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It’s All About Fun For This
Barbecue
King And His Queen
Kansas City may be home to the world-famous Gates
Barbecue, and may have a reputation as a barbecue capital. But
little Hamilton, MO is also famous for its barbecue, judging by the
winning plaques and trophies on the wall of Mr. Bill’s BS and BBQ.
The spacious metal building behind the home of Bill and Pam Englert
on the outskirts of town includes a well-equipped kitchen, storage
room and a huge banquet room that seats more than 100 at a time. The
room has been the scene of many wedding dinners, family reunions and
holiday dinners and is a testament to the cooking skills of this
fun-loving couple.
Mr. Bill’s BS and Barbecue grew out of
Bill Englert’s love of cooking. “I was one of seven kids and
everyone of us had to take turns doing chores at home,” he recalls
in his boisterous drawl. “I only liked cooking.”
As is the cu stom in most U. S.
households, Bill specializes in the meat area. When he married Pam
Kinne, who also liked cooking, he met his match in the baked goods
deparatment. They’ve always cooked for crowds, especially when they
camp at Deer Run RV Park at Lake of the Ozarks. But for the past
decade or so, they’ve made a second career, or at least a fun
sideline out of the cooking.
It all began in earnest in 1985 when
Bill constructed his first meat cooker and decided to try his hand
at the barbecue contests that were getting started in Missouri. He
entered the Cameron July 4 cook-off and won first in all four
categories. “That gave me the fever,” Bill admits. He got ambitious
enough to take his cooker to Omaha for the River City Roundup, where
the team earned seventh overall out of 82 teams. That placing didn’t
quite satisfy Bill, so he went to work on his recipes, picking up
tips from other seasoned veterans. When he followed a tip to use
white pepper instead of black, the winnings grew.
In 2001, the Englerts took their skills
to the Missouri State Fair, where they won some top honors,
thrusting them into the American Royal, where they placed third in
chicken and 11th overall. That distinction earned the Englerts a
trip to the Jack Daniels Invitational in Tennessee.
The Tennessee trip featured 60 cooks
selected from all over the world. To help cheer the Hamilton team
on, some 37 friends and relatives volunteered to help. Surrounded by
professional cooks who were deadly serious, the Hamilton team
somehow became a favorite of the food TV network, especially when
the Englerts earned second in desserts and seventh in pork.
Today, the Hamilton BBQ team enters only
one contest a year because their catering business has mushroomed.
That business grew from giving away their contest leftovers, then
getting orders from the beneficiaries. They started getting special
requests for the meats, then Pam got involved with the side dishes.
The new house the Englerts built in 1994 featured a full kitchen in
the basement, with plenty of storage space for food and equipment.
Then, in 2002, the couple was ready to quit the contests and the
cooking or build a new building for their operation. “The stairs
were just too much,” admits Pam. When Bill slipped on icy steps
catering a dinner at the J. C. Penney Museum in Hamilton, the shed
became a must.
Now the
couple and their assorted children, Pam’s parents and friends pitch
in to cook and cater, with between 50 and 60 events in their new
banquet room. They do Christmas
Shae’s Place In Gallatin A
Unique Blend
Of Eclectic And Antique With
Lots
Of Homemade Goodies
It would be a given to walk into a
restaurant like Shae’s Place in the River Market in Kansas City.
With its original hardwood floors,
stamped tin ceilings and massive staircase with copper accents,
the unique restaurant located just off the square in
Gallatin , MO wows its first-time patrons. They’re usually amazed at
the harmonious blend of antique surroundings with
eclectic metal bistro tables. They feel pampered by
the youthful but extremely attentive and courteous wait staff.
“This is rural Missouri?” they might
even ask at the sight of an honest-to-goodness chef in a white hat
in the kitchen.
They’re less surprised by the good food
that emanates from that kitchen, especially since the homemade
breads that Shae’s is becoming famous for originated right here in
Northwest Missouri, passed down through the generations of the
owner’s family.
John and Willa Bundy had originally
planned to open just a bread and pastry shop for their daughter,
Shae. After graduating from college with degrees in technical
writing and web design and marrying Hamilton classmate Bryant
Curtis, she planned to make the family bread recipes the
cornerstone of the new business.
As father, John Bundy explains, the
building they bought seemed to beg for a grander scheme that just a
bakeshop. With Willa’s vision and attention to decorator details,
the business expanded into a restaurant that is quickly evolving
into one of Northwest Missouri’s premier gathering spots. It
features a unique luncheon menu with items named after the Bundy
children (Jesse Burgers, for example, are named after their youngest
and come in a choice of three sizes with different toppings on a
delicious homemade bun). Customers can enjoy a full salad,
soup and dessert bar full of homemade goodies and more family
recipes. The noon meal has packed in the customers in this county
seat town, even though the Bundys had a “soft opening” a few months
ago. They plan a grand opening in September and will give tours of
the second story banquet hall. The hall got its first major event
when Gallatin High School held its prom there last spring. The
massive room can accommodate a few hundred people and boasts a
grand piano and a stage for live entertainment. Shae’s
Place will even rent out their unique banquet furniture and linens
as well as the entire hall for weddings, receptions and business
meetings. The exposed brick walls are a perfect backdrop for
commemorative photos and John stresses the family atmosphere that is
smoke-free and alcohol-free.
The Bundys have a love of North Missouri
that causes them to want to give back to the area. Willa grew up in
the Jamesport area and John served a full time church mission here
in 1976, growing lots of good memories and making many lifetime
friends.
When they moved to the area to operate a
school for troubled teens, John had a chance to dig into his family
history and found that his great-great grandfather, Edmond Nelson,
owned a ferry that crossed the Grand River into Adam Ondi-Ahman, so
his roots are deeper than just the businesses the Bundys operate.
Restaurant namesake Shae Curtis uses
most of her talents in one of the adjacent businesses but sometimes
helps out as a substitute baker . She proudly notes that her parents
are the owners of the restaurant and that each of the children in
the family have made a contribution, even the daughter who is an
avid reader, with a reading nook in her honor.
Papa John points just as proudly to
Shae, noting, “She is an extraordinary person,” with a recently
completed musical album featuring her own compositions and
selections she plays on the guitar.
The entire family is pleased with seeing
people leave Shae’s Place happy and full. “People are excited to
have something like this,” says Shae.
A guide to quality living in Northwest Missouri
Rural Living
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