ARTHUR BRYANT

No one was more surprised than arthur Bryant in 1974 when journalist Calvin Trillin named Bryant’s restaurant the best in the world. No question, Trillin loved the place; but especially in 1974, at a peak of gastronomic pretense and pomp in America, to anoint a bare-tabled barbecue as a culinary superstar was épater le bourgeois in spades. Bryant himself frequently referred to the place as a “grease house,” and during his reign, the tile floor was famously slippery. But the slow-smoked meats were magnificent and Bryant’s sauce was liquid sorcery.

Arthur Bryant, photographed in the kitchen of his barbecue restaurant in 1978.

The restaurant was started by brother Charlie Bryant, who learned the barbecue trade from Henry Perry, a Tennessean who came to Kansas City in 1908 and began smoking beef—as well as opossum and raccoon—over oak and hickory and selling it at a stand in the garment district. When Perry died in 1940, Charlie Bryant took over the business. Charlie sold it to Arthur, who is said to have taken some of the bite out of Perry’s peppery sauce, and who moved the restaurant to its current location in 1958. In addition to the good taste of the food, the new address was instrumental in Bry ant’s gaining national renown. Just a few blocks from Municipal Stadium, the humble eatery was frequented by ballplayers, sports journalists, and fans, who all spread the word.

Arthur Bryant never was spoiled by all the attention. When we met him in 1980, two years before his death, he was busy behind the counter, on the phone alternately taking orders and chewing out suppliers. When we finally had a chance to sit down and talk, we did so around a bowl of sauce and a half loaf of white bread. As we interviewed the Master, he occasionally folded up a slice of bread and dipped it in the sauce, enjoying the simple combo with no meat whatsoever.