack and dirty roadside Winnebago bearing the sign "B-B-Q", in hope of finding a misplaced brisket sandwich. It never happened. Each time, he would climb back into the car, unwrap the sandwich, take a bite and exclaim something like "Ugh! Roast beef with Ketchup."

Jon would ask his father, "Daddy, what is B-B-Q and why do you look for it so?" His father would try to explain the magic that is a barbeque brisket sandwich with sauce and pickles, the mixed aroma of smoking wood and roasting meat, but Jon just didn't have anything in his history to compare it to, so he couldn't understand.

In 1975 Jon's father was transferred to Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. (at his request). One of the first "errands" to be conducted was a trip to the local B-B-Q joint for a sandwich. The overall impression on Jon would be a life-changing event. From the old three story wood-sided house, sawdust on the floor and Singer Sewing Machine treadle tables to the amazing aroma within, this was unmistakably something he had never before experienced. His father ordered for two at the counter.

It was a B-B-Q Brisket Sandwich, with sauce and pickles - just like Dad's. From the very first bite, he was addicted. His favorite food (steamed crabs) had just been replaced in the matter of 1 second flat.

After a few years of eating good B-B-Q all over the state of Texas, his father was approached by his friend and colleague from work. It seemed he wanted a B-B-Q pit designed and built in his back yard so he could make his own magic. After it was built, Jon would pay quiet (but close) attention to the "pitmaster lessons" in the months to follow:

"Put an extra log in it, I'm ready for it to be done!"

"No! You can't rush it. It won't turn out like you want it to if you cook it too high"

"The temperature is only 220 Deg. Step it up a little so we can hurry up and eat!"

"The temperature is perfect. Leave the dampers and the fire to me and pay attention to what I'm doing if you ever want to be able to B-B-Q on your own."

And so it went weekend after weekend. No one really knows if his friend ever got the knack of it on his own, but life went on.

1981 was time for his father to retire and that meant another move. This time it was to the Land of Enchantment, and with it another new style of enchanting food. New Mexico's Mesilla Valley is the "Chile Capital of the World" and with that comes some of the best food on earth. One of those bits of magic is the Mesquite tree that grows wild all over the Sonoran Desert. A twisted and scrubby little tree, the Mesquite has fantastic properties as a smoking wood when used properly. This, combined with traditional flavors of the region and a pile of leftover concrete blocks would be Jon's first experience at "pitmastering" under his fathers tutelage.

With no foundation or mortar and the fire built right on the desert floor - briskets hanging by bailing wire suspended by pipes across the chimney - Jon's first B-B-Q was cooked. When the pit wasn't needed, it was stacked off to the side of the sand driveway until the next round. This went on for a few years and the product, while always good, got better each time. Jon was even invited to cook for his mother's company party one summer, after which everyone would ask her when the next B-B-Q would be.

When Jon moved to Arizona he was amazed to find that there was no good B-B-Q to be found. With a similar frustration to his father's in the Maryland days, he gathered the materials to stack up a vertical pit on the patio of his apartment. Some stray concrete blocks, pipes and sheet metal were soon assembled and the aroma of Mesquite filled the courtyard. Needless to say, the neighbors all came to see what was cooking. Once the taste was out, Jon was asked to cook for several parties and events, even some hosted by the apartments where he lived.

Jon was living back in Houston, TX when he had his 30th birthday. While waiting for a new long-distance love affair to become short-distance, he had some free time on his hands. His sister gave him a modest store-bought steel B-B-Q pit for his apartment patio. He was cooking on the night of his birthday. As always, word got out and people started requesting that he cater their parties. After several events the apartment office approached him to cater their company party. He accepted and the result was a grand success. Following that event he was asked to cater much larger jobs, but had to decline as they far exceeded his equipment's capacity.

With nothing but some tools of his trade, a bed and the B-B-Q pit in a U-Haul hitched to his Hot-Rodded '65 Mustang, he set out for bigger and better things in the Big Apple. That's right, New York, NY (where Cecelia lived). After getting settled in, he located some "exotic cooking woods" (at some very exotic prices) on Long Island. He was back in business. The smoke started up and the neighbors - complained! They called the fire department. They claimed the smoke was damaging their property, and stinking up the insides of their houses. Then they got a taste of Southwestern B-B-Q. Soon they were asking when the next time he was "cooking out" as they called it.

Jon's new love is Italian, and that equates to a large family. What better captive audience to B-B-Q for? The Fourth of July was right around the corner and it seemed that the time to entertain was upon them. They made everything. B-B-Q Chicken, Ribs, Brisket, Potato Salad (based on Jon's great-grandmother's recipe, a potato farmer from Montana), Cole Slaw, Guacamole, deserts........ Cecelia even confiscated Jon's secret stash of New Mexico Chile Peppers and made the best Chili anyone had ever experienced. Everyone ate and ate and then they ate some more. Family and neighbors all crowded into the small apartment and common back yard and seemed to be having the best time imaginable. People were asking for their recipes, but Jon and Cecelia graciously declined to share them, knowing that they should remain a well-guarded family commodity.

After several years of hearing stories about life in the West, Cecelia agreed to move from New York and see for herself what all Jon's talk was about. After they got everyone settled in, the cooking started up again.

After 21 years of B-B-Q, Jon was more than ready for some serious competition. Having left his old B-B-Q pit with his neighbor in NY (the neighbor was really getting into the whole thing by that time) he gathered an old standby - some 55-gallon drums. With two drums mated end-to-end and half a drum tacked on for a firebox, he was ready to go up against the big boys with their big B-B-Q rigs.

The event was the 21'st Annual Anderson County B-B-Q Cookoff, located fairly close to where his father grew up in East Texas. "Dorothy II" (the oil drums' name) was hauled nearly 200 miles for the event. No one played much attention to the "first timers" with their homemade "backyarder" B-B-Q Pit. They came, they saw, they cooked great B-B-Q. The team placed 7th out of 40 teams in the Brisket category. An official told a team member at the awards ceremony that such a performance was unheard of with that kind of equipment and especially at one's first competition.

With the interest for their unique style of food ever growing, Jon and Cecelia have since acquired an entire catering/competition Chile and B-B-Q outfit. In their first season of competitive cooking, they are avidly pursuing victories at both the National Championship Barbecue Cookoff and Terlingua International Chili Championship in 2005.

In the meantime, Jon and Cecelia would be glad for the opportunity to bring their multi-generational Southwestern Style B-B-Q to your next party or event. Please visit their Catering page for more information or feel free to contact Rio Grandé B-B-Q to speak with them.