Kevin Aydelott and Jimmy Fox, from different West Texas towns, met at church in 1998. They’ve been best friends ever since. Twenty-five years later, the pair established The Cultivated Pig, a refined live-fire mobile restaurant specializing in Texas-inspired smoked meats. Years after they met, Kevin moved to Dallas-Fort Worth, and started culinary school, while Jimmy moved to Jacksonville as a software programmer. He would be promoted to IT Director at his company while Kevi

If there’s anything that transcends age and occasion, it’s ice cream. Nine to 99, birthdays to ‘just because’ there’s nothing like premium hand-dipped ice cream dripping down a homemade waffle cone on a sunny day. Owners of the former Good Buddies BBQ, Joel and Melissa Vann, implemented a magical combination – barbecue and ice cream. Melissa formerly worked in marketing, and Joel is a BBQ competition pitmaster. “He’s a BBQ competition cook, and we both really love ice cream,

Whether you’ve tried his food or drooled over it on Instagram, if you live in Polk County, you’ve heard the name Blue Dog Craft Barbecue. The man behind the meat, Max Miller was born in Michigan but grew up in Polk County. He worked in retail management for about ten years before setting off to make the best damn barbecue around. “Barbecue came out of left field. It came out of the blue,” Miller said. Max has watched food shows on television for as long as he can remember and

In the village of York Beach, Maine John and Jeané Gaskins operate a unique restaurant serving up two genres of cuisine that don’t often go together. A 28-seat eatery with concrete floors and wooden shiplap walls, Gaskins Barbecue & Lobster is a summer month staple for the town. John, a Navy veteran served eight years active duty and six years in the Reserves. From 2001 to the end of 2004, he was stationed at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. The family would often

Lakeland’s hometown barbeque spot since 1964, Jimbo’s Pit Bar B-Q maintains a lasting legacy of good food and good service, run by good folks. The restaurant was originally started by Jim Neff, owner of the Foxfire Restaurant and Henry Landworth who owned the Holiday Inn just down the road. Peck’s Freez-ette was the eatery’s first moniker. It eventually became Jimbo’s Pit Bar B-Q and Neff hired Harold “Happy” Lehman to run it. “Dad managed it for him for a year and bought it