Eat Meat. Repeat. Meat Week returns for Round Two this Sunday, January 30, 2011!

Just when you thought it was safe to hit the salad bar, Meat Week comes roaring back into Washington ready for round two.  Last year, Snowmageddon forced the cancellation of the final two Meat Week events in our area, leaving hungry carnivores unable to enjoy scheduled outings to Branded ’72 in Rockville and Mr. P’s Ribs and Fish on Rhode Island Avenue.  Some folks might have taken that as a sign, a warning from on high to repent and change their ways.

Not us.

This Sunday, DC Meat Week will once again provide carnivores with seven nights of barbecued deliciousness at some of the area’s best ‘cue joints.  And for the second year in a row, Meat Week will be one of your first opportunities to check out a highly-anticipated newcomer to the DC BBQ scene.  Some of the venues have stayed the same (we HAD to kick things off at Urban Bar-B-Que again, and you know we wanted take a second run at Mr. P’s), and a couple of recent additions have been added to the list as well.

Perhaps the biggest change in DC’s Meat Week chapter is who’s running the show.  I’ve passed the Captain’s hat to Jenelle Dennis, aka BabeBQ, though I’ll be staying on as First Mate along with David Gootzit.  Jenelle brings an impressive barbecue pedigree to the role – she’s a KCBS Certified Barbecue Judge and one of the architects of the Snackadium.  Seriously impressive.

Check out the full line-up of venues for this year’s Meat Week after the jump, and pay special attention to Tuesday and Wednesday nights: they’re RSVP-required sneak-peeks at two of the best things that are about to happen to the DC barbecue scene.

 

SnoTime for Barbecue – Postponing Meat Week’s Finale and Kicking Off Meat-Free Week

When it comes to barbecue, there are plenty of folks who think nothing of braving golf ball-sized hail and tornado warnings to turn out competition-quality smoked meats.

I am not one of those people…and I’m betting you’re not, either.

Nature has spoken – SnoMageddon (Keyser SnowZe?) is upon us, and the area will not be spared.  The tiny white objects of Washington’s crippling fear are already coming down.  Shelves that were emptied last night have been refilled and are being re-emptied as we speak.

So what does all this mean to Meat Week?  We’re no fools – we’re going to postpone tonight’s dinner at Branded ’72 and tomorrow’s gathering for Mr. P’s Ribs and Fish.  Turns out, we couldn’t get together on Saturday if we wanted to.

I gave Mr. P a call to let him know that I was planning to postpone, and he assured me he had a similar plan.  “I didn’t even go out today,” he said.  “The man said there’s gonna be snow.”

We’re still trying to figure out when to plan our trips to make up days 6 and 7, but we’ll be sure to let everyone know.  One idea: wait until July and celebrate the six-month anniversary of Meat Week with a few more locations thrown in for good measure.

What to do between now and then?

If your week of barbecued indulgence has left you craving something fresh and green, you might consider attending some of the events of Meat-Free Week, taking place from Saturday to next Friday.  They’ve got some great locations on the agenda, including Restaurant Nora and Sticky Fingers Bakery.

As you might expect, Meat-Free Week is patterned directly after Meat Week.  And if you can get past the somewhat preachy opening paragraph, the write-up at DCVegan is a good read (and a direct response to one of our posts from last week).  Who knew – you CAN make friends with salad, after all!

We’re planning to hit up one or two of their events, and I’m definitely looking forward to meeting Amber McDonald to compliment her on the idea.