by Don Wilding
In this same spirit, Pihakis has emphasized local ownership, promotion from within the company and giving back to local neighborhoods. “We focus on giving back to the community. By growing the business with new locations, we have an opportunity to influence more communities and provide opportunity to more employees,” explained Pihakis. Rather than competing with local restaurants, Pihakis has encouraged the development of healthy relationships. “We want to coexist with the restaurants in the cities we have locations. When you view it as competition, you don’t get anywhere. You don’t learn from each other and nurture each other.”326 As Jim ’n Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q has spread throughout the region, Pihakis has gained more regional and national influence. Pihakis co-founded the Fatback Collective, which has combined the talents and perspectives of farmers, cooks and artisans to celebrate southern food and promote the humane treatment of heritage-breed livestock. “Through the Fatback Collective, we can help each other,” says Pihakis. He adds, “Rather than competing, we often help each other. In fact, we work together on recipes and encourage one another.” Of the Fatback Collective’s many projects, the Fatback Pig Project promotes heritage-breed pigs and hopes to put farmers back to work.327
In the city of Birmingham, Pihakis has promoted healthier, higher-quality foodways. He serves on the board of Jones Valley Teaching Farm, which focuses on educating the Birmingham community about growing healthy produce. Also, Pihakis serves on the board for Pepper Place Farmers’ Market, which provides space for hundreds of vendors to sell their produce, baked goods and more.328
MOE’S ORIGINAL BBQ
During the golden age of Alabama barbecue, Moses Day made a name for himself in the Tuscaloosa area. Despite the presence of the Archibald family and John “Big Daddy” Bishop in the area, Moe, as they called him, became a Tuscaloosa favorite.329
Since the 1950s, Moe, a black man, had supplemented his income from his job at Phifer Wire by cooking around town for Tuscaloosa’s upper class and University of Alabama students. He often barbecued meat at Indian Hills Country Club, a favorite golf course of Tuscaloosa’s wealthiest and most influential, including football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. He also cooked at parties around town. When Moe turned up at fraternity parties with his smoker, everyone knew they would have a good time. “He used to cook for people all the time,” explained Mike Fernandez, who started a barbecue restaurant chain based on Moe’s methods and named in his honor. “He was a guy that everyone in town knew.”330
In 1988, the Fernandez family went into business with Moe. The Fernandez family ended up in Tuscaloosa because the family patriarch, Dr. Gabriel Fernandez, worked as a neurosurgeon there. Dr. Fernandez had emigrated from Puerto Rico and did his medical training in Birmingham. In 1965, he moved his family to Tuscaloosa. He consulted Coach Bryant’s Crimson Tide football team. “My father and Coach Bryant became good friends,” explained Mike.331
Gabo Fernandez and Moe opened Moe’s Original BBQ and Steakhouse on Lurleen Wallace Boulevard in Northport. In 1990, they moved to downtown Tuscaloosa. They leased the Old L&N Train Station on Greensboro Avenue. “I still love that place,” declared Mike. As of 2017, the Old L&N Train Station housed 301 Bistro, Bar and Beer Garden.332
In the early years of the business, the Fernandez family knew little about the restaurant business, yet it succeeded because of Moe’s name and hard work. “It took off right off the bat,” Mike recalled. The entire family played a part in the business. Gabo ran the day-to-day operations. Elizabeth “Libby” Fernandez, the family matriarch, did a lot of the cooking. She baked pies and cooked the side items. Mike added, “We were all trying to figure it out.”333
Of all the members of the Fernandez family, Mike fell in love with the business the most. As a kid and young man, he loved barbecue. “I grew up going to Archibald’s,” he remembered. On the way to Lake Lurleen or Lake Tuscaloosa, his family would stop and pick up ribs. “It’s always been the same.”334
Before working at Moe’s Original BBQ and Steakhouse, Mike earned his bachelor’s degree at Auburn University. Then he went to graduate school in Latin American policy studies at the University of Alabama. He did not finish the program because he preferred to work at the restaurant.335
After only a few years in business, Moe grew ill, and the business faded. In 1992, it closed. Mike wanted to remain in the restaurant business, so he went to culinary school at Johnson and Wales University in Colorado. “If I wanted to do this, I needed to learn how to cook,” he explained. In culinary school, Mike refined the techniques and recipes taught to him by his mother and Moe. He learned, for example, how to take care of meat before cooking it. He uses salt and brown sugar brines to prepare his chickens for smoking. The chickens soak for twelve to fourteen hours. The wings soak for four to six hours. After cooking meat of any kind, he wraps it in aluminum foil so the steam breaks down connective tissue. “It makes it nice and tender,” explained Mike.336
After completing culinary school, Fernandez cooked at a large resort in the Rocky Mountains, but he soon brought Moe’s Original BBQ back to life in Colorado. He realized that southerners visited the area all the time, but Colorado only had Texas-style barbecue, which emphasizes beef brisket. So Mike teamed up with Alabama natives Jeff Kennedy and Ben Gilbert to bring a taste of Alabama to the resort towns of Colorado. First, they operated a catering business. “We got a barrel smoker from a landlord’s junkyard,” explained Kennedy in an interview with the Tuscaloosa News. In 2002, they purchased a forty-foot trailer, renovated it and sold barbecue in the ski resort town of Vail, Colorado. Within two years, they had a brick-and-mortar restaurant.337
Mike Fernandez learned how to cook from Moses Day; his mother, Libby Fernandez; and Johnson and Wales University, a culinary school with a location in Vail, Colorado. After graduation, he worked many jobs before revitalizing Moe’s Original BBQ. Mike Fernandez.
Jeff Kennedy, Ben Gilbert and Mike Fernandez opened Moe’s Original BBQ in Vail, Colorado. They based their recipes and techniques off those of Moses Day, who cooked in Tuscaloosa for many decades. Mike Fernandez.
In 2006, the team brought Moe’s recipes and techniques back to Alabama. At first, they franchised a series of restaurants along the Gulf Coast. Then, they took on Birmingham. At first, Fernandez hesitated to move his business into Birmingham because of the density of legendary barbecue joints in the city. Nonetheless, they succeeded in Alabama’s largest city.338
In 2010, Moe’s Original BBQ returned home to Tuscaloosa. Just a block away from the Old L&N Train Station, John Moss teamed up with Mike’s brother Gabo and franchised a new location of the restaurant. “Mike has been trying to get me back into it, and he finally convinced me,” joked Gabo. Moss also opened a location in Auburn.339
As of 2017, more than fifty Moe’s Original BBQ locations please customers in sixteen states. Every year, Fernandez expects to open five to eight more restaurants. With each new restaurant, Fernandez hopes to get the proprietor up and running as cheaply and quickly as possible. They aim to purchase out-of-business restaurants to keep costs down. Then, they only need to renovate instead of building from scratch. “I think each Moe’s is about the individual owner of each store,” explained Mike. In college towns, for example, the owners tend to revolve the restaurant around the bar and live entertainment.340
In the risky restaurant industry, Mike has developed a successful business plan. “I buy the cheapest cuts and put a lot of time into cooking it,” explained Mike. This philosophy opposes some current trends, such as heritage-breed livestock. “I think there’s a place for heritage-breed livestock,” admitted Fernandez, but he prefers to put time and effort into turning commodity meat into an excellent product. This way, they keep costs low and help franchisers turn a quicker profit. To these ends, they buy from major distributors like Sysco and U.S. Foods.341
From Mike’s perspective, Moe’s Original BBQ remains true to the traditional methods, just in a different way than places like Jim ’n Nick’s C
ommunity Bar-B-Q. In earlier centuries, he explains, people barbecued the least-desirable cuts of meat, like the ribs. The technique, not the genetics, made the meat tender.342
Mike knows his history. In colonial America, pigs roamed free. They did not spend time in cages, so they would have tasted more like freerange animals today, with less fat content and tougher muscle. These characteristics made them perfectly suitable for the slow cooking of the barbecue pit. Native Americans did not domesticate livestock. They used barbecue to turn the tough meat and tendons of game animals into tender food. For a long time, African Americans could often only afford the cheaper cuts of meat, so they perfected barbecue techniques to create delicacies. At Moe’s Original BBQ , they value the technique. Mike declared, “Cooking the meat is our craft here.”343
Moe’s Original BBQ serves barbecued pulled pork, smoked chicken and smoked turkey, plus other southern-style entrees. The barbecue comes either as a sandwich, platter or for carry-out. They pile Libby Fernandez’s coleslaw on top of the pulled pork sandwiches, which also have pickles. It also comes with a drizzle of a red, vinegar-based sauce in the style of Archibald’s BBQ. The smoked chicken and smoked turkey come topped with this homemade coleslaw as well. The poultry sandwiches and platters come with white sauce. They also offer fried catfish and fried shrimp po’boys. Of all their offerings, the smoked wings have become a customer favorite. They have a crispy, spicy skin and tender, juicy meat.
They serve traditional side items, such as mac and cheese, corn bread, baked beans, chips, potato salad and fries, but they also have daily side specials that rotate with the season. In the summer, they tend to feature greens and other fresh vegetables. In November, many locations offer corn bread dressing, reminiscent of Thanksgiving. “I got a lot of the style for my sides from my mother,” explained Fernandez. “She taught me how to use in-season vegetables.”344 Libby Fernandez’s recipes remain on the menu.
Moe’s Original BBQ Marinated Slaw Recipe
Marinade
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Bring all of marinade ingredients to a boil, then let cool for a bit before pouring over the slaw mix.
Slaw Mix
1 large green bell pepper
½ large red onion
2 heads of cabbage
2 cups sugar
Method of Preparation
Cut bell pepper and red onion into ¼-inch slices. Core and slice cabbage as thin as you can. Pack ½ of the cabbage into a bowl and add ½ of the bell peppers and red onion. Then sprinkle with 1 cup of sugar and repeat the same process, adding the rest of the cabbage, bell peppers, red onion and sugar. Then pour the room-temperature marinade over the slaw mix. It is best to let it sit overnight, mixed, and then serve.
Many people visit Moe’s Original BBQ to drink a bushwacker at the bar. They have spread this Gulf Coast favorite throughout the country. It consists of soft vanilla ice cream, coffee, cacao and coconut liqueurs and rum, blended together in a machine resembling a soft-serve ice cream dispenser.
Mike optimistically views the future of barbecue and southern food. “I’m excited about barbecue because there’s so many places opening up,” he said. “Barbecue is king now.” He boasts, “Southern food is cool now.” He believes that southern food has become popular because of television and the work of the Southern Foodways Alliance, an organization based out of the University of Mississippi with a mission to archive and spread the history of southern food.345
At Moe’s Original BBQ, they have taken the good news of southern cooking as far north as Maine and as far west as California. He says, “In everything we do, we are trying to sell the South.” In fact, he trains his staff to say, “Yes, sir,” and “Yes, ma’am” at every location, regardless of region. He concludes, “Barbecue is the South.”
SAW’S BBQ
Saw’s BBQ founder Mike Wilson comes from North Carolina but has roots in Alabama. His family comes from Jasper, Alabama. In 1971, his parents moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Wilson was born. At age fifteen, Wilson started cooking at a wine and sandwich shop. Then, he worked at Village Tavern, a chain based out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, that now has locations throughout the South, including Birmingham. Growing up, Wilson enjoyed Lexington Barbecue, a famous joint in Lexington, North Carolina, which inspires Wilson’s menu.346
For college, Wilson returned to his parents’ home state. In 1991, he enrolled at the University of Alabama. In 1996, he earned a degree in restaurant and hospitality management. After graduation, he went to culinary school at Johnson and Wales University in Vail, Colorado, where he became friends with Mike Fernandez. Although Fernandez remained in Vail, Wilson returned to Charlotte and started cooking at fine dining restaurants, but he constantly experimented with barbecue.347
In 2000, Wilson moved to Birmingham and took a job in the test kitchen at Cooking Light magazine because he wanted to get out of the restaurant business, but he did not want to stray too far. After work, however, he continued to try out new methods and recipes for his barbecue and sauces. “I learned to barbecue by having a beer and figuring it out,” he joked. He created recipes in his home. He added, “I guess it’s in my blood. Thank God I wrote down the recipe.” To supplement his income, he sold the barbecue to his colleagues at the magazine. He wanted to operate a food truck, but he needed a kitchen in which to prepare the meat. In a whirlwind, Wilson ended up owning the building previously occupied by Broadway Barbecue in Homewood.348
In 2009, Mike Wilson opened Saw’s BBQ on Oxmoor Road in Homewood. In 2012, he opened this Avondale location, which sits near Avondale Brewing Company and Wilson’s pizza restaurant, Post Office Pies. Author’s collection.
In 2009, Mike Wilson opened Saw’s BBQ in Homewood. He had intended on working at Cooking Light during the day and at the restaurant at night. For two weeks, he took vacation time at the magazine to set up the restaurant. “I never went back,” he said.349
Since opening Saw’s BBQ , Wilson has continued to expand his presence in Birmingham. In 2011, he opened Saw’s Soul Kitchen in Avondale, a favorite neighborhood of Birmingham’s young professionals. Coby and Hunter Lake, the owners of the brewery, came to Wilson with an idea. “They wanted me to come and get some food here for the brewery,” explained Wilson. They had purchased the building that now houses Wilson’s restaurant. Wilson had set his eyes on that building for a long time. “From there, we’ve grown this neighborhood.”350
Then, Wilson opened up his pizza joint, Post Office Pies, in the building next door to Saw’s Soul Kitchen. Wilson partnered with Chef John Hall for this endeavor. Born in Alabama, Hall worked in New York City with Chef David Chang. Then, he returned to his home state to work at Post Office Pies. The restaurant, situated in an old post office, has quickly earned a national reputation for excellence. Of all the wood-fired pizzas, the Swine Pie has a loyal following. It features pepperoni, homemade sausage and thick pieces of bacon.351
Due to the presence of the brewery and the two restaurants, Avondale has become a major sensation with Birmingham’s young adults. The brewery features a large open-air beer garden with yard games and food trucks. They allow patrons to bring in food to the brewery and the beer garden. On beautiful days, Birmingham residents flock to enjoy good food from Wilson’s restaurants on the grounds of the brewery. It has become almost a ritual to visit Avondale to celebrate the end of winter and the arrival of spring.
In 2012, Wilson opened Saw’s Juke Joint in Crestline with partners Doug Smith and 2006 American Idol winner and Birmingham native Taylor Hicks. This location features live entertainment, including blues and jazz artists. Wilson and his partners wanted to create this restaurant because they consider music and barbecue a perfect match.352
Between Wilson and Hall, the Saw’s team has plenty of culinary expertise. T
hey both worked at fine dining establishments, but they wanted a different experience. “You can get good food without all of the stuffiness,” explained Wilson. “We wanted good food and good times without the hassle.”353
At each of Wilson’s restaurants, the team prepares a different menu, but they serve barbecue at all the restaurants. They smoke pork for twelve hours to make the pork plates and sandwiches, which come with a vinegar-based sauce reminiscent of Wilson’s home state of North Carolina. “It’s old-fashioned barbecue pulled to order,” says Wilson. They also have smoked chickens and smoked wings drizzled with white sauce, in honor of Wilson’s new home of Alabama. They also have barbecued ribs and a variety of barbecue-stuffed potatoes. They feature traditional side items, such as fries, baked beans, green beans and coleslaw, as well as southern favorites, like fried green tomatoes, fried pickles, deviled eggs and corn. “We keep it seasonal and keep it fresh,” said Wilson. In summers, they tend to emphasize tomatoes, watermelons, corn on the cob and Cullman County strawberries. In the winter, they have sweet potato pies and squashes.354
At Saw’s Soul Kitchen and Saw’s Juke Joint, they serve these barbecued items plus so much more. They offer burgers, fried chicken sandwiches and shrimp and grits. Customers rave about the fried green tomato BLT and the pork and greens. “It looks like a hole in the wall, and they have the standard foods, but they’re innovative,” says longtime Avondale resident David McRae. He added, “My favorite food is grits and greens with barbecue pork.”355