BIG LOU ELROSE

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What does a six-foot-five former NYPD motorcycle cop know about barbecue? Plenty.

Lou “Big Lou” Elrose turned in his badge a few years ago to pursue his passion, which is cooking great barbecued beef, pork and whatever else he can think of. He was on the competitive barbecuing circuit for a while before signing on as deputy pitmaster at New York City’s Hill Country restaurant.

Now he’s the pitmaster at Wildwood Barbeque, B.R. Guest Restaurants’ new down-home, 222-seat restaurant on toney Park Avenue South in Manhattan. R&I talked to Big Lou shortly after the restaurant opened in late April.