We’ve reached the back half of June already, and the calendar of events is definitely picking up speed. Summer (which officially begins on Friday) will be over before you know it, so don’t miss out on these fun opportunities!
The first is a new series at Drift Hotel in the shadow of the new Nissan Stadium construction zone at 10 Interstate Drive in East Nashville. They’re kicking off a new series the third Thursday of every month that they’re calling Jueves de Drift. This Baja-inspired shindig comes well-informed, since Drift also has locations in Palm Springs and San José del Cabo, Mexico.
The evening’s festivities include free night swims, live music, fireside hangouts and craft cocktails. It’s free to attend, but management would like attendees to register in advance for June 19 and/or July 17. The fun kicks off at 7 p.m.
Every now and then, something will come across my email transom to remind me exactly how long I’ve been doing this job. I’ve written about the Hot Chicken & Jorts party every year since I started this gig back in 2009. The annual homage to fiery fowl and cutoffs was the brainchild of Mark Dunkerly. He was the impetus behind Jubilee Craft Beer, a pet project that helped to raise money for Oasis Center, where Dunkerly worked for years helping local youth in crisis.
The event took place at Paradise Park Trailer Resort for the first few years, and it was the ideal combination of good food, cold beer and an utter lack of seriousness in hosting this fun(d)raiser.
But (other than me publishing in this space at least 3,500 times over the past 16 years), things change. Paradise Park closed back in 2018, but not before one last Hot Chicken bash. Then the annual party moved to Mayday Brewery in Murfreesboro, an appropriate spot since Mayday brewed Jubilee Beer for Dunkerly. Then Dunkerly left his position as CEO of Oasis Center, but continued supporting the organization through his beer and the party. Then Jubilee ceased operations, and Mayday closed up shop in 2024.
That finally has to be the end of Hot Chicken & Jorts, right?!
Nope. The party will return one more time, so dig out your Daisy Dukes and antacids! In a lovely bit of symmetry, the party is coming back on Saturday, June 21, from 5 until 9 p.m. at the Oasis, the rooftop bar of Friends in Low Places that occupies the former home of Paradise Park at 411 Broadway. Dunkerly’s alter-ego Randy will certainly be on hand, maybe with just a shade of gray hair in his mullet, but ready to party!
It’s still for a great cause, and I’m still writing, so the least you can do is go and have fun!
In addition to his barbecue restaurant, competition team and whiskey empire, Peg Leg Porker's Carey Bringle also sells his sauces and seasonings in his restaurants and through his website. A bottle of Peg Leg Porker sauce is a favorite gift for me to send to out-of-state friends or to pay off a lost wager.
Well, thanks to a new deal with international spice company McCormick & Co., it’s going to be even easier to find Peg Leg Porker products. Bringle has signed a distribution deal to sell newly packaged versions of his Classic Chicken Seasoning, Brisket Seasoning, Original BBQ Seasoning, Original BBQ Sauce, Original Hot BBQ Sauce and White BBQ Sauce through McCormick’s nationwide marketing network. This means you’ll soon be able to purchase Bringle’s products at select Kroger, Safeway, Walmart, SpartanNash, Acme, SEG, AWG, Meijer, Giant Landover, HEB, K-VA-T Foods and Giant Foods locations around the country starting later this month.
I have to say this is a far stretch from what I remember when Bringle first opened his original Peg Leg Porker restaurant in the Gulch. He told me, “Everybody says I need to have all sorts of sauces. I ain’t no Famous F-in’ Dave! I’ve got one sauce, my sauce, the sauce I like! Then people started begging me for a hot sauce, so I took my sauce and added hot stuff to it.”
Bringle has certainly grown as a businessman and a flavor creator, and I trust his new seasonings and sauces will be fantastic additions to my already crowded spice pantry. Even better, from now through the end of the year, a portion of the proceeds from each sale will be donated to Make It Better (MIB) Agents. Bringle became a cancer survivor during his teenage years, and this is a cause close to his heart — a leading pediatric osteosarcoma nonprofit organization dedicated to creating and instilling hope in children and young adults with osteosarcoma, their families, and the scientific community that treats the disease.
"Carey Bringle and McCormick are not just culinary icons, they are champions for children battling osteosarcoma," says Ann Graham, founder of MIB Agents in the announcement of the donation. "Their partnership is helping us fuel hope for better treatments and provide vital resources to families facing this devastating disease. I'm honored to have their support in making it better."
Look for them on your local grocery store shelves soon!
