Meet Swig and Swine Smokeman Anthony DiBernardo

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[00:01:01] One of the new additions to the Carolina Barbecue Festival is Anthony DiBernardo. He's the owner and smoke man for Swig and Swine Barbecue with locations across the Charleston area. He's also one of the founders of the Holy Smokes Festival that happens in the fall every year in Charleston's Riverfront Park. And we're excited to welcome him to The Low and Slow Barbecue Show. Anthony, thanks so much for joining us. Anthony DiBernardo Man, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Anthony DiBernardo Okay, so for folks out there in the audience who maybe don't know you aren't

[00:01:30] familiar, take a quick just second to introduce yourself if you don't mind. Anthony DiBernardo Yeah, my name is Anthony, obviously. I'm owner and smoke man at Swig and Swine Barbecue with five locations in the Charleston area and one of our newest locations in the Myrtle Beach area as well. Anthony DiBernardo Excellent. So one more piece of introduction that we've added to our fifth season here of The Low and Slow Barbecue Show. Anthony, I know a little bit about your background, you know,

[00:01:59] kind of coming from the Northeast. You've been in the Low Country a long time now. I want you to close your eyes and imagine the perfect barbecue meal. What is it? Anthony DiBernardo Man, the perfect barbecue meal? Anthony DiBernardo Yeah. Anthony DiBernardo It's a meal that somebody else cooks for me. Anthony DiBernardo That about goes for every perfect meal these days. It's that meal that

[00:02:23] somebody else cooks. Not that I'll ever get tired of cooking, but at soon to be 54, I've done my fair share. Anthony DiBernardo So regardless of what's on the menu, if somebody's fixed it for you, you're good to go. Anthony DiBernardo I'm good to go. Anthony DiBernardo Well, let's talk a little bit about Swig and Swine. What is it? And how did you get started? And what's it kind of turned into, apart from those, you say, six locations in South Carolina?

[00:02:52] Anthony DiBernardo Yeah. You know, Swig and Swine is honestly the culmination of the great American dream. I started in kitchens when I was 12 years old. Anthony DiBernardo I don't know if anybody's a football fan, but Ron Jaworski, the old quarterback from the Philadelphia Eagles. Sure. Anthony DiBernardo At a country club not too far from where I grew up in South Jersey. And I got my start scrubbing pots in their banquet kitchen.

[00:03:22] Anthony DiBernardo So that kind of lit my fire, per se. Anthony DiBernardo And I worked my way up through through his establishment there from the banquet kitchen to the hotline. Anthony DiBernardo In the beginning of my senior year of high school, Anthony DiBernardo I did two things. I joined the Navy. I did the delayed enlistment program. So I joined early. So as soon as I finished my senior year, I would depart for boot camp.

[00:03:52] And I wrote the caption that would go underneath of my senior picture in my yearbook. And that caption wrote or that caption read that I would do four years in the military and I would open my own restaurant. So that was 1989. I did my four years and then it took me till 2014, but I did it. And I

[00:04:17] opened the first Swig and Swine in 2014. So literally the great American dream come true. Now, I saw somewhere in another piece of media. Did you really sleep on a cot there with the smoker in those early days back in 2014? Anthony DiBernardo For the first six months or probably a few weeks longer than six months before I hired my first overnight guy. Anthony DiBernardo Wow. Anthony DiBernardo Yep.

[00:04:45] Anthony DiBernardo That's some real commitment. Why did you feel like you had to shoulder that burden yourself? Anthony DiBernardo You know, we were just getting started and everything I had was riding on that location. You know, everything I had, it was a gamble. I mean, it was, I gave up a paycheck. I went broke. I, I, uh, it took us eight months worth of construction. I hustled on the weekends

[00:05:11] doing whatever caterings I could do to try to make ends meet. Everything I had was in the building. Anthony DiBernardo I had maxed out every credit card. I mean, it was, it was do or die. So I wasn't about to leave my, my future and my family's future in somebody else's hands. Anthony DiBernardo Once you start to kind of build some momentum and see some success,

[00:05:37] hire that additional person on and, and grow, build some growth into it. Did you always think you would grow to multiple locations? Or was there a point when you recognized, Hey, you know what we're doing in West Ashley is good. You know, is it time to go elsewhere? Yeah. You know, if you would have asked me in 2014, if I would have seen multiple locations, I would, I would have said no, because it was never in the cards. It was never, you know, that, like I said, I opened that first one

[00:06:05] and that was it. That's, that's all I had my goals set for. So I had to kind of pivot and set a whole new set of goals. And you know, when we opened the second one, so the second one came about because we noticed that the traffic in Charleston was getting worse and it was Charleston itself was getting more congested. Yeah. A lot of our traffic coming to the, our original location in, in Charleston

[00:06:34] or West Ashley, as they call it. A lot of that traffic was coming from other, other bedroom communities in and around Charleston. They were coming during the day while they were in town for lunch or while they were working. And, uh, so we noticed that a lot of them weren't coming in at nighttime because once they got, you know, they had to fight traffic to get to Charleston, then they had to fight traffic to get home. They certainly weren't turning around and bringing their family back. So that's why our

[00:07:03] second location landed in Somerville where it did. That was a, uh, uh, pretty, pretty big pocket, uh, neighborhood for us. And we, you know, through our research, our demographics show that a lot of our customers were coming from that area. So that was our second location into to this day. It is our number one producing location. It's, it's year over year top sales. Um, so that was the best move that,

[00:07:29] that we ever did. Um, and you know, so then that's kind of where things took a turn for me. Uh, you know, when we opened that second location, we went around the room and got to know all of the people that we had hired on for that location. And I walked away from that with a whole new sense of, of, uh,

[00:07:54] pressure, I guess you would say. Um, you know, when I opened number one, it was all about me. It was all about my family and making sure that I survived and the restaurant survived and I could pay bills. And as we went around that room, I noticed that a lot of those young, uh, people had families of their own. And so now the weight on my shoulders grew because I had to keep that business

[00:08:20] going for them to help them provide for their families. So we kind of took on a whole new role and it, uh, something that I, I wasn't planning on feeling, I guess is, you know, it was, it turned, it wasn't about me anymore. It was about my team and making sure that they had a place that they can make a living for their family. And, uh, you know, to build a culture that they enjoy working in.

[00:08:47] And, and I think that's, you know, the key to our success. We, we identified that early on in growth, in our growth. And that's what we, we try to stick to today. You know, our culture, I've always wanted to provide an environment and I've always wanted to provide things for our team, but I was never provided coming up in the restaurant business. The restaurant business is hard,

[00:09:11] you know, it's, it's, and it was a lot harder years ago, the hours and the, you know, just the culture. Just, it was bad, you know, and, uh, we wanted to change that. And, and I think we were successful in that. And I think that's why we have the team leader today. When you look across all those locations, do you feel like there's a, a uniform experience or does each place have its own unique gifts? I guess.

[00:09:39] Every, every place has its unique identity. Um, you know, from a, from a menu standpoint, everybody, every location does their own smoking. So we have, we have smokers in every location. We have pit guys in every location. So every location is doing their own, their own smoking. And that was, you know, we can get to that. That was another part of the growth and, and, um, trying to,

[00:10:03] trying to nail down the consistency that, that took us for a wild ride. But, um, you know, Somerville is, is the customer base is very loyal and they'll be in three, four times a week. And my management team and my serving team up there are just, you know, it's very family oriented and personally in basis. Our Charleston location is the same. We have a great core of regulars and I have

[00:10:31] some servers, we call them the golden girls, but they've been with me since day one, you know, so going on 12 years now, some of them actually go back to, uh, I have one server, uh, who I work, who works with us now, her and I started working together in 2001. Um, so just throughout the year, she's followed me and come with me to wherever I was. And, um, so, but the Charleston store sees more

[00:10:58] tourists. So, you know, we have more of a revolving tourism door through the Charleston store. Um, our Monk's corner location is the same demographics as Somerville. It's only been open two years. Um, so that one's starting to take the shape of the Somerville store. Um, then our Mount Pleasant location is, is, uh, in the, in the parking lot of a travel baseball facility that if you take time to

[00:11:27] Google, it's called Shipyard Park and it is the premier travel baseball facility on the East Coast. Wow. That thing is huge. We have five fields. Um, any, any given weekend we have tournaments from 30 to 50 teams. So from Friday through Sunday, that's, you know, takes on like a Charleston image. Almost. You have all these people coming in from all over the country to play baseball

[00:11:53] and they're coming through our doors. And then Monday through Thursday, we have our core group of recorders there. So, um, and then Myrtle Beach is Myrtle Beach. I mean, I never, if you were to ask me if I was going to open a restaurant in Myrtle Beach, I would have told you you were crazy. Um, but the opportunity presented itself and we jumped all over it and Myrtle Beach is doing great. Um, it took a, you know, it took a good year and a half to get up out of the hole. Um, but we're there

[00:12:21] now where we're actually, if you, if you look at trip advisor at all, we're very proud of trip advisor. We're, we're the number one restaurant in Myrtle Beach on trip advisor out of 800 plus restaurants. We are number seven restaurant in Charleston, which to me is mind boggling because Charleston is just a great restaurant city. Um, we're number one in Mount Pleasant. We're number one in Somerville

[00:12:46] and we're number one in Monks Court, uh, on trip advisor. So, but that trip advisor ranking in Myrtle Beach really, you know, we really stand by that. We're proud of that. Uh, I'd like to think that we bring a, uh, consistent dining experience to, uh, a location that's been known for just, I hate to say tourist traps, but you know, there's some, you know, a lot of chains and a lot of

[00:13:13] tourists, touristy restaurants up there. And, um, I like to think that we bring a breath of fresh air up that way. And, uh, we're doing pretty well up there. We're only about three blocks from the beach. If you ever gone to the country music festival in Myrtle Beach, we are exactly three and a half blocks from the main gate of country music festival. A beach town, a lot of a tourist traffic, like you say, all those chain restaurants, a little bit different environment in each of the places, some similarities. How do you maintain consistency across all those locations?

[00:13:44] I have a great team, man. I, there's no, there's no hiding the fact that it's not me. It's, you know, I have a great team. I have, I have a VP, uh, who's been with me for, uh, a little over eight years now. Um, he started as a general manager. He moved to a director of operations. And, um, in 2019, uh, I promoted him to a VP when I knew we were going to do some serious expanding.

[00:14:09] Um, my director of operations is a young lady by the name of Callie. And Callie started with me as a server when we opened the Somerville store. So she's been with me for, uh, 10 years now, started with me as a server to Somerville store. When we opened the Mount Pleasant store, which is number three, she volunteered to come and train the servers for me. And she ended up staying there

[00:14:35] and was promoted to an assistant manager and then general manager. And as of, uh, two years ago, she became a director of operations. So, um, all of my, all of my managers have come from within all of my chefs that come from within. Um, we're real big on promoting from within and growing, growing the brand, um, locally. We've talked a little bit about the business piece of it. I don't let me miss the

[00:15:03] barbecue piece. What would, uh, you know, Swig and Swan be known for, from a barbecue standpoint? You know, it's, I want to say we're, we're a full service restaurant that serves barbecue. Um, you know, you're not gonna, you're not gonna get there at 11 o'clock and have to wait in line. Um, if you come at eight o'clock at night, you're going to have the same menu offerings as you did at

[00:15:26] 11, uh, for lunch. Um, you know, we've, I pride myself in the fact that, you know, we use the data, uh, we've figured out a way to cook throughout the day and not run out. Um, and that's, you know, that's, that's what we are. We're your staple barbecue place. Like, you know, we have Lewis and Lewis is great. And Rodney is great. And Palmyra is great. And, um, everybody has their own little

[00:15:55] niche. Um, but you don't have, you know, when you come into Swig and Swan, you're, you're greeted at the door by a host or a hostess and you're set, um, at a table and you're waited on from start to finish and you're treated with just genuine hospitality from, from the minute you walk through the door. And that's probably our biggest, uh, attribute is that hospitality piece that goes along with the barbecue. Um, but you know, when you sit down, you don't have to look at a menu and

[00:16:23] decide, you know, do I want a pound? Do I want to have, you know, we fix everything in plates. So you get a single meat plate, two meat plate, three meat plate. Let us do the portioning for you. Enjoy it. And, uh, you know, it keeps people coming back multiple times a week. Yeah. You know, and, and particularly in the locations, like you say, there are tourist reliant, you know, that moves a lot of people where you don't have to stand in line. That would be a turnoff for me as a tourist. If I go to a barbecue restaurant, you know, I want to go stand in line at

[00:16:53] Peachland, you know, every now and then, but if I'm, you know, in one of the, if I'm at the beach, I won't barbecue, which I normally do. I may not want to have to deal with all that. So I want to talk a little bit about your backstory before I get there. I want you to look ahead and say, what does the future hold for Swig and Swine now in 2026 and looking ahead? You know, uh, let's see the future, the, uh, well, I can talk about the future now because I'm

[00:17:19] about two weeks away from turning the keys over, um, to our new house to my wife. Um, we are, we were in the process of building a new house over the past year. And the rule was that I was not allowed to open any new restaurants. And she just flashed me by the way, from across the room. Um, the, uh, I was not allowed to open any new restaurants until the house was done. So now

[00:17:45] that we're two weeks away from, from moving into the new house, I can say that, uh, I have started to, uh, look around, uh, the area to see what may be available. Um, not that I'm tired of Swig and Swine, but, uh, you know, we do a thing on Mondays called meet three Mondays and it is extremely popular.

[00:18:10] I mean, it's probably, you know, outside of a weekend, it is our busiest day of the week. And it's because of that meeting three. Um, and you know, there's the meeting, the good old fashioned meeting threes have slowly started to disappear. It has. Um, so I think we're going to bring that back. Um, uh, with a small, you know, barbecue implement to it. Um, but you know, part of our backstory

[00:18:39] is, uh, we lost our son a little over a year ago. Um, and his name was Lumpy. His nickname was Lumpy. His real name was Asher. Um, but, uh, you know, when, when I look at expansion, I look at a new concept and I look at Lumpy's Diner, uh, coming into play and I look at a good old fashioned soul food meeting three.

[00:19:05] So that'll be the next I'm calling and calling my shot now. Like I did in 1989, I'm calling my shot. In the next couple of years, you're going to see a new concept pop up from Swig and Swine called Lumpy's Diner. I love it. I can't wait to see it. It's definitely exciting news. And I'll tell you, Anthony, we've, uh, like many people in the audience, I've followed your story and the story of son, your son, Asher, and our prayers and thoughts have been with you certainly along that time going into the backstory

[00:19:34] a little bit more working for jaws, your country club of the Philadelphia Eagles. Did you do barbecue there? And if not, where did you get that kind of the nose for cooking live fire? You know, um, live fire, man, that just came about, but the love for pig has always been strong. Um, I grew up Italian. Um, my family's rooted in South Philadelphia and, um, there was always pig around,

[00:20:03] uh, always a pig at, at, at family gatherings. Um, my father did some time as a butcher. Uh, one of my sisters married into a German family. They raised hogs. My dad would have a refrigerated trailer on site every October and we would slaughter for the winter. Um, so I had the, the introduction to, to whole animal butchery, especially hogs early on. And, um, the pig has always been prevalent.

[00:20:32] Uh, on our dinner table. But just my love for food and, you know, when it came time for, for me to do my own thing, you know, that's where the timing, you know, I looked at the timing window. So you had Bessinger's barbecue, which I think is maybe 88 years old right now. Um,

[00:20:56] so you have home team barbecue, which is about to turn 20. So when I opened 12 years ago, home team had only been open for seven going on eight years. They were the only new barbecue to open. And I don't know how many years in the Charleston area. So Charleston was right for barbecue at the time.

[00:21:21] There was no, especially full service barbecue. There was no full service. Bessinger's was still a buffet. Home team, um, was, uh, quick service. And so that's when I, I, you know, and that goes, my son has a bunch to play and that he used to, he used to play. Well, he was a drummer. So I used to have to take him to home team every Wednesday night for the blues club. They had an open mic night.

[00:21:47] And that's really where he cut his teeth when he was young. So I would sit there at home team, and I would watch all these people come through and, you know, come down the line and get their, get their plates, get their drinks and go sit down. And I thought to myself, that's when the wheels started turning. I'm like, what if I did that? But I implemented the whole full service thing to it and the bar piece and, you know, kind of used my, my fine dining skill set,

[00:22:13] and the hospitality piece of it, uh, to do that. And that's where, that's where the wheels started turning and that's where the seeds started. Um, and that was, that was it. I gotcha. So now you, you mentioned your career in the, the U S military, the Navy. Yeah. A big man like you chose to, to get on a submarine. Now you're not quite as big as big brisket is there for black powder

[00:22:39] smokehouse, Keith inning, but a big guy like you on a submarine apart from learning how to duck, is there any kind of thing that helps you in the barbecue and the restaurant business specifically? I tell everybody that Keith's my brother. He came out first. He's a little, he got more, he's a little bigger. Um, there were people who confused you at Friday night's kickoff at the barbecue festival. Um, they said, is that, is that no two different people? Yep. Um, yeah. You know,

[00:23:08] so if you know anything about the Navy, um, the submarine is about the fewest people you could cook for. Uh, so that's kind of where my head was on that. It was either cook for 130 on submarine or cook for 5,000 on aircraft carrier. And, um, you know, I opted and I found out you got a couple more dollars a month if you volunteer for submarines. So I did that. Um, and it was a good choice. It really was a good

[00:23:37] choice. You know, I, I, uh, I learned real quick that the only thing to look forward to, uh, 600 feet underwater was a good meal. And, um, you know, you have to cook or they'll let you know that you didn't cook good. So, you know, it was baptism by fire and, um, I made a lot of lifelong friends and I got to see the world and I got to, I got to cook for a bunch of good people.

[00:24:05] We're talking with Anthony DiBernardo, owner of Swig and Swine Barbecue barbecue in South Carolina's low country in and around Charleston and across the state. He's one of more than 30 pit masters who are part of this year's Carolina barbecue festival in uptown Charlotte. You can see the views from the festival, find them at Carolina BBQ Fest's Instagram page. Be sure to follow the festival on social media. They'll have updates about upcoming events. Uh, the fall pig picking will be here right before you

[00:24:31] know it. So stay tuned for more about that. Carolina BBQ Fest.org has updates all year long. Just visit the website. In fact, you can click, get connected and stay in touch with festival updates right into your email. So Carolina BBQ Fest.org. Everybody knows proceeds from this year's festival support operation. Barbecue relief is part of the Carolina barbecue festivals, BBQ for a cause mission. That's a passion that our guest today knows a little bit about barbecue

[00:24:58] festivals, supporting charitable causes. In fact, about the time our buddy, Sweet Lou launched the Carolina barbecue festival. Anthony DiBernardo was part of the team that launched Holy Smokes in Charleston. Anthony, tell us how that came about. Um, you know, Aaron from home team and I, uh, we've always been, we've been friends for a while. And, uh, you know, we actually, Ed Randolph, uh, from handsome devil barbecue up in New Jersey was passing through town. He did a cookbook

[00:25:28] cookbook that benefited OBR and Aaron and I both had recipes in the cookbook. And Ed came to Charleston to help promote the book. We had a little event at Aaron's place. And as, you know, as the night was going on, Aaron and I were just talking about things and, you know, we're like, you know, Charleston's do for his own barbecue festival. We have, you know, we have our own wine and food festival. And at that

[00:25:54] festival, there's a small barbecue piece. Um, but nothing, nothing at the time was ever dedicated truly to barbecue. Um, and him and I had done events all over the country for other people. So we, we got the conversation started. Um, and then during right at the beginning of COVID, um, our, we have two other partners in the, in the whole event, uh, Joe Norton and John Davis.

[00:26:22] And, uh, the two of them reached out to me, uh, to pick my brain about using a piece of land that they had to do some festivals on. And I said, hold on. I said, let's, before we go any further, let me bring Aaron into this fold because him and I had already been talking about a barbecue festival. Um, so the four of us got together, we discussed it and, uh, and that was it. We launched the first Holy smokes. We, um, Aaron and I went through the list and we, the first list we had was everybody

[00:26:51] that we've done events for in the past. And that was between the two of us, that was 24 people. So those were the first 24 pitmasters that we called, um, to help us do the first Holy smokes barbecue festival. And, um, that was, uh, let's see, we're going on year six. So now, uh, last year, year five, we went, we've grown from 24 pitmasters to over 60.

[00:27:16] Wow. Um, and yeah, and we've, we've, you know, we raised, we're doing a check presentation actually next week for our local Ronald McDonald house. Um, we've already done our check presentation down in new Orleans for hogs for a cause. Um, those are our two benefactors for the event. We're 100% nonprofit. Um, the only thing we keep is enough money to pay for the location. The following year,

[00:27:42] we have to pay for the park that we use. So we, uh, we make sure we have enough money in the bank account to pay for that location every year. And then the rest of the money leftover goes and gets split between the two, the two charities. Um, two years ago, the guys from hogs for the cause came alongside of us and we went up to Greenville to Prisma Children's Hospital in Greenville. We donated a million dollars, um, to help build the hematology oncology winning up there that they did.

[00:28:12] And, uh, we were fortunate enough to go up, uh, last fall and cut the ribbon on that. We, and, um, see our name on the wall. And that was real special, real special just to see, you know, that's, you do, you do some money at so many of these events and you raise money for things that sometimes you just don't see or hear to have something tangible like that, to,

[00:28:37] to see your efforts on a wall like that. And just know that families are benefiting from your hard work, really mean a lot and really light the fire just to go out there and do it again. Yeah. Yeah. So we'll talk a little bit about the barbecue festival circuit. And as you, you kind of set up Holy Smokes, we'll talk about Carolina barbecue festival, but I know you're on the road a lot. You were just in pig beach in Queens, kind of in a back to back weekend deal with

[00:29:06] what you did in Charlotte as you're out hitting some of these other events, either, you know, as a participant or just as a guest, are you still picking up tips and ideas that you might try to use in, in the Holy Smokes festival each year? I am, you know, the thing, yes and no. And I don't mean to say this the wrong way, but man, we hit it out park with Holy Smokes

[00:29:33] barbecue festival. Okay. And, and when I, I find myself doing more consulting when I go do these other festivals as far as, you know, instead of me taking back things, I'm, I'm, I'm giving more when I go to these festivals. Yeah. Um, but I will tell you the one thing that I observed when I'm at all these festivals are the pit masters and the way they work, because I want to know who I want to invite

[00:30:03] to Holy Smokes because as we get older and we get more involved in this, in this charity and this festival, I got a lot to do, you know, we've got 3,500 people coming through those gates. I got 60 pitmasters. I got two Cisco trucks full of groceries. I got, you know, a satellite kitchen to build.

[00:30:28] I need to invite a pit master that I don't have to babysit. Yeah. I need to invite a pit master that will have everything he needs given to me on a list three months before the event. I don't have time to babysit. I don't have time to track people down. I don't have time to, you know, that's the one thing I've learned over the five years of Holy Smokes and doing all these other events is who I can count on

[00:30:52] to come in and knock it out of the park and be very low maintenance. Yeah. That's who I, that's who I, I build my team around. That's a great lesson to learn. And I know there were some of those pitmasters at the Carolina barbecue festival that have participated. Um, and even if they weren't there, maybe their team was, I'm thinking of Southern smoke in particular of the folks that were at the festivals. Now that we've kind of come out of that, did you see anybody in particular that you thought,

[00:31:20] huh, they might be somebody we'd want to add to the list? Um, yes, my buddy, my buddy Gary over there, John G's, um, just a super nice guy. Yeah. Um, just gets it, you know, just he's, you know, that's the other thing I look for the level of ego. Um, and cause I, I like to think that I really

[00:31:46] don't have one. Um, I am who I am. You take it or leave it. And, uh, I really think that, that Garen fits that mold too, you know, I mean, he's, he, he's a great cook and, um, you know, I just, I just love what he is about. It's, it's, uh, the family element to his whole operation. And, uh, that's, that's the kind of people that we want to know the most.

[00:32:13] Wow. What a great compliment. Maybe a little bit of a scoop. We've, we've been proud to have Garen on the show a few times and we definitely are big fans of his as well. As we talk a little more about the barbecue festival before we wrap it up, maybe some last thoughts about, you know, how did the festival weekend go for you and, and your thoughts as a first timer at the queen city's barbecue event? Man, it was hot as hell. It's not always that hot.

[00:32:38] Holy cow. I'm like, you know, it's funny because I don't schedule any festivals in the summertime because it's just so dang hot. I'm getting older and I just can't do it like I used to when I was younger. And, um, I'm thinking, ah, you know what? It's, it'll be okay. It won't be that hot. Boy, was I wrong. It was hot. Um, and then my dumb ass decided to do live fire on the TMG pits. So I had that going for me in the corner with all the other TMG pits,

[00:33:08] in the corner with all the other TMG pits on the asphalt under a black tent. Um, yeah, but it was good, man. It was a great event. Um, I think it was, I think it was very well organized. Um, we did, I enjoyed the Friday night piece, you know, kind of just kicking back and getting to meet some of the guys that I haven't met before. Yeah. Um, we did not stay around for the Saturday after party. We boogied it back to, uh, to Charleston, like you alluded to that was,

[00:33:37] uh, we've been on the road the entire month of April, except for Easter weekend. Wow. Um, so it was, we were just ready to get home knowing that we had to turn around, uh, this past Thursday and fly to New York to do the pig beach event. Um, we were ready just to get home and, and, uh, and wind down for a little bit, but yeah, I think it was a great event. Um, I look

[00:34:05] old Lou, I would, I would debrief with him in a couple of weeks, kind of give him my feedback on, on some of the things I took from that festival, but all in all, I think it was great. Um, the crowd, I really, I really enjoyed the people that we cooked for. I mean, there was some, some enjoyed meeting a lot of them. They were good people. Yeah. And, uh, we definitely enjoyed getting a chance to meet you and sample your great dish. Uh, enjoyed that very much. It was one of my favorite bites, uh, of the festival. I would

[00:34:34] certainly say the beef and cheddar, man, those fast food guys got nothing on you and beef and cheddar. That was a real deal. You're really good stuff. So you've been very generous with your time. I want to let you get back to that, that rest and relaxation such that it is in restaurant life here off of a trip and maybe open up my way to do a taco party for 50 right now. Well, let me get you to share just a little bit of something. Uh, maybe you want other people to know about that we haven't touched much on or that you want to explain some more and we'll

[00:35:02] let you get to the party, man. You know, I don't know, just check out Holy smokes. Um, you know, a lot of, a lot of talk about barbecue festivals, a lot of talk about, you know, all these big events, but, um, you know, research the festivals you're going to who's benefiting from those festivals. You know, is there, is there, are there some people lying in their

[00:35:28] pockets or is all that money going to some charitable organizations? And, um, I think that's really what, what helps us stand out with Holy smokes. And, uh, if you like barbecue, you like live music, you like beautiful weather, you like Charleston and the second Saturday of November is the place for you and riverfront park, Holy smokes, barbecue festival, over 60 pit masters

[00:35:53] from all over the country. We bring in, um, uh, you know, we do, we set ours up differently. It's not like individual tents. So you're not going to have to go to 60 different tents. We set up four villages. So we, we, we get those guys to team up on dishes in the villages. So you can, you know, there's four villages over 20 plates of food from four villages. Um, and then if you go VIP,

[00:36:16] we bring in six chefs from all over the country, like big name chefs too. And, uh, I always look forward, um, the guys from Pest in New Orleans, um, come up every year to help us do this thing, man. And they're great guys. And I love they past couple of years, they've been doing this red fish on the half shelf and it's just remarkable. And, um, but yeah, Holy smokes barbecue festival.

[00:36:41] Um, it's a great ticket for the money and 100% of all the fun, all the money we make gets split down the middle to our local run of McDonald's house and hogs for a cause, which gives grants to families dealing with pediatric brain cancer. And that my friends is the final word from Anthony D. Bernardo owner and smoke man for swig and swine barbecue in the South Carolina low country and elsewhere across the Palmetto

[00:37:08] state. Anthony, thank you so much for joining us, man. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. You've been listening to the low and slow barbecue show sponsored by the Carolina barbecue festival, Carolina, BBQ fest.org. Visit the website, sign up to stay in touch and be sure to follow Carolina barbecue festival on Instagram, Facebook to our audience. Thank you for listening to the low and slow barbecue show. If you like what you hear, share our podcast with your food loving friends, please give us a five star rating on your favorite stream. Visit low, slow,

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[00:38:05] on the mesh network. Find them all at mesh.tv. That's where you'll also find me and the low and slow barbecue show. I'm Sugar Willard reminding you that for the best barbecue and the best barbecue podcast, make it low and slow. You've been listening to the mesh and online media network of shows and

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