British restaurateurs catch the flavor of KC's specialty
The Kansas City Star, 27 April 2002, by Doug Worgul

About six ribs into it, Andre Blais let out a big sigh.

"I want to die in Kansas City," he said, wiping sauce from his mouth with a fistful of napkins. "Or maybe I already died and this is heaven."

If Blais is correct, heaven is a lot easier to get to than many of us have assumed. It's at 47th and Mission Road in Kansas City, Kan., and there's a sign out front that says Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue.

Blais' two companions seemed to agree with his theological theories but couldn't say so inasmuch as their mouths were full of barbecued chicken. So they bobbed their heads and made affirmative-sounding noises and reached for some of the pulled pork that was piled on a plate in the middle of the table.

Blais and his chum Quentin Reynolds, are London restaurateurs, in the Kansas City area last week on a mission to research the techniques and equipment used to produce genuine barbecue.

Their current project is Bodean's B.B.Q. in London's famed Soho district.

"Once we get Bodean's opened it'll be the only restaurant of its kind in London," said Blais, 37, the group's business manager. "Our commitment is to provide our diners with a real barbecue experience."

Richard, 37, who'll be responsible for supervising the making of the barbecue, said: "There have been some so-called barbecue joints in England before. But their food was terrible. They'd boil their ribs and then smear some revolting sauce on them and call it barbecue."

The classically trained chef paused and shuddered at the very thought of it."

The reason we're here in Kansas City is to learn something about how to make authentic barbecue," he said. "I mean, this is the barbecue capital of the world, isn't it?" Indeed. And the blokes from Britain got a taste of some of Kansas City's best barbecue during their brief visit. On their first night in town, Paul Kirk, a many-crowned past champion on the competitive barbecue circuit and a barbecue entrepreneur, took the Brits to the Gates restaurant at Linwood and Main and then to Bryant's at 18th and Brooklyn.

"I guess that's about as authentic as it gets," Reynolds said about Bryant's.

"The place definitely had soul," Reynolds said. "Their beef may have been a bit oversmoked for my taste. But I understand that's their house style. One of the things we're learning is that barbecue is very much a creative expression of the person making it. It's different at each place we've been."

The following day, the threesome hooked up with 15 members of the Gastronomical Appreciation Society, or GAS, a group of barbecue enthusiasts made up largely of faculty and staff at Johnson County Community College. These folks have been getting together regularly since 1997 to visit and evaluate area barbecue establishments. So far they've visited more than 50 barbecue restaurants throughout the metropolitan region, and their ratings of these joints are posted on the group's Web site, old.jccc.net/~rmoehrin/gas.htm.

It was the Web site that connected them with the Brits.

"Yeah, I was doing a little surfing online, checkin' out Kansas City barbecue," Blais said. "I saw their site and all the places they've visited, so I sent them an e-mail and we arranged for them to take us on this little tour.

"The first stop on the little tour was Boardroom Bar-B-Q, at 96th and Antioch, where the group gobbled samples of smoked pork, brisket and turkey, along with sides of beans and pickles. As they left, they bought commemorative T-shirts.

Next stop: BB's Lawnside Bar-B-Que at 85th and Troost.

"This is kind of what I had hoped Kansas City barbecue joints would look like," said Quentin Reynolds, the designer, as he looked around at the worn floors and the walls covered with old blues posters and handbills. "It just seems to capture what I imagined Kansas City's barbecue and music traditions are all about. This is the real deal."