This article appeared in the Dec. 27, 2013 Jewish Advocate (issue came out on Dec. 24)
Restaurateur responsible for rotisserie landmark opens new BBQ place in Burlington
By Susie Davidson
Special to The Advocate
Steven “Kip” Kolow recently opened his new Burlington venture, SlowBones Modern BBQ, and he’d like you to leave with a smile on your face, maybe a bit of sauce stain on your shirt, and with both your wallet and health intact.
Yes, barbecue (or BBQ) in Boston – and, as Kolow describes it, “authentic” as well. SlowBones, located in the Burlington Marketplace Shopping Center located behind the Burlington Mall and down the road from the Lahey Clinic, is offering up comforting fare that is sensibly priced, with choices that are entirely up to the diner.
But what else would one expect from Kolow, who in the 1980s, made a big name for himself when he openedBoston Chicken with his partner Arthur Cores? Wildly popular from the start, the homey, eat-in or grab-and-go concept expanded to 217 sites prior to a new partnership in 1994, a surge to 330 stores, a name change, bankruptcy, McDonald’s ownership, and finally a buyout by a private equity firm. Today, it remains the nationally ubiquitous comfort food haven Boston Market.
When Kolow left the company in 1990, it had 32 locations, and he felt it no longer represented his original vision. Now, he’s got another uniquely home-style model, but with healthier options. For example, SlowBones’ sides include freshly grilled vegetables, whipped sweet potatoes, panko-crusted macaroni and cheese, spoon cornbread, smoky BBQ beans, “maplesmacked” quinoa and “better-for-you” black beans. Everything can be taken home or eaten there, and prices range between $6 and $12 for a full meal that includes one or two meats and a choice of sides. Also, all the sauces are done in-house and as with all the foods at SlowBones, they contain no high-fructose corn syrup.
Meaty offerings include St. Louis BBQ ribs and two kinds of cagefree chicken: rotisserie-style BBQ chicken (one-quarter or one-half) for $7.50 and $9.95, with the two sides; or the marinated, char-broiled grilled chicken for $7.95 and $11.95 (both also come with the two sides). A BBQ sampler plate with two sides is $15.95. “Bare Bones” entrees are offered for under $6, and grilled BBQ wings come in three sizes.
Oh yes, there is brisket, again in two choices: $9.75 for a small and $12.75 for a large, each including two sides: carved Angus brisket (house-smoked Texas-style black Angus brisket); or BBQ-braised Angus brisket (house smoked brisket braised in the house BBQ sauce).
The mild or spicy, high fructose corn syrup-free sauces, many gluten free, range from traditional BBQ (house, smoky, spicy, Carolina, Spicy Asian), to honey mustard, horseradish BBQ, horseradish cream, cucumber dill tzatziki, and Buffalo blue cheese. Look for bottled sauces for purchase in early 2014. There are sandwiches and wraps on varied breads including naan, brioche roll, or lettuce wraps; salads with add-ons; family packs; and bulk BBQ and party platters. Those with gargantuan appetites and room for dessert can choose from housemade cookie, brownie, cobbler or bread pudding, offered for $1.95 or $2.95.
And instead of the Boston Chicken rotisserie, you’ll find meats cooked in a smoker. You can also see the brisket and chickens being carved on three cutting areas. SlowBones has 28 seats; plans are in the works for more and larger units around the country (California will be first), with two smokers in each.
Kolow, 52, told The Advocate that when Boston Chicken began, Jewish foods such kugel and kasha were on the menu, but they would not really work on the SlowBones menu.
Asked where his interest in healthier foods came from, Kolow said, “I’ve always tried to live a healthy lifestyle,” he said. “A huge part of that has to do with your daily food choices. And I believe that food affects the way you feel.”
But he stressed that SlowBones is not promoting a healthy lifestyle per se: “Rather, we give you choices to honor your own lifestyle.” For example, diners can get any sandwich in a lettuce wrap, resulting in both carb conscious and gluten free options. There are also gluten-free brownies so people with dietary restrictions have dessert choices. “We have vetted all the ingredients in our recipes based on the way that people like to eat today,” he said.
A Newton-area native, Kolow graduated from Needham High School. Food was often a central focus at home: “My mom was a great cook and was a very accomplished baker,” he recalled. “Her home was the place that people would go to for Passover and all the holidays.” After his parents divorced, he would help in the kitchen, and found himself cooking for friends on a grill at the age of 9. Ironically, considering his success, he has actually had no formal training as a chef. “I just liked to develop recipes,” he said. “I am not a technical culinarian, but I enjoy the science of cooking and food – for example, learning about brining.” Kolow attended four colleges, but kept coming back to what has turned out to be his true calling.
Kolow was bar mitzvahed at Chai Odom in Brighton. “They were very embracing and helped me, and it was a wonderful experience,” he said. He went to Israel as part of a Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP) mission in the 1980s. “I am still friends with people that I met along the way,” he said, explaining that he has been to Israel many times, including as a volunteer at a kibbutz outside Beersheba while in his early 20s, where he made tractor tires. “I felt a connection to the community,” he said.
Why is there a lack of a BBQ scene in Boston? Kolow feels it is not that people don’t love that style of cooking, but more that it is not an easy concept to bring about. “The recipes and specific systems are very complex,” he said. “Not to mention that BBQ is cooked low and slow, and requires time and patience that many restaurants don’t have.”
And how does he manage to keep the prices so low? “It’s about building scale,” he said. “You have to be able to sell a certain amount each day to make it make sense, and that’s why fast casual is perfect for us.” SlowBones plans to open multiple locations within the next year, expanding in the New England area in addition to its plans forCalifornia.
“That’s so we can keep that food at a reasonable price point, as well as offer better quality choices,” he said. “There are plenty of Asian, Italian and burger places, but nobody has opened a better-quality BBQ place. We have raised the bar.”
SlowBones is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Call (781) 365-1998 or visit www.slowbonesbbq.comfor more information. The establishment can also be found via Facebook and Twitter.