May at JCCC

G.A.S. BARBECUE

Monthly Lunch Is a GAS
Peggy Graham
May at JCCC

It started out as four guys going to lunch. It's evolved into a Monty Python quest for barbecue. Side orders include humor, camaraderie and an excuse for a monthly outing.

The Gastronomic Appreciation Society (GAS) began informally in April 1997 when Jeff Anderson, Dave Ellis and Rick Moehring, JCCC counselors, invited then newcomer Jeffrey Couch, Intensive English program coordinator, to their favorite barbecue haunt, Hayward's Pit Bar-B-Que. During a debate over the best barbecue restaurant, Couch threw down the gauntlet and challenged the group to try Bates City Bar-B-Que.

Membership grew by word-of mouth. A year and 12 restaurants later, GAS has 15 members, all JCCC faculty and staff, and a home page (http://www.johnco.cc.ks.us/~rmoehrin/gas.htm), which includes monthly restaurant reviews, a "best of the best" listing and candid photos of the gastronomes taken by other restaurant patrons or waiters.

Reviews rate beans, ribs, sauce, sandwiches, service and atmosphere for an overall score. Members admit that ratings are subjective, and details, such as pickles on the table or red cream soda on the menu, can sway opinions.

"The highest ratings go to the biggest dives," said Andrew McGlone, Career Center employment systems technician.

When GAS members get together, there's a lot of hot air. Getting a serious answer is difficult. Travis Bohrer, student development assistant, sums up the party line. "It's all about barbecue." The group doesn't let politics, sports or getting to know their colleagues interfere with their primary mission - the perfect meal.

No subtlety goes unnoticed. Today the group makes apologies for the restaurant's location in a suburban mall because, after all, where can you put a meat smoker in a strip mall? A tennis match on the television screen and Kenny G on the radio just doesn't cut it in the macho world of meat and french fried potatoes. There's a beef, too, with today's sauce, which members consume by the bottleful. Members prefer the earthy feel of meals served
on newspapers rather than plates.

There's a lot of ribbing going on, like about the time Ellis forgot to call ahead and the group drove all the way to Spring Hill only to find the restaurant closed on Mondays, or the fact that Anderson won't touch anything with his fingers and ordered smoked turkey at BB's Lawnside rib night - the group's only night meeting.

Moehring captures the flavor of each month by posting quotes from participants on the GAS web page.

"We have about three or four years' worth of restaurants we want to try," Moehring says. "Everybody gets a chance to select a place."

Along the way the GAS men have learned a few things.
* Anderson: "Not all barbecue is created equal."
* Ellis: "There is different barbecue for different situations."
* McGlone: "When we sit down to barbecue, there is harmony."

The philosophical musings bring up the idea of a GAS t-shirt, maybe a GAS ball cap or coffee mug. But, no, why interrupt the serious business of eating?