A revered smoker trailer belonging to Dallas chef Kent Rathbun was stolen, and Rathbun is determined to get it back.
Rathbun is the Beard Award-nominated chef and restaurateur whose resume includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Abacus, Jasper's, and his current company Kent Rathbun Catering.
The stolen smoker was kept inside a gated parking lot at Rathbun's catering kitchen, located near Irving Boulevard and Mockingbird Lane, in an industrial area west of I-35.
Rathbun says it was stolen somewhere between July 17 and July 21. The police have been notified and there's an effort underway to locate security footage.
"I was out of town — we didn't have a lot of catering at the time," Rathbun says. "One of our chefs found the gate open — it looked like it had been damaged. But it wasn't until I went to pick up the trailer on Monday July 21 that we realized it was gone."
The smoker has a colorful backstory: Rathbun got it as a gift from Baxter Brinkmann, CEO and president of The Brinkmann Corporation, manufacturer of outdoor living products including gas and charcoal grills, smokers, and solar/low-voltage landscape lighting.
"He gave me this rig as a bithday present on the day of my first Taste of NFL at Abacus," Rathbun says. "The first year that we did the Taste of NFL [the annual tailgate party to support the North Texas Food Bank], I asked Brinker if he would supply smokers and grills for all the celebrity chefs coming in from around the country. I just needed a little grill but he offered the use of this 18-foot-long outfitted smoker."
"He came to the party, and we were standing by it, appreciating how well it worked when somebody walked up and said 'happy birthday, chef'," Rathbun says. "Baxter said, 'It's your birthday? I want you to have the smoker. And as long as you keep my name on it, I will repair it, fix it, my team will take care of it.' He was like the team captain."
That was in 2001 and over the years, the rig has received more than its share of custom upgrades, including metal laser-cut ID tags with "Chef Kent Rathbun" affixed to every door.
"It is so personalized that I can walk up to that trailer and will be able to recognize it, no matter what modifications may be made," Rathbun says.
That's also why he feels certain the theft is not an inside job, as some have suggested. "Anyone on our team knows what a distinctive smoker it is," he says.
While not a secret, the location of his catering company is not open to the public and not generally well known. Someone driving by the location could have spotted the trailer in the parking lot, but it's on an industrial side street that does not draw a lot of random motorists. The trailer would have also required a truck to pull it.
"The thing is 18 feet long, it's giant," he says. "It's not a toy, it's a tool, and we need it to stay in business."
Rathbun posted a plea on social media offering a $1,000 reward — "and probably a good amount of barbecue," he says — to anyone who can provide information as to its whereabouts and was met with a wave of support, including offers to chip in $500 and even $1000 to the reward pool which is now at $8,500. (You can call Rathbun at 214-704-0907 with tips.)
"Whether I get the trailer back or not, I've been overwhelmed by how many people have stepped up and offered their support," he says.
