Percy Street BBQ’s resident Pit Mistress Erin O’Shea freely admits that most of what she knows about New Orleans she learned from going there to party while she was a kid living in Texas. “I lived in Houston for, like, ten years,” she told Grub Street. “And we used to make the trip out there to go crazy and have a good time.” And good times are what she and Percy Street’s owners Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook had in mind when they started scheming ideas for the South Street barbecue joint’s second anniversary. Then one thing led to another and conversations shifted to how excited they all were about the coming of Abita’s Brewing Co.’s Pecan Harvest Ale. Soon plans for an anniversary party were scrapped and a Southern-style pecan harvest party, with a Big Easy-inspired menu and crowning of a Percy Pecan Queen started taking shape.
“It’s a uniquely Southern tradition,” O’Shea said. “They have pecan harvest parties all over Louisiana; Georgia has them.”
For Percy Street’s, which takes place on November 2, O’Shea plans on slinging po’ boys with smoked brisket and debris gravy; spicy corn pudding; fried oyster baskets; shrimp remoulade; and of course, sweet potato pie. The $50, all-you-can-eat menu is a departure from the purely traditional barbecue and sides she normally serves, but its still something she feels comfortable working with.
“It’s definitely venturing away from what I normally do,” she said. “Some of it is similar. There’s some overlapping in terms of ingredients, and we’re definitely going to infuse some Percy Street into this New Orleans food.”
With the New Orleans menu, Percy Street will also turn over its taps to beers from Abita, incluidng the aforementioned Pecan Harvest Ale, an American brown ale with a subtle pecan flavor. “It’s not, like, this huge, in your face pecan,” she said of the brew. “Its a good beer.”
And it will play a crucial role in the crowning of the Percy Pecan Queen.
“Oh yeah, that part is definitely beer based,” O’Shea said. “We are going to find the girl who can chug a can of Abita the fastest, and that’s who we’re going to crown pecan queen.”
