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Front: Jason Gonzalez of Gonzo’s Smokehouse & BBQ in Luling. Back, left to right: Ruth Huggett (Jason’s aunt), Rommel Gonzalez (Jason’s dad), Jamie Gonzalez (Jason’s sister).

by one they filed through the serving area, and Gonzalez piled meats on their plates, his hands moving first like a surgeon, then like a pianist: slicing and piling, slicing and piling. He carved the turkey breast thinly using a bread knife, expertly, and then the sausage. (“I was buying these big fancy straight-edge knives that are like $150,” he said. “But the guys in Austin were using these $20 bread knives. I tried them and they’re so much better than the expensive ones!”) The thick wooden carving board from which he worked gleamed with fats and oils. The long line didn’t faze him — it was just another day in the office for the pitmaster. His father and sister and aunt ladled sides and offered dessert — things like mac and cheese and strawberry shortcake. When Donald and Donny Rouse reached the front of the line, Gonzalez served them.

recipe. His sister comes up with all the desserts. The rest is all Gonzalez’s. He built his business slowly. He cooked for plants. He eventually got comfortable with cooking for the public at pop-ups at places like the breweries in New Orleans. Eventu ally, he was at the big festivals in the city. The response to the smokehouse in Luling has been humbling and fantastic. “We’re not doing this for cash, right?” he explained. “We just want to put out good food. When you come to Gonzo’s, you’re going to see us. You’re going to see my family there. I’m slicing. My sister’s doing dessert. My dad’s at the door. I just want to keep putting out a good-quality product every week and also just [keep] coming up with new ideas, new cuts, new menus.” Just before noon, a line formed of more than a hundred hungry Rouses workers. One

well-trimmed piece of meat did not always make great barbecue — even at some well regarded barbecue places. “You can almost taste the love that people put in their food,” he explained. “When I go to Texas, you can sometimes get the sense that, all right, this is good — but it’s not the person who actually started the business. You can tell they’re not there slicing, they’re not there preparing the food. You can taste it when love is missing from the food.” Technical work and artistic aspirations matter because, in Texas-style barbecue, you can’t rescue a failed dish by simply dousing the meat in a little extra sauce. The sort of barbecue Gonzo’s offers is essentially made with just salt, pepper and garlic. Gonzalez and his father make the sausage and boudin they serve from scratch. The dirty rice in the boudin is made using his grandmother’s

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