London’s calling: Boys from Britain brush up on their KC-style barbecue skills

The heaping platters of barbecue and sides that servers at Danny Edwards Blvd BBQ deliver to the table on a recent Saturday afternoon don’t stand a bloody chance with the boys from Britain.

Andre Blais, Richard Coates and Quentin Reynolds descend on the ribs, pulled pork, brisket, potato salad and beans like famished sailors who haven’t seen land in a very long time.

The trio from Bodean’s BBQ Smoke House in London had polished off meals the day before at Smokin’ Guns, Winslow’s BBQ, Jack Stack Barbecue and Arthur Bryant’s BBQ as part of their punishing self-styled tour d’barbecue.

And the day before that, about three hours after landing at KCI, Blais (Bodean’s founder), Coates (chef) and Reynolds (chief designer) — along with an entourage of London-based journalists and a chef who operates a barbecue restaurant on the coast of Spain — shuttled from their hotel to Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, the spot where their 2002 Kansas City-style barbecue pilgrimage began.

In the 14 years since their indoctrination — learning about the techniques, equipment and distinct flavor profile indigenous to the cuisine — they’ve started a successful enterprise showcasing the art of low-and-slow cooking.

Pitmaster Danny Edwards appears at the table, wiping his hands on a stained white apron, smiling broadly at the ongoing feeding frenzy.

“Everything good?” he says as he tips his head and leans in toward Blais, also known as “Boss Hog” back home. “How’re those ribs?”

Blais and Coates pause, grabbing napkins from the pile in the middle of the table, wiping their hands and dabbing sauce from the corners of their mouths.

“Perfect,” Blais murmurs.

Bodean’s first restaurant, a hip split-level in central London’s fashionable Soho district, opened in December 2002 with a pink neon pig hanging in the front window — reminiscent of the pig hanging in Joe’s Kansas City’s original 47th Street location.

They bill Bodean’s as “London’s Original Barbecue Smoke House.”

“One thing we’ve done is to teach people that good ribs aren’t boiled,” says Coates, a classically trained chef, in between bites.

Today there are six Bodean’s locations throughout London and a central commissary to accommodate the staggering volume of meat that Coates’ staff smokes daily — 12 tonnes, or nearly 27,000 pounds weekly.

“We also produce about three-and-a-half tonnes of brisket tips each week,” Coates says, which translates from imperial measurement to nearly 7,800 pounds.

Bodean’s has weathered some challenges since opening, including the Iraq war in 2003 when almost anything American fell out of favor in England, and the global financial crisis in 2008. But those were temporary blips — these days people flock to Bodean’s.

Bodean’s hickory-smokes its barbecue offerings, which include American favorites such as baby back ribs, chicken, grilled-smoked sausages and burnt ends. The menu also includes steak, burgers, hotdogs, a few salads, sandwiches and some nontraditional barbecue dishes such as enchiladas and a 1-pound burrito. One of Bodean’s best-selling items is — wait for it — the KC Brisket Special sandwich.

“People can’t get enough of it,” Blais says.

Canadian-born Blais, an ex-banker and seasoned restaurateur (he worked with his brother, Denis, who created the popular London restaurant chain Belgo, in the 1990s), was intrigued by the adventure of creating a brand and an experience. Why not bring genuine, well-executed barbecue to the masses, he thought.

A proponent of doing research and homework before launching a concept, Blais connected with the Gastronomical Appreciation Society of Kansas City, or GAS. The group of barbecue enthusiasts, now defunct, embraced Blais and his partners and helped guide them on their tour.

“We ate at Oklahoma Joe’s, where the Stehneys were very gracious with their knowledge, and Gates, Bryant’s, BB’s Lawnside Bar-B-Que, Jack Stack and a few others,” Blais says, pushing back a plate stacked with rib bones stripped of meat.

“We ate at Danny’s original place, too, over near where the arena is now.”

(Blais refers to Edwards’ original lunch-only location at 13th Street and Grand Boulevard , Lil’ Jake’s Eat It and Beat It, which closed in 2007 when developers took over the block for Sprint Center.)

Hallmarks of the acclaimed barbecue joint included the counter service with swivel stools (an element Reynolds, a well-known London designer responsible for Bodean’s interiors, borrowed and loosely translated for the Soho Bodean’s) and the pink concrete pig that greeted customers.

“When we were planning this trip, I was relieved to find that Danny relocated and didn’t close,” Blais says.

This time around, Blais wants to brush up on his barbecue game and ensure that his employees, numbering about 300, are delivering the best possible product and experience to customers. The affable entrepreneur has his sights set on opening additional Bodean’s outside London in the coming year.

The group files from the crowded restaurant, bidding Edwards and his staff adieu. Outside, the familiar pig that Edwards toted to Southwest Boulevard from downtown presents an irresistible photo opportunity; the Bodean’s trio pauses, taking turns perching and posing on the pink pig before piling into the van for the next stop.

‘The Flavor is the Thing’

The patio at Woodyard Bar-B-Que on Merriam Lane in Kansas City, Kan., usually packed during warmer weather, is empty. The group inspects the well-used brick pit belching pungent smoke, marveling at the outdoor smoker setup.

Reynolds glances around Woodyard’s rustic, hodgepodge collection of signs, mismatched furniture and Americana.

“This has a good feel,” he says. “Reminds me of BB’s on our first trip, the roadhouse style.”

Inside Woodyard’s original breadbox-sized dining room Blais places the order: more ribs, jumbo hot wings, potato salad, slaw, beans, glasses of Boulevard. Settling into Woodyard’s back room — an addition the owners made several years ago — Blais reflects on barbecue’s popularity in Britain and Bodean’s role in raising awareness of KC-style barbecue.

Bodean’s tagline: “The Flavor is the Thing.”

“It’s quality of product, consistency of product, customer service,” says Blais, who has sought throughout the years to keep Bodean’s moderately priced. “We want people to have a memorable experience from all aspects.”

Carolyn Wells, co-founder and executive director of the Kansas City Barbeque Society, has never eaten at Bodean’s, but is familiar with the explosive competition barbecue scene in Europe, which also has helped push along the food’s popularity overseas. KCBS will sanction more than 500 contests during 2016, 50 of which will be outside the U.S.

“I belong to a lot of food groups, like the IACP, and barbecue was long regarded as second class,” Wells says. “Now it’s the hot new-old food and it’s reached a legitimacy of its own, not only here in the states but across the globe. Barbecue is every man’s food — taking a lowly cut of meat and turning it into a work of art.”

A spiritual home

Bob Palmgren, owner and chef of RJ’s Bob-Be-Que Shack in Mission, pulls up a chair in the dining room and gives the Bodean’s boys his background.

“I’ve cooked French, done fine dining, consulted, but was always pulled back to one of my first loves, which was barbecue,” Palmgren explains as his wife, Denise, trots out plates of bison empanadas, Cajun crab cakes, jalapeno sausage, burnt ends and lamb ribs. “We have a devoted following. It’s great.”

One of RJ’s aficionados, Andy Sandler of Mission, wanders over to the group. “I lived in London from 2010 to 2012,” he says, shaking the Bodean’s partners’ hands. “And I’ve eaten at your place, the store in Clapham Common, which is near where I used to live.”

Sandler admits his hopes weren’t high for barbecue being billed as KC style served up in London.

“To me it was like trying to replicate KC barbecue in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.,” Sandler says. “But when they showed me to a booth and I looked up, there was a picture of Arthur Bryant. I thought, ‘Even if Bodean’s barbecue is mediocre, the vibe is great.’ ”

But Bodean’s exceeded Sandler’s meager expectations for duplicating the barbecue he pined for from back home.

“The fact that the Bodean’s guys are back here, visiting barbecue restaurants and owners like Bob, means they’re not resting on their laurels,” Sandler says.

Blais, Coates and Quentin accept leftovers packed in to-go boxes, along with rubs and sauce. They’re headed next to an artisanal spirits tasting at Union Horse Distillery in Lenexa.

“Some definite light bulb moments this trip,” Blais says as he climbs into the van, sporting a Boulevard Brewing Co. knit hat from an earlier pairing session. (The group also enjoyed a late-night bourbon tasting at Julep Cocktail Club in Westport.)

Will there be a third trip to Kansas City as Bodean’s expands its KC-style barbecue empire in London and beyond?

“This is barbecue’s spiritual home as far as I’m concerned,” Blais says. “We’ll be back.”

This story was originally published February 2, 2016 at 7:20 PM with the headline "London’s calling: Boys from Britain brush up on their KC-style barbecue skills."