It rained on Saturday, May 29, 2021, and we cooked anyway. Rib King NYC™ was part of 5 Boro PicNYC that year, at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden on Staten Island, and hundreds of people came out in it.
The 2021 awards
- Rib King NYC™ Champion: Richie Holmes, Juicy Lucy BBQ, St. Louis Compart Duroc ribs with bing cherry chipotle sauce
- Second place: Hindsight BBQ, Waterbury, CT
- Best Rib Dinner: Jase’s BBQ and Bark Barbecue
Richie Holmes of Juicy Lucy BBQ had already won Brisket King® twice. Earlier that year he told us, “I’ve never competed in Rib King, but I’m going to win that, too.” He did it with St. Louis style Duroc pork ribs and a bing cherry chipotle barbecue sauce.
Second place went to Hindsight BBQ of Waterbury, CT. They served two ribs: maple bacon baby backs with their house sauce, and St. Louis ribs in an Original Sin blackberry hard cider sauce.
Best Rib Dinner went to Jase’s BBQ and Bark Barbecue, cooking together: smoked ribs with Dominican rice and beans, sweet plantains and cornbread. Chef Jesse Jones also took an award for his ribs and coleslaw.
Other ribs people talked about: Brothers Smokehouse’s sticky ribs, coffee-rubbed ribs with a coffee barbecue sauce from Smoke Sweats, Laphroaig-glazed baby backs from Matt Fisher, ribs under green harissa from Smokin’ Joe’s, and plain St. Louis ribs from Mable’s Smokehouse.
Not everything was ribs. Trevor Kunk made carrot hot dogs and stewed collard greens with vegetables from the Snug Harbor Heritage Farm, Mario Chape of Big Papa Smoke’m cooked a whole hog, and Tank Jackson of Holy City Hogs made pork sliders. Knob Creek, Laphroaig, Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam, Austin Eastciders, Flagship Brewing and The Long Drink poured. Coney Island Saucery, Silva’s Heet Wave, BBQ Buddha and Hell’s Kitchen Hot Sauce sampled and sold their sauces.
Our sponsors that year were Prime Six Charcoal, Prairie Fresh and Kikuichi Cutlery.
More from that day: “The Most Delicious Ribs from Rib King NYC 2021” on NYC BBQ, and “Memorial Day Weekend BBQ Fest on Staten Island: Rockin’ Ribs on a rainy Saturday” in the Staten Island Advance.
Saturday, May 29, 2021, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, as part of 5 Boro PicNYC. Results from NYC BBQ, June 4, 2021 (Sean Ludwig).