BBQ in The 330
Flames of Love
Photos by Shane Wynn
Playwright George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “There is no love sincerer than the love of food,” and recently met four local cooks whose passion for barbecue is smoky, saucy and spicy — and it shows in their menus, their business ventures and their work ethic.
Grab a handful of napkins because we’re going on a culinary adventure from Akron to Fairlawn to Medina, to meet the people who make magic on the coals.
Whether you enjoy your barbecue smoked and grilled to perfection, accompanied by traditional Southern sides or a pint of craft beer, or cooked over a buzzworthy contraption, we’ll find a barbecue joint to satisfy your palate.
Ivan’s Catering: The Trill of the Grill
When Ivan Lefkowitz started cooking at the age of 9, it was due to necessity. His mom, he says, wasn’t a good cook so he began preparing food for his family’s meals. After 30 years in the restaurant business, he still enjoys feeding people and making them happy with his recipes.
“Cooking has got to be a passion with the hours and the craziness of it all,” he says.
Lefkowitz, owner of Ivan’s Diner in Fairlawn, also specializes in catering, and he especially enjoys preparing smoked and barbecued meats. Most recently, his culinary gadget of choice is a smoker/grill combination made from the back end of a 1958 Ford Edsel. It was custom-made in Section, Ala., the heart of the Southern barbecue belt, and Lefkowitz drove it back to Fairlawn on a flatbed truck.
Painted black with red-orange flames, tailpipes that burp smoke, and headlights that are illuminated with battery power, Lefkowitz’s Edsel has become a conversation piece. He transports it to catering sites with a trailer and uses it to grill burgers, fish and kabobs, smoke pork butts for pulled pork, and roast corn-on-the-cob. “Pretty much anything works,” he says, although he personally likes St. Louis-style two-and-down lean pork ribs with a side of scalloped potatoes.
Lefkowitz uses charcoal and cherry wood in the Edsel because “it brings out the flavor in the meats,” he says, adding that “Gas doesn’t give barbecue the flavor it deserves.”
Ivan’s Catering
Lager Heads BBQ Smokehouse and Brewing Co.: Low and Slow
The second you walk into Lager Heads, at the intersection of Abbeyville and Hamilton roads in Medina, your senses awaken. A song by Tom Petty plays on the radio, and a sign behind the bar states, “Beware Pickpockets and Loose Women.” But mostly, you smell hickory, infusing its strong, sweet flavor into brisket, chicken and pork in the smokehouse out back.
Brothers Matt and Jon Kiene opened Lager Heads a decade ago in the 1860s-era post office that sits just down the road from where they grew up. Matt, who was in outside sales, and Jon, who worked in the drywall business, had grown tired of the everyday grind and decided to open a restaurant specializing in smoked and barbecued entrees.
Matt never took formal culinary classes but he learned to cook while in college. “If I had a break between classes, I would go back to the apartment, and there was nothing on the TV but cooking shows in the afternoon,” he says. “Before too long, I was hooked.”
Four years ago, the Kiene brothers opened an on-site microbrewery, and today, they produce seven beers which are distributed throughout Ohio. They also plan to move the brewery to the Square in Medina and open a tasting room. A small brewery will remain at the restaurant for experimental brews.
For new guests, Matt suggests pairing the brewery’s “Bed Head” Red ale with the restaurant’s signature wings which are dry rubbed, smoked, grilled and then slathered with one of 13 sauces.
Lager Heads BBQ Smokehouse and Brewing Co.
Open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight; and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Pammie’s: Family Feast
Whether it’s a steamy summer day or the mercury has fallen to 20 below, you’re likely to see “Mr. Jeff,” cook and manager of Pammie’s Restaurant, slinging spare ribs on the Copley Road eatery’s huge charcoal grill out front.
The restaurant, formerly known as Sammie’s Steak and Lobster, was founded in 1998 by Jeff’s late brother, Sam. Today, Sam’s daughter, Pam Ford, is the owner and namesake of Pammie’s. She and her uncle have opened a second location on East Cuyahoga Falls Avenue. They also have plans to open sit-down locations in Cleveland and Canton, as well as a food truck.
“I think my dad would be so proud,” Ford says, fondly remembering time spent as a 12-year-old in the kitchen with her father, as well as the early days when Sammie’s was just a grill on wheels. “We still use my dad’s sauce recipe.”
Jeff says he’s able to keep consistency in Sam’s sauce by having it made in Chicago and, he adds, “We hope to have it on grocery shelves soon.”
Pammie’s also caters festivals and parties and is a favorite Akron stop for rapper Too Short (who, Jeff says, is a fan of Pammie’s mac ‘n’ cheese), R&B artists Full Force and Beyoncé’s gal pal DJ Diamond.
In addition to daily specials, Pammie’s Soul Food Sundays feature Southern-style entrees like smothered pork chops, oxtails and fried chicken, and sides like spicy succotash, black-eyed peas and corn bread.
Pammie’s
Open Monday through Thursday from noon to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from noon to midnight; and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m.
Totally Cooked Lunch Dock: Awesome Sauce
In the Old West, the chuckwagon chef usually bore the nickname “Cookie.” For Dante D’Avello, his title is three-fold: chef, founder and “Grand Pooh-Bah” of Totally Cooked Catering in Cuyahoga Falls, Totally Cooked To Go in downtown Akron, Totally Cooked BBQ Company and the new Totally Cooked Lunch Dock in Akron.
With a bandana on his head and a set of tongs holstered in his apron, D’Avello is a natural in front of the grill on his 18-foot chuckwagon. Nestled in an industrial parkway on Tallmadge Avenue, the Lunch Dock provides a casual lunchtime eatery for local workers.
“Being Italian, I fell in love with cooking because of the family dynamic. Everyone draws together around a good meal, breaks bread and shares stories of the adventures in life. Those of us that enjoy cooking are enriched with a sense of love and passion because our hearts are filled with sheer joy to make people happy,” he says. “Barbecue offers that same casual, comfortable feeling.”
D’Avello designed his company’s two chuckwagons, and catering clients often ask him to bring the kitchen-on-wheels to their wedding receptions and parties. One of the chuckwagons will remain at the Lunch Dock to prepare barbecue items.
Ask D'Avello about his favorite item on his barbecue menu, and he'll wax poetic about a sandwich he calls Cow Riding Piggyback: “Hickory-smoked beef brisket, piled on top of our slow-smoked pulled pork with our natural jus mop sauce, sandwiched between our soft brioche rolls with some horsey mustard sauce. Throw some kettle-cooked potato chips next to it, and no one minds the juice rolling down their elbows onto their shoes.”
Totally Cooked Lunch Dock
Open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.