New Netflix series features small town Texas BBQ joint once named best in state
Barbecue lovers in Central Texas have long relished the greatness of Tootsie Tomanetz’s mouth-watering brisket, ribs and sausage.
Tomanetz is the pit boss at Snow’s BBQ, which in the pre-coronavirus world was open only on Saturdays, from 8 a.m. til the food ran out. Now they’re selling their meats and more online, and you can bet more clicks are coming.
Netflix’s “Chef’s Table BBQ,” an Emmy-nominated series that visits acclaimed pitmasters across the globe, shot an episode featuring Snow’s and Tomanetz, a living legend in the small Texas town of Lexington.
According to Culture Map Houston, the 85-year old has helmed the pits at Snow’s after being hired by owner Kerry Bexley in 2003. Attention didn’t come pouring in until 2008 when Texas Monthly ranked it as the state’s No. 1 BBQ joint, however. Snow’s also managed to snag the honor again in 2017.
Texas Monthly Barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn gives his perspective on what set’s Snow’s apart from other barbecue joints in the Netflix episode, in which Tomanetz is seen shoveling coals into well-seasoned smokers and also wrapping briskets in foil, which is a change from the standard peach paper, Culture Map reported.
“I don’t know why a Snow’s brisket tastes so good and so different,” Vaughn says. “When you take a bite of it, it’s like ‘Oh my God, how did that happen?’ Maybe there’s some magic that happens within that aluminum foil. I don’t know.”
The episode gets to the heart of what makes Snow’s so different, which is Tomanetz herself, a pitmaster who grew up on a Texas farm at the end of the Depression, Eater Austin said. Despite losing both her husband Edward and her son Hershey, Tomanetz is known for her optimistic outlook and is beloved by the community, according to the show.
“Barbecue brings people together. It gives the people time to visit with each other more,” Tomanetz says in the episode. “People just kind of slow down to speak to one another and look at the bright side of life. A lot of people don’t realize what a wonderful feeling that is.”
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 11:48 AM with the headline "New Netflix series features small town Texas BBQ joint once named best in state."