If you need an excuse to hang out with friends, meet new faces and enjoy great barbecue, Meat Week, which kicked off Sunday and runs through Feb. 7, just might be for you.
But realize those friendly faces you’ll enjoy dinner with most likely will be covered in sauce.
What started out as a bit of a joke has spread to more than 15 cities, including D.C. for the first time this year.
In January 2005, bored co-workers Erni Walker and Chris Cantey, then living in Tallahassee, Fla., were fooling around with Cantey’s word generator. As the story goes, after a few rounds, the generator spit out the phrase “meat week,” and a movement was born.
Since then, through their own travels and word of mouth, Meat Week has gone viral, spreading to Atlanta, Los Angeles and beyond.
“It’s really weird,” said Walker, 27, who now lives in Los Angeles. “People just started spreading the news and spreading the word.”
The two founders are known as “admirals,” and organizers in cities are called “captains.” D.C.’s captain is Alexandria resident Mike Bober, 31, who heads up the local chapter. He has no connection to Walker and Cantey, just a love of barbecue.
Bober said, “I knew that when the time came around again this year, if no one else in D.C. was taking the lead in organizing it,” he’d do it, so he reached out to the admirals, and they gave him their blessing.
The concept of Meat Week is to visit a different barbecue joint for eight consecutive nights. The captains are responsible for selecting the restaurants and getting the word out. Bober, a Hill staffer, has selected such locations as Urban Bar-B-Que in Rockville and Capital Q in Penn Quarter.
If you go
2010 Meat Week D.C. schedule
Feb. 1: Rocklands Barbeque & Grilling (Glover Park, D.C.) 7 p.m.
Feb. 2: Red Hot & Blue (Courthouse, Arlington) 7 p.m.
Feb. 3: Pork Barrel BBQ at Mango Mike’s (Duke Street, Alexandria)
Feb. 4: Capital Q (Penn Quarter/Chinatown, D.C.) 7 p.m.
Feb. 5: Branded 72 Pit Barbecue (Rockville) 7 p.m.
Feb. 6: Mr. P’s Ribs and Fish (in the Safeway parking lot at Rhode Island Avenue Northeast) 3 p.m.
Feb. 7: Free Day — enjoy your favorite ‘cue at a Super Bowl party
Being from New Jersey, Bober wasn’t educated in good barbecue until his wife introduced him to her native Kansas City fare. He was hooked. “To me, Kansas City barbecue is my favorite,” he said. “I do have a great appreciation for that sauce that just gets all over everything. But I also have a soft spot for really good dry-rub Texas brisket.”
Bober, who has his own restaurant blog, Capital Spice, emphasizes there is no ulterior motive behind Meat Week.
“The only thing that they’re getting from Meat Week is the companionship of like-minded barbecue enthusiasts,” he said.
The communal aspect of Meat Week is something Walker and Cantey said they believe adds to its popularity. That, and, well, it’s barbecue.
“I think it has something to do with the type of food,” said Cantey, 26, who also now lives in Los Angeles. “It’s all in the comfort-food range.”
And though Bober said he can be picky, he’s no snob.
“I’m not going to lie — unless there’s something really wrong with it, I’m going to enjoy barbecue anywhere I get it.”
For more information about Meat Week, visit meatweekisreal.com.
