Across from the  Hooverville Bar, and 30 steps south, Brian Perkins is usually found next to, what many on Hawk Alley knew as the Tree before it was mostly destroyed in a storm a year ago. Funny enough, the Tree was a natural notepad for 12s to leave message on for friends to find them down the alley. Perkins is from Kentucky, just on the border of Ohio, and is a genius bbq chef. Besides some of the best ribs on the alley, he makes the best stuffed peppers, hands down. We spotted these peppers about 2 years ago, and were afforded a try, and they’re hard to stop eating. Sometimes hot, sometimes not, always perfectly cooked and stuffed with various meats and cheese. Sometimes food is marinating for days before a gate, but the poppers are made fresh the night before.

Some of these smaller gates have the hidden gems of the alley, with amazing characters…. reminding me of a rainy day last season, in which Perkins and his small entourage invited us to join around a fire to drink and pass a giant bottle of Fireball in a 2 minute drill with no timeouts. We finished it off and tossed the bottle and some opposing team’s paraphonellia into the fire, before hitting the game. And lots of good eats….