SAN ANTONIO’S CURRY BOYS BBQ

2:15 pm - 3:00 pm
| Location of Session: Texas Monthly Tent
Adult Sessions

Start of Signing: 3:15 PM
| Signing Location: Adult Signing Tent

My Schedule

About the Event

Who would have guessed that an unassuming, midsize pink stucco restaurant in San Antonio, Texas, would become one of the most celebrated citadels of barbecue in the US, and even in the world, less than five years after it first opened its doors? Yet that is what has happened to Curry Boys BBQ, the brainchild of Andrew Ho, Andrew Samia, and Sean Wen—the Curry Boys. In their first cookbook, Asian Smoke: Thai and Southeast Asian Barbecue from the Curry Boys, they reveal their secrets for home cooks.

About the Authors

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Author

Andrew Ho

Andrew Ho is a first-generation Vietnamese American, born and raised in Houston, Texas. After university, he spent three years living and traveling throughout Thailand, which heavily shaped the way he cooks and thinks about food. He opened his first restaurant in 2017 and has since gone on to open multiple concepts, including three Curry Boys BBQ locations across Texas and Nashville, Tennessee. Andrew is a coauthor of Asian Smoke: Thai and Southeast Asian Barbecue from the Curry Boys.

Photo Credit: Joseph McGregor

Andrew Samia

Andrew Samia is a Texas pitmaster and restaurateur with a passion for blending tradition and creativity. Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, he made his way to Texas as a teenager and, 20 years ago, finally found a true home in San Antonio after falling in love with the food and culture of the city. Andrew is the co-owner and pitmaster of Curry Boys BBQ and the owner and pitmaster of South Barbecue, his barbecue concept rooted in authentic South Texas flavors.

Beyond the pit, Andrew’s greatest accomplishment is being a husband to his amazing wife, Rachel, and a father to their three inspiring children—Rowan, Lilly, and Kyren. When he’s not trimming briskets or tending fires, you can find Andrew relaxing with his family near any body of water or camping out in Big Bend Park.

Andrew is a coauthor of Asian Smoke: Thai and Southeast Asian Barbecue from the Curry Boys.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Author

Sean Wen

Born and raised in the Lone Star State, Sean Wen splits his time between his restaurant, Curry Boys BBQ, and pondering the twin pillars of his universe: food and basketball. A true disciple of the “ball is life” ethos, he is most likely to be found shooting hoops at some random outdoor court in his current stomping grounds of San Antonio. Sean is a coauthor of Asian Smoke: Thai and Southeast Asian Barbecue from the Curry Boys.

Moderator

Edmund Tijerina

Edmund Tijerina is an award-winning writer who writes regularly for San Antonio Magazine, and whose work has appeared in Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, Epicurious, Texas Highways, and First We Feast.

He previously served as restaurant critic and food editor at the San Antonio Express-News, where he also wrote the “Around the Town” column. His journalism career includes stops at the Chicago Tribune, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

Born in El Paso, baptized in San Antonio and raised in Houston, he earned a bachelor’s in philosophy from Harvard, and a master’s degree from the Columbia School of Journalism.

He’s an alumnus of Leadership San Antonio and the Alexander Briseño Leadership Development Program, a former board member of the Harvard Alumni Association, and a former President of the Harvard Club of San Antonio.

He currently serves as Director of Marketing & Communications for Keystone School. He lives in San Antonio with his wife, Lupita, and their teenage son, Andrés.