Kingsford kicked off their Preserve the Pit program a few years back where they matched up and coming African American pit masters with mentors in the BBQ business. Pat Neely, who brings tremendous experience with restaurants and TV, was one of the mentors in the program.
This year, Kingsford launched Pass the Tongs, an initiative that aims to preserve Black grilling taditions through partnering with HBCUs to empower the next generation. It’s great that Kingsford has developed these programs, and they’re perfect for it given their own storied BBQ history.
The final event in the Pass the Tongs slate this year is October 18th at Morehouse College, an HBCU in Atlanta, Georgia. It will feature an immersive cookout experience with hands-on grilling stations, dynamic culture trivia, and special moments that honor legacy.
Pat Neely will be on site for the event, which is sure to be a blast. I caught up with Pat to learn more about Pass the Tongs and his years-long partnership with Kingsford.
. It’s been such a pleasure to work with Kingsford. And I’ll say, I’ve worked with many brands over the years, but I especially like the fact how they have paid attention to the legacy and the history of barbecue and the pit masters, how they have put emphasis on the African-American community, everything from the HBCUs and what they’re doing now with Morehouse.
Pat Neely
Way before Pat started partnering with Kingsford, he used Kingsford charcoal. He used it in the backyard like most people but he also brought it to his restuarant.
I’ve always been a Kingsford customer. And when I was running my barbecue restaurants, initially, I started out with all hickory wood. And eventually, I started using some charcoal and I started using their products. And they reached out to me four or five years ago and they started this program. I missed the first year of Preserve the Pit. And they asked me, would I be interested in being involved with the Preserve the Pit, mentoring young.
Mentoring
A key role for Pat Neely both with Preserve the Pit and Pass the Tongs has been as a mentor. He’s seen it all in the BBQ business, so has tremendous wisdom to pass on.
One area that can be harder in some ways to learn is there’s so much more to running a barbecue restaurant than just making great food. That’s only half of it, the other half is about understanding what it takes to run a business.
I got a chance to work with several young guys. One of them, when I started mentoring him, it was a year-long program, so we would speak at least once a month. And it was so unique, because he had a food truck, but he was getting ready to open his first brick and mortar.
I always tell people, I wasn’t there to mentor them about the art of cooking barbecue. Because obviously, if they’re running a food truck, or a catering company, or they’re already in business, they know what they’re doing. I felt like my role was to share my experiences with over 40-some years in the barbecue business and running restaurants, and discuss so many other topics, things like accounting, PR, training your people, customer service, the legal aspects, things like, “Okay, you’re going to open a business. You’re going to sign a lease. Do you have an attorney?” He says, “Well, no, I can’t afford one.” I said, “You can’t afford not to have one. This is one of the most important things you can do, because you’re getting ready to sign an agreement for five to 10 years on a building.
Do you know what your food costs should be in running a restaurant? Do you know what your labor percentage should be? All of those types of things. So, I was honored, and I was hoping that they could get as much information. So, it was an outstanding event. And when we’d go to the Memphis in May barbecue contest, and be with the mentees, and have this big event there, and just an outstanding program.
Pat Neely
BBQ Legacy
Preserve the Pit and Pass the Tongs are both about mentoring, but in different ways. While Preserve the Pit is to help pit masters get to the next level, Pass the Tongs is about inspiring the next generation.
I think it is, but I also think that it’s about legacy. It’s about the next generation. And we, as the elder statesmen, we have an obligation and a responsibility, just as I had mentors when I first started. I opened my first barbecue restaurant when I was 23. I got into the business working for my uncle, legendary Jim Neely at Jim Neely’s Interstate, who’s now 88 and has been in business almost 50 years, his mentorship.
And so I understood at a young age, because he mentored me and there were others that mentored me. I once had one of my biggest mentors tell me, after I started gaining a little notoriety in the city of Memphis and all of that, “Okay, now is your time to give back.” He’s since passed away, but I will never forget him telling me that, and so I’ve lived my life doing that.
And Pass the Tongs, in my understanding, is that I have an obligation and a responsibility to pass the tongs, to pass my knowledge, to pass my information, to pass my enthusiasm, all of those things, so that I am inspiring the next generation, as opposed to saying, “Well, I got mine. I’ve done mine. I’ve done extremely well. You go figure it out.” And it’s very important.
It’s the reason why I’m so passionate about the whole Pass the Tongs campaign, is that we have an obligation and a responsibility. And I always tell the youth that I work with and the younger generation that I work with—so many of them have come back to me and said, “Man, I can’t thank you enough for everything that you taught me and have done for me. How can I ever repay you?” I said, “You pass the tongs. When you reach the level that you’re the statesman, and you’ve been in business a number of years, and a youngster is trying to get started, take the time to encourage, share your knowledge, share your experience with them.”
Pat Neely
Food and culture are deeply interwoven, but even more so with barbecue. Fire, smoke, and meat have been key ingredients food for nearly 2 million years.
Cooking methods and recipes help link us to past generations. They also are a source of bonding as they’re passed down. That’s why food is such a great medium for preserving legacy.
Well, I think that this is another part about Pass the Tongs that needs to be really understood is that even though I ran barbecue restaurants, my first experience with barbecue was being a little bitty boy. And my grandfather grilling and smoking meat in one of those big drums on his porch.
And in Memphis, in the backyard, it would be so hot in the summertime, and this is when I really enjoyed it, was the fact that he grilled at night. So, it would be the 3rd or the 2nd of July for the 4th. And he didn’t want to smoke that meat all day in that 100-degree weather. So, he would cook at night, and I would watch him and he would have the meat on the grill, and he had a bucket of sauce there. And back then, they called it a mop. It was kind of a broom handle with the mop end and every so often, he would mop the meat. And so I was intrigued by that.
But more importantly, because it took so long, he would sit in his little lounge chair, and I’d be sitting there, and my feet couldn’t touch the ground, and they would be just rocking back and forth. And he would be telling me all these stories. “Now listen, young man, when you start school, and you start doing this…” and that was passing the tongs. That was the knowledge that he was giving me. And because the fact that barbecue is such a slow process, it gives you an opportunity while it’s cooking to have those conversations. And I did them with my daughters when they were younger.
And from a culture standpoint, you think about barbecue, it goes back generations. And a lot of people look at these fancy grills, and these are the stories we need to tell the youngsters because they have no knowledge of this. But it was people digging a hole in the ground and putting the wood in the bottom of the pit. That’s where the pit came from, and slow roasting it for several hours.
The other thing about barbecue that’s so culturally rich is that it’s just not only in the United States. I’ve been to certain Caribbean islands where I’ve seen them grill and smoke. I’ll never forget being somewhere, and they had this ground pit with the grate across it, and they set banana leaves on top, and they put the meat on.
I was in Madrid, Spain. No, I was in Singapore, and they actually grilled me and smoked me a stingray. And they butterflied it when they served it, and it was a meaty, smoky fish with this hot sauce on it. And I thought to myself, there is no other, in my opinion, cuisine that is internationally cooked and is still barbecued. And some of them refer to it as grilled or whatever, but if you got an open flame, and you’re cooking that meat over an open flame, that’s grilled, smoked barbecue.
Pat Neely
Morehouse Homecoming
The Morehouse Homecoming festivities will run from October 12th through the 18th. Kingsford will be there with their Pass the Tongs event on the 18th, which you won’t want to miss.
You know, just for people that want to attend Morehouse, it’ll be Morehouse College, October 18th. The party will get started at 11th. It’s going to go all day. I’m expected to arrive somewhere around two o’clock. I’ll be grilling and hanging out, hopefully meeting some wonderful people. And more importantly, passing the tongs to being able to share some of my wisdom and knowledge to younger folks and the younger generations about my experiences, not only in life, but in entrepreneurship, and most certainly in barbecue.
So, everybody is welcome. There’ll be sample plates for people to taste some delicious barbecue, music, drinks, and fun. So come out, you know, it’s October, the weather’s going to be amazing. You don’t have to worry with the heat. Flowers Communication and Kingsford have put together an outstanding event so I’m looking forward to it.
Pat Neely