by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Five years after its humble beginnings, Cole Pepper’s Blackjack Barbecue Sauces are still getting invitations to lunch and dinner tables throughout Northeast and Central Florida.
Known more for his work as AM-690 Sports Director, Pepper is starting to get noticed for a passion he has turned into a business.
“I grew up in Kansas City and I’ve always loved good barbecue,” said Pepper. “It was pretty exciting when I got the chance to work with Rich (Goldfarb, owner of Blackjack’s Best BBQ) and develop my own sauce.”
The idea of developing a barbecue sauce was born out of Pepper trying to come up with a different type of giveaway item at the radio station. It would be better than the usual key chain or T-shirt. Pepper had been making his own salsa, Cole Pepper’s Good Time Giddy Up Salsa, for a couple of years and the promotions director suggested he bottle it and give it away.
One listener from Pepper’s sports talk radio show contacted him shortly after listeners started getting the salsa and asked the self-professed barbecue junkie to stop by his new restaurant on the Westside to sample some barbecue.
Pepper’s future partner was a contrast to the local radio personality because he was from New York and hadn’t grown up in the barbecue culture, but he was a quick study.
“I didn’t know much about barbecue until I moved down here in 1987,” said Goldfarb. “But I met some people here and learned about good barbecue when I was tailgating with friends before Gator games. It has been amazing to see the passion that different regions of the country have for good barbecue.”
Pepper knows what good barbecue is and put Goldfarb’s kitchen to the test when he stopped by Blackjack’s Best BBQ near Blanding Boulevard. Pepper left the store knowing that he had just eaten the best barbecue in town.
“I tried it all and it was great,” said Pepper. “So we started talking about making a new sauce. After about 3-4 months of R and D (research and development), we developed the sweet hot sauce.”
The partners launched Metro BBQ in 2003 with one sauce. They used their favorite baseball teams to create the name for the business. Goldfarb is a New York Mets fan and Pepper roots for the Kansas City Royals.
The line has increased to include a tomato-based sweet, mustard and hot mustard sauces.
“I’m more of a tomato-based sweet-smoky fan, but you have to give the people what they want,” said Pepper of the mustard sauces. “The mustard sauces are popular in the region, so you give the public what they want. I’m slowly developing a taste for it, though.”
Another development for the business has been inclusion on menus and on shelves at local stores. There are signature Blackjack BBQ items on the Plaza III Steakhouse menu and at Firehouse Subs.
“There have been some pretty cool things that have happened during my career and in my life,” said Pepper, “but my dad thinks being include on the Plaza III Steakhouse menu is one of the coolest.”
Pepper was awe struck when his sauce made the menu.
The sauce is bottled in St. Augustine at the Dat’l Do-it plant in order to make it to the dinner table. A small batch is about 90-120 cases of 12 bottles. The sweet hot sauce comes in 12 ounce bottles while the rest come in 16 ounce bottles. There are also gallon jugs made for restaurant use.
“One of those usually makes it into my fridge,” said Pepper, “for quality control purposes.”
The business hasn’t become a major moneymaker for the duo, but it has increased notoriety.
“Right now, the business is self-supportive. Neither of us is pulling a salary out of it,” said Pepper. “It’s starting to catch on though. Somebody noticed me in the supermarket recently and said, ‘Hey you’re Cole Pepper.’ I said hello and they asked me, ‘Why don’t they have your sauce in here?’ I’m starting to get that a little more now.”
Cole Pepper’s BBQ Tips
Best BBQ in town
Blackjack’s Best BBQ
Best BBQ you’ve ever tasted
Guy and Mae’s in Williamsburg, Kan. All they do is ribs, baked beans and coleslaw.
Best beverage with Barbeque
Strawberry soda
356-2466