BBQ - Tootsie Tomanetz

[bunniefuu]

[guitar music playing]

[Tootsie] During the week,
I work as a custodian.

I try to stay busy
with manual things that I have to do.

I'm just one little peon,
but I try to help the school along.

When I go to bed on Friday nights,
my alarm is set for : a.m.

And I get to Lexington at two.

I put the meat on...

so eight o'clock we're ready for business.

Barbecuing, working at the school,

it keeps me young,
it keeps me thinking, "What next?"

I do the best I can at the age that I am,
and I keep rolling.

[Vivaldi's "Winter" playing]

[cows lowing]

[Daniel] Texas has a lot of iconic foods.

Chili is actually our state food...

but nobody goes on chili road trips.

{\an }In Texas, it's barbecue that...
that brings that out in people.

We have this shared love of barbecue
that makes you want to go travel around...

visit these different restaurants,

try the different styles.

You drive three hours,

you show up at eight o'clock
in the morning,

the people are already in line.

People who drive all that way,

they aren't doing it
so they can get the same

they can get in Austin or Houston.

They're getting something different.

The first time I went,
all that way to Snow's BBQ,

it... it really just blew me away.

This is special.

[Kerry]
Appreciate everybody.

If we can get you anything,
don't hesitate to holler.

Men's bathroom's here against the fence,
ladies' in the building.

[man laughing]

Ice chest full of beer there,
y'all help yourself.

[Daniel] There's an energy
about coming to Snow's.

Kerry Bexley, he's the owner,
he's walking around

-handing out cold beers...
-Whoo!

[Daniel] ...calling out
raffle ticket numbers.

Fifty-four.

You can have a trip
to the front of the line.

You can have a T-shirt or cap,
% off or bottle of sauce...

[Daniel] Getting the food
and coming back,

the tables look right over the pit area.

And soon you realize
that really part of the whole event

of going to Snow's is...

the famous pitmaster,

Tootsie Tomanetz.

[Clay] Tootsie's been cooking
for over years.

She's an icon in the barbecue community.

{\an }And she is one of the hardest
working people I've ever met.

[Daniel] At years old,

standing next to a giant fire,

scooping those coals with a shovel,
sweating like crazy...

it's a process that is just incredibly
painful for a -year-old to do,

let alone an -year-old.

This is a woman
who is at the top of her craft.

In , Snow's was named
the number one spot in Texas barbecue.

And I think a lot of that is the fact
that so many cuts of meat that she cooks

are not just good, but, like, special.

And when you know how much effort
went into that barbecue,

there's no greater reward
for taking a long trip to a barbecue joint

than a hug from Tootsie.

[organ playing]

[congregation singing]
[span style="style "]♪ Holy, holy, holy, Lord ♪[/i]

♪ God of power and might ♪

♪ Heaven and Earth
Are full of Your glory ♪

[Tootsie] Growing up in a small town...

one day a year

we would have a community picnic.

Everybody fried up chicken,

and they had potato salads
and dewberry cobblers.

[singing continues]

And in the afternoon, we'd play baseball.

To think back, the fun that we had...

I miss that.

Nowaday, we've moved
too far away from each other.

[dog barking]

It seems like everybody's too fast,

in too big a rush, and don't have time.

Barbecue brings people together.

It gives the people time
to visit with each other more.

People just kind of slow down
to speak to one another

and look at the bright side of life.

A lot of people don't realize
what a wonderful feeling that is.

[Daniel] So, you think the idea
of coming out this early in the morning

for barbecue is ridiculous,

you sit down, take a couple bites,
and you're like,

"This all makes sense."

[man laughs]

[man] Let me get ten pounds.

[cows lowing]

[announcer] [span style="style "]Forty-four pick up.[/i]
[span style="style "]Forty-four pick up.[/i]

[cows lowing]

-[man ] How are you?
-[man ] Good, you?

[man ] All right.

[Tootsie] I ain't gonna
make it to church tomorrow.

-[woman] Oh, okay.
-[Tootsie laughs]

[Daniel] If you go back in the 's,

Texas barbecue wasn't so much a food,
it was an event.

[auctioneer jargon]

If you talked about a barbecue,

the whole town was gonna
come together to celebrate.

[auctioneer jargon]

They were gonna celebrate
the Fourth of July,

sometimes even Christmas.

A rail line
might finally make it to a town.

That would be their celebration,
a big barbecue.

Here in Central Texas,
that tradition has gone on and on.

[Kerry] Barbecues on a Saturday,
it's totally a Texan thing.

{\an }It's just a weekly event around the area.

Anytime you barbecued,
it's just another reason

to bring friends and family together.

That's what it's about.

For us, that's Tootsie's cooking,
part of the whole experience.

I remember as a kid going
and having lunch at Miss Tootsie's.

I remember her coming out of the cooler

carrying a quarter side of beef
on her shoulder,

and throwing it down, going to cutting.

That was a part of my life growing up,

and it's still the same today.

People know who she is.

They know how long she's been
doing it and the things she's seen.

[laughing]

And that's the legacy of Miss Tootsie.

[birds chirping]

[cows lowing]

[Tootsie] I was raised on a farm
just at the end of the Depression,

the oldest of three children.

[slow strings playing]

We lived out in the country,

and times were tight.

We didn't go to town and buy groceries.

The money was just too short for that.

It was just us five doing all the work.

The clothing was home sewn.

We had peach trees,
so we canned a lot of peaches.

Wintertime, we butchered our own hogs.

[horse snorts]

We learned how to make things work
without help.

We were taught
to handle the situation ourselves.

It was my training, I guess.

It gave me the fullness of knowing
that I can handle

quite a bit of stuff.

I can take care of myself.

So, I have always felt very, uh...

independent.

I'm gonna shut that top
to hold that heat in a little bit.

[Kerry] Okay.

With that wind blowing,
it's drawing through better.

[Daniel] If you look at the history
of Texas barbecue,

it was taking wood
and burning them down to coals,

using that direct heat to cook the meat.

Or doing what we now call
Hill Country style barbecue.

Snow's is one of those n Central Texas
that still does it the old way.

Back in those days, people weren't
so selective about meat.

It was, what were the ranchers
willing to give up for a big party?

And a lot of the smaller cuts of meat
that she cooks,

you have to attend to that meat
much more often.

[Kerry] Miss Tootsie's cooking technique,
this is kind of country cooking.

Pork steak,

chicken by the half,

two kinds of sausage, turkey breast.

It's all over direct coals.

There's not a lot of room for error
when you do that.

[Daniel]
Tootsie is touching the meat with a fork,

handling each piece of it
to check its done-ness.

There's a... a mop sauce
that she adds onto it as well,

and there's no better cut of meat
that has been mopped with her mop.

Tootsie's Hill Country barbecue.

Not something you're gonna find
hardly anywhere else,

because there aren't a lot of pitmasters
looking to burn wood down to coals

and shovel it into pits.

Nobody bothers with that sort
of hard work and effort

except for Tootsie
and what they do at Snow's.

[cows lowing]

[Tootsie] After I graduated,

a friend of the family's
asked me to write this guy

that was in the Army named White,

and one day Daddy waved me to the house.

I walk up and there stands
this Army guy in a uniform

and I thought,
"God dang, he is nice-looking."

[laughs]

We dated four years

until July of ' when we married.

So, I felt like that my letter writing
might have paid off.

[people chattering]

[Kiki] Want the lean or some fat?

[Tootsie] Back in ,

my husband worked
at the City Meat Market in Giddings,

and they were shorthand.

White, he asked me
if I would come in and help him.

Silverware and everything's
on the table to your right.

I was a mother at home
with three children.

I didn't know anything about barbecue,

but, uh, I was willing to try and learn.

When White and I
started working together,

I just kind of learned
little bits and pieces.

Cutting up the beef
and putting it on the counter.

I would season the meat
and put it on the pit for him.

Different things that I could do

that helped him
get through the day better.

White and I just worked as a team.

[Tootsie] How are you doing?

-You? How are y'all?
-[woman] Tootsie.

-How are you?
-Long time no see.

-Hi, sweetie. [chuckles]
-Hidee, hidee!

-Deidra, doing okay?
-[Deidra] I have been.

-[Tootsie] Good.
-Good to see you.

[Tootsie] Good seeing you.
Wish we'd get a little rain.

[Deidra] God, we need it so bad.

Yeah. Good morning.

-[Kiki] How you doing, Tootsie?
-What you know, Kiki?

[Kiki] Nothing much.
What can we get for you?

Give me pork.

-[Kiki] Pork?
-Yeah.

[Tootsie]
Y'all been busy this week?

[Kiki] Yes, ma'am, very.

[Tootsie] Once I started working
at the Meat Market,

I began seeing how much I enjoyed
being around people.

[Kiki] All righty.

[Tootsie] Okay, thank you.

-Thank you. Have a good one.
-[Tootsie] All right.

I enjoyed the work so well

I convinced White
that we should buy it.

We had barbecue on Saturday.

We'd know everyone,
we were friends with everyone.

[Tootsie] How is you today?

[woman] I is fine. Are you off?

[Tootsie] At the Market,
we were a very close-knit family.

My children grew up in the Market.

And the youngest, Hershey,
would help me at the pits.

The togetherness with the community
and family,

-it was more than just business.
-[laughing]

[Kerry] Clay, how long has this door
been dragging?

[Clay] Couple months.

[Kerry] Them rods are all the way in now.

[Daniel] Texas barbecue,
it really all comes down to brisket.

Barbecue brisket is big hunks of beef
cooked for , , hours.

I don't know why a Snow's brisket

tastes so good and so different.

You take a bite of it, it's like,
"God, how did that happen?"

Maybe some magic that happens
within that aluminum foil.

I don't know.

At Snow's, we have no secrets.

I mean, our seasoning is salt and pepper.

I can't tell you how hot my pits are
because I feel 'em with my hands.

I don't have a gauge.
I guess if I'd put a gauge on,

I'd learn to read it
and not my hand, but...

uh, it's just something I do.

I guess it's an instinct.

[Daniel] In Texas barbecue,

pitmasters are willing to tell
everything they do to it,

and then they'll sit back
and be like, "Well, good luck."

It isn't about concocting some rub
that is your secret ingredient.

The secret is the pitmaster.

[Tootsie] As time went along,

White and I just worked side by side
at the Meat Market.

We operated it for years.

One day, White and I were in the hospital
having a carotid artery dye work done.

And, um, when they brought him
back to the room, uh, uh,

to look at him, he didn't look right.

And I told the nurse,
I said, "He doesn't look right."

She says, "He's fine.
He's just coming out from the anesthesia."

Well, I sat with him in the room two hours

when, all of a sudden, he just went limp.

So I pushed a buzzer
and I said, "I need help in here."

There were two doctors
and three nurses walked in.

And when they said, "He has had a stroke,"

I mean, I-- I just--
I couldn't see going on.

I was scared to death.

White's mental condition
had been affected by the stroke.

He was completely lame on one side.

Couldn't stand on his own
or get up on his own.

He was helpless.

Partially blind.

Now what do I do?

The doctor told me, "You know, he's gonna
need therapy three times a week."

What are we gonna do with the Market?

Not being able to move around

and needing -hour care
and therapy three times a week,

I mean, I couldn't see
how I could handle it.

All I could see
was to get rid of the Market.

[birds chirping]

A year after White suffered the stroke,
he had gotten better.

He got his sight back pretty good,

and he finally got
that he could drive again.

I had not worked for a year

because he needed a lot of therapy
and home health care.

It was a tough time.

It was just a lonely feeling there
that I had.

A friend of mine said, "Tootsie, why don't
you come to work for me at school?"

Being outside,

the smell of the fresh air...

birds singing...

kids out on the playground.

I would walk down the hall
and those kids would come to the door

to say, "Hi, Miss Tootsie."

I really enjoy being around the students.

To talk to people, see people.

-Hi. Everything good?
-[Tootsie] Doing fine.

[Tootsie] That helped me a lot
to eliminate

the loneliness that I was having.

[birds chirping]

[birds cawing]

Pretty dead.
How long you think it's been dead?

Oh...

-Couple year?
-Maybe three.

[Kerry] Yeah, it'll be... It'll be okay.
We'll use part of it.

[man] Yeah.

Okay.

[chainsaw powering up]

[chainsaw whirring]

[Kerry] When I had the idea
of starting up a barbecue,

I felt like the locals
wouldn't be very forgiving

had I started this without Miss Tootsie.

Living in a small community,
you know most everybody, and...

she had barbecued for years
here in Lexington.

Miss Tootsie, she's not kin,
but basically like family.

[chainsaw continues whirring]

[Tootsie]
Kerry came by one morning

and asked if I would be interested

in opening a new barbecue place
at the old peanut mill.

I missed cooking barbecue on Saturdays,

so I said, "Let's sit down and talk."

I told Kerry, "Since you're from Lexington

and you're the first person
that I would work with...

but I need to know you will stick
to what you're gonna do

and don't wish-wash around
back and forth."

And he said, "Well, if I tell you this
is what I'm gonna do, it's in stone."

So, that was it.

[drill whirring]

Cooking was a part of my life,

so it was an inspiration
that I could continue on.

We set the date as March the st, ,

to open up Snow's BBQ.

-[Tootsie] You turned those?
-[Kerry] I was gonna ask you the same.

-[Tootsie] I just moved 'em up.
-[Kerry] I hadn't.

[Kerry] Sons of b*tches are really
about ready all the way.

[Tootsie] When we first started
Snow's BBQ,

we had only myself, Kerry...

Miss Phyllis Rogers,

and Kerry's two daughters.

We had customers coming in
at a slow pace.

We never had a line.

And that went like that until .

[Daniel] In ,
Snow's was named number one

out of about , barbecue joints
in Texas,

and it really did shock
the barbecue community.

"Like, what? Who? Where is this place?"
We thought we knew all the great ones.

{\an }But here's this new spot that popped up.

{\an }It was a spot that nobody had heard of,

{\an }but after that list came out,

{\an }it didn't take long for the crowds
to start to descend on Snow's.

[reporter] [span style="style "]The master behind the meat[/i]
[span style="style "]{\an }is Tootsie Tomanetz.[/i]

{\an }-It's fantastic.
-Good. Glad you enjoyed it.

When it aired and become public,

just immediately overnight it changed.

We'd have people in line

maybe at a given Saturday, to hundreds.

We were just like
could not believe this was happening.

Tootsie and I was at the steps 
when they told us we're number one,

and we just sat there
and hugged each other and cried.

And at that point, we had no idea
what was yet to come.

[dog barking]

[people chattering]

[man laughing]

-[Kerry] Ready?
-[Phyllis] We've been ready.

[Kerry] All righty. Get opened up.

[all] All right.

[Kerry] About four or five's
it'll hold at a time.

[woman] Okay.

[Tootsie] To be number one...

I wasn't used to the, uh, publicity.

It was overwhelming 
how many people came in.

The line was all the way back
to the Methodist Church.

It scared me. I thought,
"What's gonna happen here?"

People begin coming up to me
to take pictures, or shake my hand,

or give me a hug.

It was hard for me to get used to.

[Daniel] I don't think she wanted anybody
to be near her back then.

It was really just, "Hey, I'm working
over here. Like, let me work."

So, she was a little standoffish.

[Tootsie] It's something you have done
all your life

and you're finally
being recognized for it.

But at the same time,
to have all this, uh...

fame?

It was just... a strange feeling.

[Kerry] What's the weather
supposed to be this week?

[Tootsie] Ah, I think Wednesday
it's starting to rain again.

[telephone ringing]

[Kerry] Snow's BBQ.

Yes, sir.

[people chattering]

Thank you, sir.

[Tootsie] People would be lined up
around the block.

And with me being the only one cooking,

that was a challenge.

So, Kerry asked my son Hershey
if he would come in

and start helping on Friday nights.

[Kerry] Tootsie and Hershey,
they didn't have a tight relationship.

But, uh, they were both
pretty hard-headed.

When they were at their wit's end,

you could feel it brewing
and fixing to hit.

Mm-hmm. And it would.

[Tootsie] Me and Hershey,

we really didn't see eye-to-eye.

He was having trouble with his drinking,
having trouble with his wife...

this, that, and the other.

But when Hershey came to work for us,

it was just the two of us together
doing the cooking,

so we would kind of have it out
at the barbecue pit

when no one else was around.

You know, you have to sometimes
just talk to get it off your chest,

and, uh, barbecuing together,

we were able
to understand each other better.

We got all our bad things ironed out.

It's just something that we both needed.

Hershey and I continued
cooking barbecue on Saturday.

[wind chimes jingling]

We became able
to work quite well together.

At that time, White was in hospice care.

They didn't give him much time.

White passed away on a Tuesday
and we had the funeral on Sunday.

And my life had to continue.

Then one morning right after lunch,

Hershey came over
and told us that he had brain cancer.

When Hershey went to the nursing home,

well, I'd go every day,

because his legs had gotten so weak,
he couldn't stand on his own.

That was death setting in.

That was it.

The Saturday after his death and funeral,

I went back to work,

and it was hard to see his vehicle there
but not him.

But the whole time I kept barbecuing.

[Daniel] I remember seeing Tootsie.

She had red eyes and a tissue,

and I'm just like,
"What are you doing here?"

She said to me,
"If I don't keep doing this,

what am I gonna do?"

That was a tough time for everybody.

I mean, we did all we could,
but it was just real hard on her.

So, we realized we were at a time to where
we probably need to call in some help.

[Tootsie] It was about three weeks,
four weeks after his funeral,

the people had heard...

and there were so many people come
just to express their sympathy to me.

I had a gentleman come up to me to say,

"I'll always remember your son

because he gave my two children each
a silver dollar."

Another person said,

"I'm sorry for your loss."

I'm gonna give you a kiss on the cheek.

[Tootsie]
It helped me a lot

to see the other end of the light.

Through my whole life,

I have just always felt
very, uh, independent.

But after White and Hershey passed away,

I learned that I had to call on someone
to help me,

and, uh, Kerry was there
to help me through the hard part of it.

I feel a lot of support
when I'm down and out.

I feel a connection.

I really do.

It's the close-knit barbecue family.

[Kn*fe whirring]

They're holding me up,
they're walking with me.

[woman ] [span style="style "]I will be the next Miss Tootsie.[/i]

She's just a staple here
and an icon for many.

[Kerry] [span style="style "]She represents strength[/i]
[span style="style "]and sincerity.[/i]

A true Texas legend.

[man] [span style="style "]She's proof[/i]
[span style="style "]that if you want something,[/i]

you can continue to do it
regardless of age.

[woman ] [span style="style "]Her chicken is the b*mb.[/i]

[keys jangling]

[grunts]

[breathing heavily]

[Tootsie] When I lost my husband
and my son,

that door closed,

and God knew what he was doing.

He opened these other doors for me.

[people chattering]

Number !

-[man] Hey!
-[people cheering]

Let's go!

[man] I just wanted to say,
best barbecue I ever had.

We made our way from California.

We've been to Memphis. We've been trying
barbecue all over the US, you k*lled it.

-[Tootsie] Good.
-Thank you.

-Come back to see us.
-God bless ya.

[Daniel] After White and Hershey
passed away,

you could see a change,

you could see, uh,

a sort of openness towards fans
and towards customers.

It was obviously
an incredibly sad moment for her,

but she had some people
to help push her through

and to know and understand
what she had at Snow's.

[Clay] All right, one, two, three.

[Tootsie] I have no idea what else lies
in the barbecue world for me.

And so many have come
from around the world to see me,

and it means a lot

that we can share our friendship
and love for them.

And some of 'em,
I'll never see 'em again,

but I'm happy...

that I made them happy.