This video about one way to prep Alabama barbecue chicken reminded me of Joe McPherson's awesome but short-lived resto.
Man, I wish that place had succeeded. Hard to believe that our visit happened ten years ago. That place is still fresh in my memory as one of the best-ever Western-style eating experiences I've ever had, and it still feels as if it had happened yesterday.
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Ten years ago? Geez. No wonder I look so freaking young.
ReplyDeleteThat was some good chicken, though. Really a shame about everything that happened.
Never made it there, but it looked great. How long did the place last? I'm guessing the location wasn't ideal. I wonder if those Itaewon BBQ joints survived.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it lasted even a year. I'm not sure how much I can say about the situation, but it involved an untrustworthy business partner. Westerners who try to start businesses in Korea usually face an uphill battle, and no Westerner can start a business without a Korean business partner and at least a couple of Korean employees. Forces are always at work, trying to tank Western-initiated businesses. The cycle of destruction is: (1) Westerner comes in with a brand-new idea; (2) envious Korean forces tear the Westerner's business down; (3) those forces then build their own, Korean-owned copycat business. There are exceptions, but not many, as you know from living and hanging out in the Itaewon area, where businesses are constantly appearing and disappearing.
DeleteNow having read the comments, has a copycat restaurant opened? Is there good barbecue in Seoul? Is Korea ready for American style barbecue? I've been involved a bit in "Japanese Twitter" and they seem to be into American style barbecue.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure copycats have opened in many places, but generally speaking, BBQ restaurants have proliferated in Seoul since that time. There was a BBQ place called Ryan Smokehouse near Jamshil (part-owned by an American), but it's apparently gone now, driven out of business by Darwinian forces. Linus BBQ and Manimal are still around, but Linus struck me as subpar years ago (I heard Linus was a lot better in the early days, back when all he was doing was pop-ups... Linus himself is a gyopo, i.e., an ethnic Korean who has lived a long time overseas), and Manimal's quality has been going down. These days, I'd rather do my own faux BBQ than go out for it. It's expensive either way given how expensive meat is in general in Korea, and I'd only be able to do BBQ on rare cheat days.
DeleteAs for the larger point about copycats, well, you see it all the time with coffee shops (lots of Starbucks knockoffs, but they haven't managed to kick Starbucks out yet) and pizzerias and, lately, kebab places. While Koreans can be inventive, original, and innovative, the East Asian urge to copy and plagiarize remains alive and well.