Pure Grit is the best BBQ in NYC, if you don’t eat meat
📸: @puregritbbq
Picture this: three avid carnivores at a BBQ competition walking from tent to tent, chins dripping in rendered fat, devouring some of the juiciest, tenderest barbecue NYC has to offer. Suddenly, they land upon the only tent without a meaty aroma to match the smokiness, and the first (and only) all-women team they’ve seen. The morsel sitting on a tortilla chip in front of them vaguely resembles pulled pork, invitingly dressed in barbecue sauce, pickled jalapeños, and what looked to be nacho cheese. The carnivores are enthusiastically asked if they’re ready to try some jackfruit barbecue. Inundated in meat sweats from the barbecue they had previously consumed, they nod yes, eager to give their eccrine glands a break. What followed was the discovery of a precious flavor, smoky but simultaneously refreshing, and accessible to all eaters. Later that day, the all-women team of Pure Grit BBQ went on to win the “I Can’t Believe it’s Not Bacon” award at Pig Island NYC with their plant-based, gluten free jackfruit nachos.
📸 @nycbbq
Pure Grit founder Kerry Fitzmaurice admits she missed barbecue and comfort food after becoming a plant-based eater. She wanted to create a concept that would allow everyone with specific dietary preferences and restrictions, including celiac and gluten sensitivity, to indulge in those genres of food that had become so elusive to them. Dishes like their take on chicken and waffles give vegans and gluten free eaters access to an iconic food that they typically wouldn’t be able to indulge in. A soy-based chicken alternative is battered and fried fresh then stacked on corn-based waffles. This was one of the dishes Fitzmaurice tirelessly researched and developed to include on Pure Grit’s menu.
The spirit that brought this concept to life exactly 1 year ago today is in the name. Grit drove Fitzmaurice forward through not only recipe development obstacles, but a four-year delay to open caused by COVID. The research required to develop recipes that would go on to win barbecue awards while remaining plant-based and gluten free was extensive, but with the help of their line of barbecue sauces and seasonings that are advertised for plant-based proteins and vegetables, Pure Grit is up and running in Gramercy slinging extraordinary plant-based, gluten free eats everyday. They also do pop-ups that you can always find on the 8it app plus an additional location at The Barclays Center during Nets games (see you next season).