My granddaughter, the lovely and talented Ella Grace Boyd, recently made a trip to Birmingham to see her great grandmother, Dear, who doesn’t get around much these days, and a crowd of cousins. And it was about time for Ella to eat some real barbecue. She was approaching a full year and had never actually eaten any,* as Nancy and I are not the sort of people who would actually subject an innocent child to the “barbecue” around here.
Ella chose Miss Myra’s, which is convenient to her cousins, Christopher, Lauren, Patrick, and Lily Tanner, so Ella, Liza, Mike, Nancy and I met them all there. The order was their pork barbecue, with green beans and potato salad.
Ella was eager to try food she’d heard so much about.
You could feel the tension as Liza gave Ella that first taste,
and you could sense her total concentration as the taste of pork and hickory smoke hit her palate.
Ella’s reaction was unequivocal.
Ella also enjoyed the potato salad, the yeast roll, and especially the green beans, cooked Southern style. Note to new parents: if you want your child to eat vegetables, cook them with bacon or salt pork.
Ella is looking forward to trying Eastern North Carolina barbecue this summer, and to getting some more good green beans and her first hush puppies — and maybe a shrimp burger at the Big Oak. The question is, which barbecue place? Readers are invited to submit suggestions.
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And while you’re at it, click “follow” on our front page to receive blog posts in your email box. Or bookmark us and check in from time to time. If you’re planning a trip, you can “Search” the name of the city, state, or country for good restaurants (in Europe, usually close to sites, like the Louvre or the Van Gogh Museum, that you’ll want to visit in any event). Comments, questions, and suggestions of places to eat or stories to cover are very welcome. And check out our Instagram page, johntannerbbq.
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* Regular readers will recall Ella’s first encounter with barbecue flavor last summer, when she was, alas, too young to eat any.
John Tanner's Barbecue Blog 
Looks just like her Granddad😄 However, Beautiful
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That’s a pretty big “however” — but thanks!
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I think our girl is about ready for some Cuban sandwiches in Key West.
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Excellent plan!
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Hi John Tanner,
Greetings from California. Just discovered your BBQ blog, which looks like great fun, but makes me real hungry. Going down South to New Orleans for a conference on Tuesday, which has made me reminisce about my Section 5 review of the 1981 Louisiana reapportionments. Probably no BBQ, though, on this trip, but hopefully, plenty of gumbo, fried chicken, pralines and jazz concerts. I hope to read more of your BBQ exploits now that I’ve discovered your blog. Best wishes to you and your family, Bob Kwan
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So good to hear from you! Are you ever in DC? While in New Orleans, definitely get a muffuletta (or a quarter muffuletta) from Central Grocery, have dinner at Commanders Palace, and have breakfast at Brennans. Actually, all of the Brennans restaurants are great.
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Thanks for NOLA food recommendations! We’re departing tomorrow, so your suggestions are just in time. New Orleans, such a confluence of cultures, Italian, Irish, French, African, German, Vietnamese, etc. Quarter muffuletta? I didn’t know they were so big, but sounds like a must try. I was going to say, you’re looking good next to your Weber, and looking so relaxed. I still have and use mine from DC, our first acquisition as happy homeowners in 1983. Will catch up further after we return from NOLA. Bob
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I’ll give my contact info to your office, your honor
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