3 minute read
KNOWS GRILLIN’ Noah
Written by Betsy O’Leary
Photos by Stacey Lindsey
Southerners love their barbecue, and there are many debates to be had over smoky grills about the preference of a dry rub over the glaze of a top-secret family BBQ sauce recipe (and vice versa). The truth is that there are few foods as enticing as barbecue cooking on the grill or in the smoker. Simply catching a whiff of grilling meat wafting through the neighborhood is enough to make someone follow their nose to the source and pull up a chair at the picnic table.
You might even say that barbecue is in the bloodline of young Noah Lindsey. He’s the son of Jason and Stacy Lindsey and the grandson of Ponchatoula’s Mike Whitlow. Mike is the owner of The Real Deal — An American Kitchen at 2170 Veterans Avenue in Hammond near the first traffic circle by Club Deluxe Road.
When it comes to championship BBQ, Noah can throw down with the best of them. He loves to enter in the Kids Q category, featuring either chicken or his hands-down favorite, barbecued pork chops. He has not just placed but taken home the blue ribbon for the 13 and under category in multiple competitions. This summer in Morgan City, LA, Noah won first place for his age division.
While most of the five or six competitions he enters each year are sponsored by the Barbecue Competitors Alliance (BCA), some are local unaffiliated contests like the recent ‘Toula Que & Fall Fest. Noah is also a familiar face at the annual Smokin’ Blues & BBQ Challenge held each March along the railroad tracks in Hammond. He is a past contestant in the children’s Chicken Little Competition.
Giving Back to His Community
While his family, including older sister Ryann, are proud of Noah for bringing home the blue on the competitive BBQ circuit, they are equally impressed with his willingness to cook for others right here in Tangipahoa Parish.
For the past three years, Noah has been the guy behind the grill for the Southeastern Lady Lions soccer team. Doing his part to support the Lions at one of their home games each year. He has also barbecued for sheriff’s candidate Chris Gideon during his political campaign. He landed those gigs after first assisting Grandpa Mike, beginning at age seven.
Pulling off a major cooking operation for scores of hungry athletes and fans is no small task. The work begins the night before with the prep for the sauces. But it is all fun for the young grill prince who hopes one day to open his own BBQ restaurant right here in the community. Noah also takes pride in being able to serve others some of his delicious offerings straight off the grill.
So the next time you catch the tantalizing scent of slowcooked barbecued meat in the air, follow your nose to the source. You just may discover that the young man tending the grill is none other than Noah Lindsey.
