Barbecue, for the most part, is a young man’s game. Long hours in a smoky pit room shuffling 20-pound slabs of meat from cooker to cutting board is the norm.

From the moment they go commercial, veteran pitmasters are counting the days until they can hire an assistant pitmaster to take over the day-in, day-out tasks of making barbecue.

Indeed, startups and pop-ups are mainly associated with younger, up-and-coming pitmasters who are willing to pay their dues for smoked-meat stardom.

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Which makes Charlie's Craft BBQ, a relatively new catering and popup operation, even more unique. Unlike some pitmasters who start with visions of barbecue celebrity as their goal, 67-year-old co-owner Mark “Charlie” Howell started his small operation as a way to stay busy and active after retiring as a minister.

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