Being Different

Central Mississippi is what you might call a conservative area, even in the way food is prepared. As a business owner and chef, I see that as more of an opportunity than a roadblock. There are dozens of BBQ restaurants in this region. Most of them serve the same cue that’s been served in this region for decades. And that’s fine. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with food traditions, but… All successful businesses solve a problem. There is no problem in Flowood, MS finding Mississippi-style BBQ, so I knew I couldn’t move down here to do that. So I decided to be different.

Being different in a conservative area is uh… interesting. I always say “95% of people love us and the other 5% are really loud.” We have our haters for sure. People say our potato salad is weird because it’s not neon yellow and scooped from a bucket. People say our green beans are “raw and not southern enough.” People even get mad that there’s no sauce on our pulled pork sandwich. My wife was once screamed at in the middle of our dining room because “EVERYONE IN RANKIN COUNTY SERVES DILL PICKLES!!!” Well, not anymore angry pickle sir.

I like being different though. I like it so much, I can’t even label our BBQ as a particular style because we pull from everywhere. The brisket is Texan. The pulled pork is Memphis style. The ribs are St. Louis cut. I’ve always found it odd that people would pigeonhole themselves into a rigid cooking style, but I guess I’m the weird one (or so I’ve been told).

The most important thing about being different is you have to do it well. No one switches from Ford to Chevy if there’s no quality difference. They just keep buying what they’ve been buying. That’s why Kenova Smokehouse does what it does. Just to be clear, I don’t say this to brag. It’s a combination of business principles and passion. Every business should be trying to be the best at their craft. Also, I just really like cooking. A lot.

So, we are going to keep being different. We are going to keep hand-cutting fries every day at a BBQ joint when we could buy frozen. We are going to keep lightly blanching fresh green beans instead of opening a can. We are gonna keep making potato salad from scratch with our mayo/sour cream/whole grain mustard dressing. And we are gonna keep house-making sweet pickles.

To the 95% - We love you guys. Thanks so much for your support.

To the 5% - Lighten up a little. It’s just food after all. : )

Thanks for reading.