Start-Up Lesson: If perfect is the enemy of good, then better should be its best friend.
Perfect is the enemy of good - Voltaire (1770)
Do something cringeworthy - Guy Kowasaki (2017)
Beat your last good idea - Jenny Mauric (Yesterday)
Words of wisdom throughout the ages intended to motivate. To birth your idea. To build, as entrepreneurs say — which actually does make me cringe — an MVP or minimum viable product.
I am proud to say that I did that, but I am prouder still that good doesn’t keep me from better. Every night I go to bed thinking, “how can I make it better?”
In March of 2019, while in Austin, Texas I lamented that as a plant-based eater I was excluded from the rich culture of BBQ. From that pain point I dreamt about opening a plant-based BBQ joint that used whole plants and rich BBQ traditions and techniques. I was going to open a fast casual restaurant in NYC and call it No Bones BBQ. Talk about not letting perfect get in my way, what did I really know about BBQ or running a restaurant, in NYC of all places?
“We make it plant-based and gluten-free, you make it whatever you’re into.”
I enlisted the help of Mostly Vegan chef Nikki King Bennett, Pitmasters from Top Gun Barbecue and Fools Gold BBQ to teach me what I didn’t know and help me with recipes and menu items. I consulted with Sean Ludwig of NYC BBQ Weekly (www.nycbbq.com) who knows more about BBQ dining then anyone I had ever met. I assembled a team that included millennial buddha and creative director Jenny Mauric. Together we researched, listened, learned, cooked, smoked and created a brand that we believed in, built on inclusion with a nostalgic nod to simpler times. Little did we know those times would become our reality.
Tasting BBQ in Staten Island with Top Gun BBQ (left) and there’s Jenny Mauric and Mostly Vegan - Nikki King Bennett (right) at the Beer, Bourbon BBQ Festival before Covid
Ultimately we didn’t get the No Bones name and we didn’t get a restaurant. The name was taken and, prior to COVID, the real estate market in NYC was brutally expensive. So when the city shut down in March 2020, and everyone went home, we were fortunate not to have signed a lease. But we did have a name - Pure Grit BBQ.
I did not want to lose momentum or the attention of our incredible team and loyal supporters, so we needed a better idea, quickly pivoting from fast casual restaurant to consumer packaged goods. We hustled to build an online shop and we refined our message: “We make it plant-based and gluten-free, you make it whatever you’re into.” We never intended on having an e-commerce shop or selling products, but that is what we are doing.
Sean Ludwig of NYC BBQ covered our pivot here.
“In the end, it has become less about bringing plants to BBQ and more about what BBQ culture brings to cooking.”
I have spent my quarantine time cooking and experimenting with our recipes and sauces. I am new to smoking but quickly realized that it’s fun and, more importantly, easy. The cornerstone of BBQ cooking is the basics - salt, pepper, rub, mustard, BBQ sauce, hot sauce, mayo, ketchup, vinegar, etc. The more that I cooked mains and sides, the more I leaned on these hard working condiments to not only grace the plate as a finishing touch, but to be my beginning, middle and end. I let them do the heavy lifting so that I can keep it simple. In the end, it has become less about bringing plants to BBQ and more about what BBQ culture brings to cooking.
A vegan BBQ joint knowing very little about the fast casual space or BBQ is good, but I spent a year learning, listening and iterating to make it better. Falling in love with BBQ culture and passion made me curious to learn everything about it. Curiosity led me to start Pure Grit BBQ. “BBQ for All” became how to create condiments to inspire everyone to pile more plants on your plate.
“What I do know is that Pure Grit BBQ was better than good, but Pure Grit Market™️ is even better and bigger.”
While we think every kitchen should include a stove top smoker, we ultimately want to provide you with the products that make your life simpler and more beautiful. And to us, those products are condiments, sauces, rubs and spices that can be consumed alone or combined in infinite ways to create something new. Today we call them the “With/Ands™️ - Designed to Combine,” but we are trying to beat that as well.
What I do know is that Pure Grit BBQ was better than good, but Pure Grit Market™️ is even better and bigger. Inspired by Ms.Tootsie of Snow’s BBQ Original Market where everyone gathered to buy everyday essentials along with Texas BBQ, we are also more than BBQ. Our Rub, BBQ Sauce and The Hot Stuff are our first With/Ands™️, and more will follow.
A bottle from our first run of sauces. This BBQ sauce quickly became the cornerstone of my cooking and got me interested in exploring how simple and delicious cooking with condiments can be.
Our ambition is to bring everyone the With/Ands™️ for everything from family recipes to take-out to leftovers to creating something new from one of our recipes. We will continue to make everything plant-based and gluten-free, and we hope that you continue to make it whatever you’re into, even if it’s just good.
