Phantom Gourmet: The Smoke Shop In Cambridge
For Andy Husbands, serving great barbecue isn't just a job.
It's an obsession.
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"Anybody can cook barbecue, but to cook great barbecue is a real craft."
And at The Smoke Shop in Kendall Square Cambridge, this award-winning pit master's passion for pork is on delicious display.
"The Smoke Shop is, at its core, is American barbecue. If you think about, what you would think of an American barbecue restaurant you're going to find it here. Awesome ribs, pulled pork, best brisket you'll ever have," he said.
Andy has spent years competing in barbecue competitions around the country.
And he's taken the best styles from coast-to-coast and brought them back here to New England.
"So my brisket is very Texas-style, our ribs are kind of a Kansas City-Memphis hybrid, our pulled pork is definitely kind of a North Carolina, vinegary sauce. So kind of a mix of everything," he told us.
And what's served on the side is also pretty special. Like gooey Pimento Mac and Cheese, Sweet and Spicy Coleslaw, Bacon studded Collards, Smoky Pit Beans, and Corn Bread with Honey Sea Salt Butter.
"Corn bread we are making all day. It is light, it's fluffy, and it's tossed with this yummy sea salt honey butter. Kind of gives it that yin and yang salty sweet, delicious," he said.
Best of all, everything at The Smoke Shop is served out of a big open kitchen, so customers can watch this barbecue guru in all his glory.
"You know it's arduous and exciting and scintillating and every kind of emotion is just rushing out of me every night because we're so busy and it's so much fun."
Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.