THERE'S THE BEEF: Tender brisket slices and ribs have given Naaman's Championship BBQ a large, loyal following.
as, “real sugar” soda is as in keeping with the decor as it is with Neaves’ disdain for high fructose corn syrup. In the lobby, a rustic faux chandelier has been fashioned from keys suspended on tiny chains, and a large frame houses sheet music paying homage to Texarkana’s own Scott Joplin. The pull-chain toilet in the restroom is surrounded by vintage magazine ads imploring military women to satin-finish their lips and petal-finish their complexions while “serving shoulder to shoulder with America’s fighting men.” Metal signs for Grapette soda and King Edward Cigars hang high. “I want everything old-school cool,” Neaves said. He and his family have concocted some Naaman’s lore. Gesturing to a mural on the dining room wall of a distinguished gentleman smoking a pipe, Neaves said, “We call him Winston.” The Naaman’s foodtruck sports a Prohibition photo doctored so that two protestors hold a sign saying, “Naaman ain’t pretty!” Neaves calls the two Marion and Duffy, after his grandparents. And, as family names go, Naaman is an especially important one. Neaves and Patti, his wife of 15 years, named the barbecue team-turned-restaurant after their son, then 3 years old. “I never dreamed it would turn into what it has,” Neaves said. Naaman is 14 now, and reportedly the best rib trimmer on staff. He’s a consummately polite kid, and on New Year’s Eve he’s probably thinking less about rib prep and more about the Metallica concert his parents are treating him to in a few weeks. Asked about having his first name plastered all over billboards along Interstate 30, he was sanguine. “I’m kinda used to it,” he said, and shrugged. “Nothing about Naaman’s is about money,” Neaves had said earlier. “That’s my son’s name. If anybody ruins that name, I want it to be him and not me. That name means more to me than all the money in the world.” Neaves moved Naaman’s to the Texas side of the state line, in part, because he wanted to carve out his own piece of Texas barbecue culture — to be part of the beef scene, and part of a network of Texas pitmasters. Now, with all the patience of a man who cooks a hunk of meat for 14 hours, he’s crossing back over the state line. “Pork has been king in Arkansas,” he said. “But once you know how to cook a brisket … .” He trailed off, resuming the thought with: “I’m a beef guy.” I asked Neaves about his brisket recipe. He demured and smiled. “I could lie, but I don’t wanna be known for that either. We season. And we smoke.” ♦
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