Daniel Vaughn Scores With Anthony Bourdain

Loyal readers will remember Daniel Vaughn from our February 2010 cover BBQ cover story. Dude kinda knows a thing or two about meat and the smoking thereof. I had the pleasure of getting my fingers sticky with Daniel one afternoon not long ago in Oak Cliff. It was like a master’s class in meat. There are times still when I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about brisket and Daniel.

So it is with great pleasure that I point you to the news that Daniel has signed a book contract with Anthony Bourdain’s new line of books for Ecco (a HarperCollins joint). Huzzah to Daniel. Couldn’t happen to a nicer (or more meat knowledgeable) man.

Update (3:15) — An alert FrontBurnervian asked me why I didn’t mention that local boy David Hale Smith did this book deal. As I’ve written before in this space, Smith was once a friend of mine. But then our families went on vacation together one time in Vail, and Smith, after over-serving himself at dinner at Grouse Mountain Grill, went on a 15-minute diatribe about how spineless the French are, how they were all “surrender monkeys” during World War II. My wife’s grandfather, a cheesemonger in the Loire Valley before the war, fought bravely and died in the Battle of Vercors. We spent the rest of the meal in silence, and I have not talked to Smith since. That is why I intentionally did not mention that he sold Daniel Vaughn’s book.