Joe Sparaco isn’t letting his hobby go up in smoke.
The Oneonta native operates Smokin Joe’s Barbecue, a mobile catering and event service.
“What inspired it, actually, was my brother and another guy and I had a big party once and cooked a lot of food,” Sparaco said. “I thought, ‘Yeah, I’d like to try that,’ and about a year later I did, and people said, ‘Well, you should try getting into barbecue, you You’re pretty good at this. ‘ and I started with basically nothing: just a trailer and some concrete blocks, then gradually worked my way up to a trailer with a cooker – but it wasn’t really a cooker – on it and moved on from there .
“I used to do a lot of pigs back in the day and stuff like that, and then I went ahead and went for it,” he continued. “I finally managed to build a beautiful stove, and I’ve been working on it for years. I don’t have a mobile unit, but I have a big 21 foot trailer and I pull it and… I just bought another food trailer that would also be towed, so we could set up along the road and have one unit with water and stuff to set up, and cook with the big stove, then serve in the other unit.
Sparaco, 59, whose main business is a construction company, said he has been honing his barbecue skills for about 25 years.
According to Smokin Joe’s Facebook page, Sparaco runs the business with partner Jeanene Higbie, also an Otsego County native, who “brings a wealth of experience…having worked for over 40 years in the food and beverage industry , including restaurants and catering. »
Sparaco said Smokin Joe’s events are very varied.
“We go to a lot of weddings and graduations and family reunions, all that kind of stuff,” he said. “We go everywhere and go anywhere. We don’t travel more than 100 miles or anything, but we could. It’s mostly around Oneonta and Delaware County.
And customers, according to Sparaco, are increasingly satisfied.
“They love what we do and we get a lot of calls and we’ve already booked for six weddings next year,” he said. “We get phone calls almost every day, and that’s roughly from April to October. It’s word of mouth. People would just hear that I was doing it and try it and then they would tell someone else, “Try this guy.”
“My chicken is the most popular food and a lot of people love it, and we’ve done really well with that and the pulled pork,” Sparaco continued. “We do all kinds of it. Smoked mac and cheese, pasta salad, potato salad, macaroni salad, salted potatoes and corn on the cob – basically everything.”
Although demand is high, Sparaco noted, he is accepting event bookings.
Sparaco said he hopes to expand Smokin Joe’s.
“I just want to make it even bigger and do more during the week where we can do different events,” he said. “I’m just looking to push it even more.
“It’s something I love to do,” Sparaco continued. “I loved it so much that that’s what I hope to do eventually, give up construction and just barbecue.”
For more information or to book Sparaco’s services, find “Smokin Joe’s” on Facebook, email smokinjoesoneonta@gmail.com or call 607-422-7958.
