Grasslands Barbecue Coming Soon!

Welcome, Nicki and Drew Marquis, founders of Grasslands Barbecue, to White Salmon!  Grasslands Barbecue will be starting soon with pop-ups until the new food truck is ready in June and will be featuring Texas ish style barbecue with oak wood-smoked meats like brisket, pulled pork, and handmade sausages as well as rotating sides such as hatch chile grits, collard beans, pimento cheese and more. Everything is made from scratch using produce from local farmers and beef from Painted Hills.

Meet Nicki and Drew

Nicki and Drew met at Seattle’s DeLaurenti Food & Wine back in 2015. Nicki was the cheese buyer and managed the Deli and Drew ran the kitchen and Cafe. Nicki grew up in Eastern Washington, studied geology at Western Washington University, and then moved to Seattle when she got the job at DeLaurenti Food & Wine.  Drew grew up in Oklahoma, started cooking professionally in Dallas at an Italian restaurant, then did a butcher’s apprenticeship and some farming in Italy, next raised pigs in Northern California, and eventually moved to Seattle.  Drew got the barbecue bug in January of 2019 when he got his first smoker and quickly became obsessed.

From Restaurant to Barbecue

In January 2020 Drew left DeLaurenti’s to go work at Wood Shop BBQ and then Nicki moved on in March for an apprenticeship at Spoon Full Farm in Thorp, WA with plans to work on pursuing their new passions of barbecue and farming and moving to the Gorge.

When covid hit, the Wood Shop BBQ closed.  To keep the dream moving along, Drew and Nicki reached out to friends to see if they would be interested in buying some barbecue from them. Word of mouth spread, and in two weeks they had more requests than they could keep up with.  They then shifted to Instagram and were selling out in less than 20 minutes. “When Wood Shop reopened, things were going well enough that I decided not to go back (a slightly terrifying decision) and just focus on doing our own thing,” said Drew. When summer came, they started doing pop-ups at Holy Mountain brewery with folks lining up. “The support has been unbelievable and we’ve met more incredible people than we ever could have imagined. So it was a difficult decision to move to the Gorge. But we’ve had our hearts set on the Gorge for nearly 3 years now and are extremely excited to start this new chapter,” said Nicki.

The Team

Long-time friends Brendon Bain and Sam Carroll have now joined the team.  Brendon’s background as a chef and kitchen manager for Tom Douglas and currently at Seattle’s Salumi and Sam’s background as head brewer at Occidental Brewing along with their mutual love for barbecue, beer and the outdoors makes for a killer team.  They want Grasslands Barbecue to convey a sense of where the three partners come from (the South and Midwest) as well as a connection to where our food comes from. “We all feel strongly about animal welfare and sustainable practices and are dedicated to sourcing all of our products (meat and produce) from people that have the same values as we do,” said Drew.  What are they most excited about?  Investing in the community and barbecue, of course. Drew explains, “We have been wanting to move to the Gorge and be in a smaller community for the past 3 years and are so excited to put roots down and give back to everyone that supports us. And barbecue, we’re always excited about barbecue!”

Fun & Challenging

When asked what’s the most fun part of this project Drew says, “Getting to share our food with people and introduce them to a food and culture that we’re all extremely passionate about.”   Barbecue can be challenging too including making every cook better than the previous one and the long hours.  Brisket takes anywhere from 14-18 hours to properly smoke.

“We’re a group of people that are extremely passionate about what we do. We love the simplicity of barbecue and believe it tastes best when eaten with your hands and shared with friends at a picnic table or the tailgate of your truck. We hope to share the culture of Texas style barbecue that is more about bringing people together than a bunch of fancy food.”

I can’t wait to become a favorite customer!  “Our favorite customers are the ones that trust us to feed them good food. We enjoy making new dishes as well as introducing people to the classics of Texas barbecue. Seeing someone’s face the first time they try brisket that has been smoked for 16 hours or a handmade sausage stuffed with cheese is pure joy,” said Nicki.

Follow on Instagram @grasslands_barbecue