Hank Shaw: Before the Open

Hank Shaw is coming to Animales BBQ Co. on Thursday, November 5, for an evening titled Before the Open. The timing is the whole point: it lands just ahead of the deer opener, right when the hunting season is about to kick off.

The night celebrates the re-release of Shaw's Buck, Buck, Moose, which he describes as not your father's venison cookbook. It's the first comprehensive, full-color guide to working with and cooking all big-game animals—deer and elk, pronghorn, moose and caribou. It follows the animals from nose to tail with more than 125 recipes, ranging from traditional dishes from six continents to original recipes that haven't appeared anywhere else.

Shaw brings a few different lives to the table. He's a former chef, journalist, and occasional commercial fisherman who runs the James Beard Award-winning wild foods website Hunter Angler Gardener Cook and the Substack To the Bone, where he writes at the intersection of food, nature, and larger life. He's been featured on numerous television shows and served as consulting editor for the fish and game sections of the 2019 edition of The Joy of Cooking.

Tickets are $40 and include a signed copy of Buck, Buck, Moose and a beer or non-alcoholic beverage. The event runs from 4 PM to 9 PM at Animales BBQ Co., 241 Fremont Ave N in Minneapolis.