AUSTIN, Texas — Less than an hour before the doors open to Franklin Barbecue, hundreds of people patiently line up outside on a searing summer morning. Inside, a team of meat cutters feverishly prepares preorders made at least a month prior; prep for tomorrow's briskets has begun; and a small media crew from Oklahoma hovers. But the only thing the world's hottest barbecue pitmaster wants to know is who didn't clean the espresso machine.
Understand, Franklin Barbecue doesn't sell espresso. But just because the machine is for staff use only doesn't mean it should be operated with any less care than the enormous smokers on the compound where owner Aaron Franklin convenes the First Church of the Holy Brisket six days a week.