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Tootsie Tomanetz

American barbecue cook From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Tootsie Tomanetz (born April 21, 1935) is an American pitmaster and restaurateur. She is pitmaster at Snow's BBQ.

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Early life

Tomanetz was born on April 21, 1935.[1] Tomanetz was raised on a farm outside of Lexington, Texas.[2] She was the oldest of three children.[3] She recalls growing and canning most of their own food and homesewn clothing.[4]

Barbecue career

Tomanetz is the pitmaster at Snow's BBQ in Lexington, Texas, which in 2008 was named the best barbecue in Texas by Texas Monthly.[2][5] Her style of barbecue is a style originating in the Texas hill country.[3]

Tomanetz began cooking barbecue in 1966 at City Meat Market in Giddings, Texas, when they were shorthanded.[2][6] She learned from Orange Holloway.[5] She became pitmaster at a second City Meat Market in Lexington, and she and her husband eventually bought it, selling it after her husband had a stroke in 1996.[2] She got a job in the maintenance department for the local school district.[2] In 2003 she started working Saturdays at Snow's; as of 2024 she was still working as pitmaster.[2]

She was featured on 2020's Chef's Table: BBQ.[5]

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Recognition

Tomanetz was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2018. She was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef:Southwest the same year.[5][4]

Personal life

Tomanetz married Edward Tomanetz, who worked as a butcher at City Meat Market in Giddings, Texas, in July 1956 when she was 21; she was widowed in 2015.[2][5][3] The couple had three children. Tomanetz lives in Giddings and as of 2024 was still working in the local school district's maintenance department.[2][5] She is Lutheran.[7]

References

Further reading

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