June 12--A few months ago, I got the chance to attend South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and friends who knew I wrote about food implored me to visit Franklin BBQ.
The restaurant is one of those barbecue establishments with last-month-of-Hot-Doug's lines, especially so during SXSW, when I was told the wait time reached five-plus hours. Yet, I was lucky enough to sample pitmaster Aaron Franklin's barbecue twice without waiting, instead enjoying his brisket, sausages and smoked beef ribs at two SXSW events.
At one, Franklin told me he was planning a pop-up in Chicago this summer but wasn't ready to confirm details.
Today comes an email from Land and Sea Dept., the restaurant group behind Longman Eagle, Parson's Chicken Fish and Lost Lake, that Franklin is indeed coming to Chicago. (He was also here a few weeks back, winning the James Beard Award for best chef in the Southwest region.)
The three dates are July 2, 3 and 4 (Thursday through Saturday), with tickets and location information to be announced soon. This sounds like a much better option than waiting five hours in line.
kpang@tribpub.com
Twitter @pang
