“Our style is completely different from the traditional smoked barbecue,” says Clem Pantalone, founder and owner of the Pennsylvania culinary institution that bears his name. “What’s happening with Food Network is that people are getting very educated about barbecue. They’re finally starting to appreciate that there’s not just one good way of doing it. I mean, I love good, slow-smoked barbecue, but our initial step is searing that meat over a very, very intense bonfire, and then we slow-cook. So we kind of reverse the process that most places use.” This method was the result of a “eureka moment” after Pantalone opened the first Clem’s roadside barbecue, on Rt. 22 in Blairsville in 1994. “I discovered that by doing it this way I retained a lot more flavor in the meat, not to mention that we lost 10 percent less during the cooking process, which is a lot of money. When you’re talking about three dollars a pound on ribs—that’s 30 cents a pound you’re saving.”

Pantalone was born in 1961 in Greensburg, Pa., east of Pittsburgh, and his family was associated with a trio of popular Italian restaurants in that area—Carbones, Rizzo’s, and the Sunset Café. “My grandmother was a Carbone,” he says. “Rizzo’s was owned by a great friend of the family and the Sunset Café was a big Italian restaurant owned by the Pantalone family. My dad was a funeral director, so we were all service-oriented.” Pantalone enrolled at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1979 as a business major. He started a successful vending machine company while still at IUP and later owned a couple of bars/restaurants. “But I sold them. I just wanted to create this little, one-man show.”
   
He moved his roadside operation from Blairsville to Port Matilda in 2000 and what started as a “tent village” became a series of wooden shacks, walls of coolers and storage units and an open, cinder-block pit where he burned a cord of wood every day. However, the recently opened I-99 extension caused him to lose about a third of his over-the-counter business and plans were made to relocate once again. By the time you read this, the Port Matilda Clem’s will be moved a few miles down the road, right off the Tipton/Grazierville exit on I-99. “It came to a head that we really needed to get a building,” Pantalone explains. “But we still need that outside atmosphere that we provide, and that’s what we’re going to be doing down at the Tipton exit. So we’ll have a proper building, a proper kitchen and such, but we’re still going to be able to serve and do our main grilling and fire-cooking outside. The plan was to move right after Memorial Day, but now we’re going to wait until after the high school graduations. That’s such high volume for us. Those kids really get into the pork sandwiches.” Changes are also under way at Clem’s State College location, at Brewsky’s Bottle Shop on East Branch Road, which opened last year. “They’re going to take out that landscaping that’s right in front of the parking lot, put up picnic tables and get a smoker. That was the plan when we were looking around State College for a spot. For us to keep the prices where they are, we need to do a lot of volume. Our food costs, compared to most restaurants, are almost double, so it would be difficult to put out a $16 rack of ribs in State College because of the overhead. But the volume may make up for it. We keep the same price wherever we’re at—Tipton, State College or Raystown Lake, where we have a summer operation. There’s a consistency with the barbecue, the price…even the uniform.” He laughs and adds, “I wear the same thing every day—basically a black t-shirt and jeans. So the idea is to keep the product consistent and sell a lot of it. Peak weeks we go through as much as 15,000 pounds. The ribs are about half the volume—the dollar volume—then pork and then the chicken. It’s about 50 percent, 30 percent, 20 percent.”

Pantalone also admits that the name is fortuitous—a catchy, one-syllable nickname, actually an abbreviated, Americanized version of his given name, Clement—that’s become a veritable buzzword for barbecue excellence. Now, thanks to his growing catering business, Clem’s is more popular than ever. “Our summer business was probably triple what our January/February business was and that’s why I developed the catering, so we could get through the slower months,” he explains. “Now, catering’s about 40 percent of our business. The nice thing about it is that it’s very limited, it’s not sophisticated in any way, but we’re doing about 40 weddings this year. That’s about double what we did last year. So every year we seem to be doubling on that, and the thing is, some people are looking for something that’s not sophisticated, where they can kick back and relax and take whatever we’re offering, which is the black plates and a lot of barbecue on the table.” ~SCM

Fat Jack’s Six Pack Bottle Shop
By Jesse Cramer

Holding up two fingers, Tony Sapia, director of operations for Fat Jack’s Six Pack Bottle Shop, says he has two specialties. “Ice cold beer. And barbecue.” Going on its ninth year of operation, Fat Jack’s continues to be a staple of barbecue food in the area, and Sapia, a native of State College, loves throwing himself into the business his father started. “We’re excited everyday to make barbecue,” Sapia says of his day-to-day philosophy for the establishment. And when it comes to anything related to barbecue, Sapia knows his stuff. “Barbecue traditionally has been a method of cooking to keep smoke in. Everything is cooked at a temperature of 150 to 200 degrees and cooked slowly. Pork shoulders, for instance, take 14 hours. We use red oak and sassafras wood which gives a distinct flavor to the meat, unique to Pennsylvania.” The sign above the counter says it all: “The Ring of Pink Color in all of Our Meats indicates that they have been slowly smoked with wood. This ‘smoke ring’ is the sign of Genuine Bar-b-que.” And for Sapia, the purpose of Fat Jack’s is simply great food for an affordable price.

Fat Jack’s Six Pack Bottle Shop started as a gas station in 1973. “You can still see where the stations were,” Tony remembers, pointing to divots in the parking lot. “And that island in the center was where the pump was.” Tony’s father transformed the business into strictly a bottle shop, before adding the barbecue in 2000. Since then, Tony has operated Fat Jack’s with his father; the eatery adds a bit of variety to their current restaurants. Sammark Inc., the parent company of Fat Jack’s, also owns Tony’s Big Easy, Candy Bar & Lounge, and Lulu’s Nightspot, three bars in the heart of downtown. But given the roadside location of Fat Jack’s and the history behind it, Sapia wanted a departure from his other businesses. “Variety is the key,” Sapia says to explain his business philosophy. The decision to open a barbecue place was the answer to a simple question: “What food allows us to be part of the roadside attraction?”

And after all the different iterations of Fat Jack’s that have existed throughout its history, Sapia still believes in the basic ideal: fantastic barbecue with that rich, smoky flavor. “What the smoke flavor brings to the meat is the basic highlight to the food,” Sapia adds, striking at the core of his barbecue philosophy. “We’ve been getting back to the basics since we’ve opened.” ~SCM

Fat Jack’s Marinade Rub (make sure you rub with love)

¼ cup smoked paprika
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup salt
4 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chili or paprika flakes

Prepared rub mix may be kept in a sealed container in a dry, dark area for up to one year. The recipe below is for beef brisket, but this recipe can be used on all meats. Rub one beef brisket (5-10 lbs.) with prepared marinade. Place in pan, cover with foil and let stand overnight in refrigerator.

The following day, place brisket in shallow baking pan, cover with foil and bake at 200 degrees for six hours until tender. When done, slice thin and serve with your favorite barbecue sauce on the side.

Doan’s Bones
By Larry Jacobs

Brandon Corvin has loved to cook for as long as he can remember.

Born in State College in 1982, he was raised in Huntingdon and, during his high school years—when he acquired the nickname “Doan”—he was a good guy to have around for impromptu gatherings and cookouts. “After hours and at parties, I was the one building the fire,” Brandon says. “I was always cooking stuff and, of course, I wanted to go to school for hotel/restaurant management.”

However, his plans for a culinary education were curtailed suddenly when, at the age of 17, he had a serious motorcycle accident that required three major knee surgeries. “He broke his femur, and so the whole bone in his leg died,” recalls Anita Corvin, Brandon’s mother and business partner. “He was in a wheelchair for over a year and had to be home-schooled.” Standing 18 hours a day in a restaurant was out of the question, so Anita bought the “new” Whipple Dam Store, a gas station/general store that opened in the 1940s and is located across the street from an iconic, log cabin structure that was the “original” Whipple Dam Store. The plan was for her and Brandon to run the business. “It was something he could do where he wouldn’t have to walk a lot,” she explains. “But he said, ‘There’s no way I’m sitting behind a counter all day. I just won’t do it.’ I ended up doing it and we both hated it. So one day I said, “Let’s go to Clem’s.”

The pilgrimage to the Port Matilda barbecue spot, owned by Clem Pantalone, the unofficial godfather of fire-cooked cuisine in central Pennsylvania, inspired Brandon and Anita to think about starting a rib shack of their own. They began to brainstorm, tossing names back and forth until “Doan’s Bones” was mentioned as a possible moniker. While they thought the name had potential, they also found it hilarious. “We laughed about it the whole way home,” Anita says. When Doan’s Bones opened for business in 2003, it was merely a fire pit in a tent located behind the “new” Whipple Dam Store. Eventually they expanded, buying an “Amish structure” to house the fire pit. “A 10 x 10 shack is what it was,” Anita explains. “And then we just cut a hole out for a service window.” Brandon, meanwhile, continued to cultivate his own barbecue style. “I did trial and error and every wrong way until I perfected it to the way I wanted it,” he says with a laugh. “Really, I had no idea how to grill ribs until I started. I just did it.”

In 2006 they opened a second location in Centre Hall at a classic 1950s eatery called the Frosty Shop. “That was a two-year lease we got into,” Brandon says. “We saw a really good opportunity down there and actually bought the business and then rented the location.” By the time the lease expired, Sheetz had bought the property, so Doan’s Bones moved that operation to State College, leasing a space in the Uni-Mart building on Whitehall Road last December. As for the Whipple Dam location, Anita had sold the “new” store several years before but Doan’s Bones continued to operate behind the building. “Then we found out, sort of under the radar, that the log cabin was going to be for rent,” Anita says. “Brandon and I decided to rent it, then we asked the owner to sell it.” The owner balked at the offer, but once he learned about the renovations the Corvins were planning to make, changed his mind. The purchase was finalized in August 2007; construction began six months later and the new, improved Whipple Dam location opened on May 23, 2008. “We only did two little additions to the side of the building, to add restrooms and what-not,” Brandon says. “But overall, the whole theme of the log cabin, once you’re in the dining room is…well, it is what it was.”

Business is thriving at Whipple Dam, the menu is massive, and Brandon’s distinctive approach to open pit barbecue has earned the sort of devoted fan base normally reserved for the legendary Clem’s. Brandon now admits that the most difficult part of the job is saying goodbye to his wife and three daughters (ages seven, three and two) every day. “It’s a lotta work,” he admits. “And sometimes it’s tough to leave.” When asked if he’ll ever ride a motorcycle again, he nods, deadpan. “As soon as I sell my millionth rack o’ ribs.” ~SCM

WHEN: 8pm
WHERE: Millbrook Marsh Nature Center
The event is free, but participants must register in advance by calling 814.231.3071 or visiting www.crpr.org

WHEN: 2:30pm
WHERE: Millbrook Marsh Nature Center
For more info call 814.231.3071

WHEN: 1pm-3pm
WHERE: PSU campus
Participants can register online at www.outofthedarkness.org

WHEN: 9am
For more info visit www.juniorbaroque.org

WHEN: March 26, 6:30 - 10 pm
WHERE: Penn Stater Conference Center and Hotel.
To purchase tickets or for more information, call 466-7303 or visit www.wishgreaterpa.org

WHEN: 6pm
WHERE: Mount Nittany Middle School
For more information visit www.scasd.org