New barbecue joint’s good to the bone

Published 9:00 am Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Gregory Epstein returns to Bainbridge with a meaty new delivery service.

When he was on the Bainbridge High School wrestling team, Gregory Epstein went days without eating, to “make weight” in the class below his brother.

He was also in a vocational program to learn cooking at Bainbridge Bakers, then owned by Hollis Fay. Having gone without food before a wrestling match, Epstein fainted in the kitchen one day, and an angered Fay “wouldn’t let me back until I ate.”

Nearly 20 years later, Epstein called up Fay last month to inquire about renting her commercial kitchen in Poulsbo.

“Do you know who I am?” he gingerly asked.

“You’re the wrestler, right?” was the reply.

For a second, being back home and knowing everyone didn’t seem like an advantage, but he was forgiven his youthful follies. Using Fay’s kitchen, Epstein last weekend launched Bainbridge Island Barbeque, a delivery-only service.

His journey back to Bainbridge began after his twin brother, Andrew, a former BHS state wrestling champ, died in 2001.

“I came back for the community,” Epstein said. “I cannot leave my house without seeing somebody I know. People gravitate back.”

Epstein’s food trek started with baking cheesecake when he was 12 or 13, impressed by the concoction he had in Wenatchee that “knocked me on the side of the head.”

So after graduating from BHS in 1987 without a specific direction, he took his father’s suggestion to enter culinary school at South Seattle Community College.

He rose quickly up the career ladder with an apprenticeship in Indiana with former Reagan administration executive chef Jon Hill, who exhorted, “Got to get busy, Greg, got to stay busy” and rotated him through all the stations of the brand-new hotel kitchen. By 21, Esptein was sous chef, the No. 2 man in the kitchen.

He returned to Seattle, where he became known as the “rapper chef” – yes, he really can rap – the sous chef at the Camlin Hotel. At age 24, he becamebecame the city’s then-youngest executive chef at the coincidentally named Gregory’s Bar and Grill in the West Coast Seatac Hotel.

Epstein was lucratively food styling in California when his brother was diagnosed with cancer. He quickly switched gears to develop a product to raise money for cancer research.

He cooked up seasoning blends and a barbecue sauce, but the giant wholesalers weren’t interested in buying from a small operation.

Undeterred, he tackled the market from the other end and opened a successful barbecue restaurant, Golden Nugget, in the Los Angeles area to gain leverage for marketing his products.

Finally though, disillusioned with food writers more interested in “hot and trendy” than discovering new dishes, he and his wife headed to Bainbridge.

“I have a different appreciation for the island (now). I like seeing the same faces, the familiar faces and there’s that sense of community,” Epstein said. “I’m coming back to a situation where I instantly know people.”

And the lifestyle.

“I know there’s demand for delivery” for something other than pizza, Epstein said. “After a long day, it’s tough for them to get to the restaurant.”

The grill will be hot this Saturday at the winter Bainbridge Island Farmers Market, where Epstein will be dishing up “cowboy chili,” barbecued free-range chicken, pork ribs, beef ribs and his own special sauces – Chipotle Honey and Whisky Brown Sugar.

With a barbecue meal comes a choice of two sides: creamy corn, Grandma Ruth’s Cole Slaw or Smoky Beans. Prices range from $8.95 for a “solo” chicken or half-order ribs to a full beef ribs “meal” for $14.95.

Epstein prides himself on using only the best ingredients, such as real maple syrup in his beans.

“I’m willing to pay more for ingredients to deliver a product that will exceed your expectations,” Epstein said. “Consistency is key.”

His slogan is “Serious BBQ” because “that’s the only thing we take seriously.Everything else is fun,” he grins mischievously.

In high school, he, his brother and close friend Binh Tran would look forward to the pre-wrestling-match weigh-in, not only because they could eat again, but because Tran’s parents would bring them delicious Thai food afterwards.

Epstein said he often told Tran’s parents that they should open a restaurant. The Trans eventually did open Sawatdy’s and the rest, as they say is history.

“I decided to come back and take my own advice,” Epstein said.

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Special sauce

Bainbridge Island Barbeque will be at the Bainbridge Island Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Saturday at Eagle Harbor Congregational Church.

To place a delivery order, call (206) 225-1215. Delivery is from 1 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and is free – closed Dec. 24 through Jan. 1 for the holidays. A website will be coming online soon at http://bainbridgebbq.com.