I found my newest two BFF in the media trailer at Memphis in May. Volunteers John and John know where all the best food is and I’ve adopted them as my official guides. Have a look at this spread and you’ll see why I can bestow BFF on them! Piped for Pork, the team that put out this spread, is a team after my heart. On the table was barbecue–shoulder, ribs, beans and so on–Cajun food, cooked by “Cajun Dave” Aucoin of Lafayette, La., these unbelievable seafood pizzas–one crawfish, one shrimp, one king crab–crab dip, smoked tuna spread and chunks of halibut fried up like chicken nuggets. Heaven!

Mike and Shannon Wiley of Juneau, Alaska, watched a Food Network show about the MIM barbecue back in 2000, they think, and immediately made plans to come the next year. They hooked up with folks, became part of the Piped team, and come laden with goodies when they arrive. (I am a king crab FREAK, and they have legs there as long as my arm.) They’ve won the “Anything But” category twice for their seafood. And get this: They learned so much about barbecue that now they own the Spinnin Pig Memphis-Style BBQ in Juneau, a mobile smoker that’s spreading the good smell and the good word in Alaska.

And man, they are all such nice folks.