This Halloween, I found myself crossing two rivers by PATH, subway, and bus, to attend the jungle-themed party of a sustainable furniture studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The venue was fantastic. And while the party, libations, costumes, energy, and attendees were stocked in excess, the food was not. It was then that we remembered the massive, metal barbecues that we passed, one lot east of us. The smokers belonged to Hometown Bar-B-Que, he said. And though the lot had been rented to prepare the meat, they didn’t have any to sell.

Strike One.

I walked back to the party, dejected, and spoke with Dan, my host. He said that they had to use Eventbrite for ticket reservation because the previous year yielded unprecedented numbers. This year, they decided to cap the list at 650 attendees before declaring the party sold out. He then fished me and my friends a craft beer from the ice tub, and ladled a hearty serving of jungle juice for my date.

I wasn’t going to last long with this guy offering me free, hoppy beers all night. I returned to the entrance and Googled Hometown Bar-B-Que. Mitchell answered. Read more