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New BBQ restaurant 'Oinkadoodlemoo' opens in Englewood

Chef Mark Peebles boasts barbeque is life-long passion

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By Doug Page, Staff Writer Updated 12:14 PM Tuesday, November 17, 2009

ENGLEWOOD — A man who barbecues — a serious smoke man, not a backyard lather on the bottled sauce guy — is a rare bird.

He will stay up all night to nurse his smoker to maintain the correct temperature. He will drive miles for just the right cut. He will spend years formulating his dry rub. His sauce is his statement of faith.

Ralph Gamberdella is a trained chef with an impeccable culinary background and years in the restaurant business. He knows he is not The Man. That would be Mark Peebles, a former pharmaceutical salesman.

“Barbecue has been my passion all of my life,” said Peebles as he wielded a delicate knife to dissect a smoked brisket. Now he’s teaching the trained chef to barbecue.

Together Gamberdella and Peebles have opened Oinkadoodlemoo in JD’s Frozen Custard. While the landmark custard shop is closed in the winter, Oinkadoodlemoo is cranking out the barbecue and sides. When the custard shop opens in the spring, the boys and their crew will handle the food side of the operation.

“We both had a need,” said Dan Gress of JD’s. The barbecue boys wanted frozen custard for their burgeoning catering business, and Gress fell in love with the barbecue at first bite.

Which is not surprising. Peebles is a serious barbecuer, successfully competing on the Kansas City circuit — which along with Jack Daniels — is one of the premiere showcases for the ultimate American culinary art form.

As the name implies, Oinkadoodlemoo offers pork, chicken and beef barbecues. The meat is dry rubbed — don’t ask for the spice recipe — then smoked in the boys’ custom trailer in the parking lot overnight.

It is presented with a choice of sauces — again, don’t ask — a spicy, sweet sauce, and both forms of the famed Carolina sauces, mustard-based and vinegar-base.

Just as much time, thought and creativity has gone into the sides: slaw, green beans and machessemo (mac and cheese).

“We’re starting small,” Peebles said. “But we have big plans. Hard work can pay off.”