DINE
Rollin’ With the Changes Now on wheels, Deke’s Food Truck is one of many recent evolutions of Deke’s Bar-B-Que.
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By Ainsley Maloney Photography by JPG Photography (jpgphotography.com)
hen Derek Denmead joined Teach for America in 1993 upon graduating from University of Pennsylvania, he didn’t expect to receive an education that would change the course of his life. After two years of teaching 7th graders in a small Georgia town, Derek went into his year of service with a Master’s in Early American History. He left with a Ph.D. in Cooking Collard Greens. “One of the other 7th grade teachers, Miss Brown — I can’t reveal too many secrets — but let’s just say she cleaned her collard greens in the washing machine. That’s how thoroughly you have to wash them,” Derek said with a laugh. “Unlike most cooks in the south who added a meat component, she added vinegar and ketchup, which gave them a sweet and sour tang,” he added. “That’s how we cook our greens to this day — without the washing machine part!” The owner of Deke’s Bar-B-Que (his grandfather’s name was Zeke, so Derek got the nickname Deke, and it stuck) always had a passion for cooking. Inspired by his grandma’s Sunday dinners, he remembers eating fresh vegetables from her garden in Newark, Ohio. Once in Georgia, Derek found himself drawn to cooking every free 42
moment he had, and his culinary passions reignited. He left teaching and spent the next five years cooking in restaurants in Columbus and Boston. He later moved back to Philadelphia in 1999 and entered the high-end event planning and catering business where he met his wife, Jackie. The couple married and moved to a house in Manayunk — complete with a little patio that would change everything. “The patio had enough space for a smoker, my first little barbecue pit where I cooked brisket, ribs, pork,” he said. “My techniques evolved from there. People would tell me, ‘Boy, these ribs are good.’ It was certainly a life-long dream to have something of my own.” One day, as the couple visited the Ugly Moose on 443 Shurs Lane, Derek noticed a vacant garage next door. A memory struck. “It reminded me of roadside rib joints I saw in rural Georgia while driving down two-lane, back-country highways,” he recalled. Derek pitched the idea for a barbeque-and-rib joint with open air and picnic tables, and in 2010, Derek launched Deke’s Bar-B-Que. With allyou-can-eat buffets attracting crowds, business quickly quadrupled. By 2012, Jackie, affectionately known as “Mrs. Deke,” was able to quit her job as an event and wedding planner in Atlantic City and joined the
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