Meat + Poultry - June 2017 - 49

GETTING STARTED

SMITHFIELD TIES

While Stone and Cookston came to barbecue
from extensive restaurant backgrounds, Warth's
interest in barbecue came from the desire to
use his hobby as a way to decompress from
the rigors of his day job. "Barbecue started as
a hobby that turned into a career. First in our
backyard and then becoming a competition
team," he says. "Barbecue was a way to get

In addition to a passion for competition
barbecue and an incredibly tireless work
ethic, the three pitmasters share another
common thread: a Smithfield Foods
sponsorship. Stone's work ethic might have
something to do with his stint in the Marine
Corps, and along with the work ethic comes a
sense of duty.

BY B O B S I M S | b s i m s @ s o s l a n d.c o m

T

Photo by Robert Jacob Lema

T
S

uffy Stone's career in barbecue began as a
love for cooking food with his roommate.
The former US Marine worked his way
through college in restaurants, first waiting
tables and tending bar, and eventually in
the back of the house, where he thought he
belonged. The love of food, and specifically
barbecue, also weaves itself through the story
of Melissa Cookston and Darren Warth. All
three took to competition barbecue as part of
their successful career paths and now, all three
have partnered with Smithfield Foods Inc.
"I have always been very food oriented
and very competitive," says Cookston, whose
credentials include four-time whole hog world
champion, two-time world grand champion,
the winner of the inaugural Kingsford
Invitational, and thousands of other trophies
that have vaulted her to the winningest woman
in barbecue. She owns Steak by Melissa, a
restaurant in Southaven, Mississippi, as well as
three Memphis Barbecue Cos. in Mississippi,
North Carolina and Georgia. Also, Cookston
has authored two books, "Smokin' in the Boys'
Room" and "Smokin' Hot in the South."
Darren Warth and his wife Sherry opened
their flagship 502-seat restaurant, Smokey D's
BBQ, in 2010 in Des Moines, Iowa. The Warths
now operate three locations in Des Moines,
but like Stone and Cookston, a full-time
barbecue business was never really the plan.
"If you would have told me 15 years ago that I
would own a barbecue restaurant and catering
business, I would have thought you were
crazy," Warth says.

away from my job in corporate America."
Stone and his wife opened their catering
company, A Sharper Palate, in 1993, after he'd
spent years in the restaurant business. "As
a chef, I wasn't cooking anymore, I was just
managing the business," Stone says. "In 2004,
I felt this need to have a new culinary activity
to reconnect with cooking. So, I bought a
barbecue pit and decided I'd learn how to
make barbecue. That kind of started that path."
Cookston's competitive nature rose to
the surface at the first barbecue contest she
attended. Competitors at that first competition
told her the whole hog category was the most
challenging. "I'm never one to step aside from
a challenge, so that's what got me started,"
she says. Cookston grew to love every aspect
and nuance of the competitive barbecue game.
"That's what keeps me doing it every single
time, it's the challenge."
Much like Cookston and Stone, Warth
did better and saw greater success with each
competition he and his team entered. And with
success came the opportunities that led the
three pitmasters to more and greater business
opportunities within the barbecue world.
"We started as a competition team in 2003 and
found instant success," Warth says. "The more we
cooked, the better we did. The more we won, the
more requests we got for our food to be catered."
The Warth's catering business started as
a nights and weekend endeavor with just he
and his wife. By 2007, the business grew to
the point that a decision had to be made. The
Warths had to shut the business down, or
open a restaurant and hire people to run it.
They took the leap.
"In 2008, I was strategically downsized (my
boss knew my intentions) and we were able to
open up our second location and our third in
2009," Warth says. "In 2010, we shut down our
original location and moved down the street and
opened up our 502-seat flagship restaurant."

Competitive barbecue
cooks find success
beyond the pits

Darren Warth owns and
operates three Smokey
D's BBQ restaurants in
Des Moines, Iowa.

www.meatpoultry.com | 06.17 | MEAT+ POULTRY

49
http://www.meatpoultry.com
Meat + Poultry - June 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meat + Poultry - June 2017
