(02/12/08)

NYC BBQ: Dr. BBQ Joins Southern Hospitality

This has been in the works for a while. Ray Lampe, most famous for his success on the competition circuit and his popular Dr. BBQ cookbooks, is now the executive chef at Justin Timberlake's Manhattan BBQ eatery Southern Hospitality.

The curious thing about this major personnel change is that it was announced—if that's what you want to call it—so quietly. I'd heard rumblings as early as December, but I hadn't seen anything in writing until a grilling article by Lampe in the February 4 issue of People Magazine credited the author as Southern Hospitality's execitive chef.

Maybe getting scooped by People is the reason there's been nary a mention of Lampe's joining Southern Hospitality on restaurant sites like Grub Street and Eater. Back in June, a Grub Street reporter didn't get her way at the Southern Hospitality's opening night party, while reporters from People got first class treatment and access. There was some grumbling (read: whining) soon after, so maybe the only Southern Hospitality news you'll hear from those camps is bad news. Just yesterday Eater ran a piece on the imminent fall of another Timberlake restaurant.

It wasn't until a few days ago that the Southern Hospitality website itself mentioned Lampe. The understated redesign no longer features "Sexy Back" as background music. Maybe it's a sign that they're ready to focus on the food and are now trying to succeed on the merit of the restaurant rather than the celebrity of the owner. That's a good thing. But if Southern Hospitality was a chick magnet before Ray Lampe came aboard, I can only imagine what it'll be like now.

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