I Love Fat German Pigs!

OK, that title probably doesn't sound PC, but I recently went to Fette Sau (it means "fat pig" in German), a BBQ joint over in Williamsburg, at the urging of a friend of mine who lives right near it. He is a very knowlegdable BBQ aficionado and I had also heard some other fine reviews of the place, so I knew I had to get over there and try it ASAP. We went last Thursday and got a smorgasbord of meats to sample. I had high expectations of Fette Sau and it far exceeded them - the food and ambiance were both fantastic! Top to bottom, I think this is now my new favorite NYC BBQ joint and I cannot wait to go back soon.

I don't want to reinvent the wheel here, so I will give a quick review and point you to a seriously professional review I found with pictures and everything. (The reviewer went with two members of an NYC grilling team and a judge in BBQ competitions - that's gotta be one 'hard-as-hell-to-please' table!) Here is the short NY Mag blurb on this place too, for quicker read on it. The menu has some regular items, but also has a changing menu of different meats or parts of the pig smoked to perfection. The rub made for a delicious bark that had a very, very unique flavor. I later was told it is a espresso-based rub, and I thought that was pure genius! I had not heard of a coffee based rub before, but it made sense to me that it might work well due to the distinct and powerful flavor of coffee. The pork belly was top notch, but you can only have so much of it in a sitting, as it is very rich and fatty (I mean fatty in the best possible way, FYI). Eat it right away, as you don't want that to cool and lose it's consistency. The ribs were firm, and not fall off the bone, but still tender. And did I mention the killer rub?!

The pulled pork was good and the regular BBQ sauce mixed with a little of the spicy BBQ sauce went well with it on a little potato bun they provided. The turkey was a little bit dry, but the pulled chicken was very moist and tasty. I thought the brisket was the best brisket I have had in NYC to date. It was moist and fatty, but well marbled and very juicy due to this. Again, the rub was killer and made for an excellent firm bark. Also, I thought the boneless beef rib was AMAZING! Now normally I am not a big beef rib fan, so this was no easy task to win me over, but no joke, it was one of the best smoked beef ribs I have ever had. Even though I am not a big beef rib fan, when done right, it can be a great dish. Most of the time I don't find it done right and it is more fat than meat. But not in this case. We only had one side dish, the baked beans, which were also very nice. Burnt ends complemented the usual brown sugar and molasses laden beans. But I never complain about beans with burnt ends in them. Lastly, it is cafeteria-style dining (another plus in my mind) and each meat is sold by weight, as any good BBQ spot should do.

They also offer a rotating and interesting beer selection , which you can get by the glass or in a small or large growler. They also have a very nice selection of whiskeys, bourbons, and scotches, which I thought was a very nice touch. The ambiance was great (even with all the Willy B Hipsters crawling throughout the place) as it is in an old car garage that is well decorated and uses some very interesting items to enhance the atmosphere. I highly recommend that you go and check Fette Sau out this spring and enjoy the weather with some beers and BBQ - you will not regret it!

R.U.B.: Always Decent, Never Special

I ate at R.U.B. over on 23rd St. and 7th Ave. tonight for the first time in probably over two years. It was as I remembered it - solid, but not spectacular. It has a menu featuring a wider variety of meats than most of its competition, which is a nice touch, but it does not excel at any one thing offered on it's menu. This is a bit frustrating. I had heard the smoked pastrami was good, and being a bit unusual for a BBQ menu, I was looking forward to trying it. It was alright. Not Katz's, but obviously not what I Was expecting or looking for. Just tends to be my basis for comparing all pastrami in the world. Right or wrong, that is how I view pastrami. The bark could have been a bit more distinguished and flavorful. I found it to be bland. It was also very thinly sliced and I def prefer a meatier cut. The turkey was dry. The pulled chicken was pretty good and I enjoyed that. The brisket was too thinly cut and the bark was also lackluster. The pulled pork was solid. The ribs were OK too, but again, nothing that really stood out either. I had remembered the baked beans being delicious, and they were OK, but very, very sweet and full of probably an excess of brown sugar and molasses which caused it to be unusually thick, saucey, and sweet. The burnt ends in the beans were very good though. I also was hoping to get a burnt ends plate for the table to split, but they were sold out of that for the day, so it was not to be. That was another item I remembered being very good, but I did not have the opportunity to retry it and se if it still held up to my memory of it. That's really all I have to say about R.U.B. I don't think I would send some one here as an example of what really, really good BBQ is like, but then again if and when I am next in the area and looking for some solid food, I would not hesitate to go back inside and try again to see if there is something more than just solid here.

OFFICIALLY IN THE GAME!!!

"Memphis in May's World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is May 14-16, 2009 in Tom Lee Park in downtown Memphis. Hundreds of teams compete for over $90,000 in prizes and supreme bragging rights. Teams adorn their areas with elaborate decoration, trophies attesting to their boasting rights, and as one can imagine, clever and creative team names. While grilling is the main theme, the contest wouldn't be complete without the Ms. Piggie Idol competition where grown men dress in tutus and snouts and women kick their heels (hooves) up. There is also a t-shirt competition and even a best booth contest.

The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, the Granddaddy of Grilling...where on this given Saturday, it's anybody's game."

GUESS WHO IS OFFICIALLY IN THE 2009 MEMPHIS IN MAY WORLD BBQ COOKING CHAMPIONSHIP? THAT'S RIGHT, THE JUBON'S GRILLING TEAM IS COMPETING IN THIS YEAR'S ROOKIE PATIO! These four Hebrew Hogs from NYC are looking to make some history and break into the competitive BBQing circuit! Look out Deep South, here we come! Follow all of our exploits in Memphis this May on our sister site http://www.lowandslow.ning.com/; live blogging and video uploads throughout the weekend!

Irving Mill

I happen to have eaten at this establishment recently and I loved the new menu which has been brought in by former Resto chef, Ryan Skeen. I happened to love Resto as well (it's a neighborhood joint for me) and thought he did a fantastic job putting together an excellent menu there. It was very interesting then when last night I was closing down a bar just east of Union Square with a few friends when I got involved in a conversation with a patron sitting next to us. It was after talking to him for a little while that I realized he was in fact, Ryan Skeen, head chef at Irving Mill! The reason I mention it on this blog is they have a menu very loaded with pork and different parts of the pig and different preparations. Ryan had mentioned to us that he has three whole hogs that he will be using this week for a special "pork tasting menu", as he described it. $45 for 8 different preparations and parts of the pig. I plan to be there this week to taste this magnificent sounding feast! I think Sunday nights is when this steal and delicacy is being offered. I highly suggest you try out this restaurant on any day of the week, as it is outstanding!

New Book: Holy Smoke

I was given a new book about North Carolina style BBQ called Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue. I have not read it yet as I just recieved it in the mail as a gift from the Hup-Dog, but I will post a review of it once I have had time to go through it.

Bacon Dipped In Chocolate!

Pig Candy

Bacon Buttercrunch

I don't doubt that this has been done many times over, and I am not saying that this is some new bacon delicacy, but I personally had never had bacon covered in milk or dark chocolate before. So this weekend, when I was down at the Essex Street Market with Nebber T. Riley to try out lunch at Shopsins (get the ebelskivers and the sliders, amongst other things on this deep menu, as both were outstanding!) in the marketplace. While waiting, we had Dana wait on line and Nebber T. and myself walked around the market to check out the two cheese stands and the chocolatier, Roni-Sue's Chocolates. Roni-Sues happens to specialize in amazing truffles of unique and various flavors, as well as what they call 'Pig Candy'. Pig Candy is "crispy fried bacon strips, dipped in either milk or dark chocolate". While both are OUTSTANDING, I think the saltiness of the bacon goes perfectly with the more bitter dark chocolate. The milk chocolate tends to be richer and overpowers that dichotomy of flavors. I highly recommend you try out the delightful treat if you are down in the area (Essex and Delancy). The also have Bacon Buttercrunch, which is "cultured butter, sugar, milk & dark chocolate, with chopped, fried bacon added to the toffee, then dipped in toasted chile pinon nuts". As some one who likes toffee a lot, it is delicious and although it does not sound as though bacon would go well with this, it fits amazingly well together!

Turbaconducken - what will they think of next?

The wonderful people over at Bacon Today have provided us with so many innovations in the field of Baconology. I gotta say, I loved The Bacon Explosion, as it looked insanely delicous! I loved the creativity behind it, the aggressive and egregious use of bacon throughout the process, and all the imitators who have made their own versions and posted those to the web as well for all to see. But it has clearly been taken to the next level: the Turbaconducken!!!

Again, I like the creativity, but what's next? The bacon-banana? The bacon-pecan pie? I welcome the bacon-concoctions, but I feel like this is going to get out of hand rather quickly. That being said, who is making this heavenly delight and inviting me over to taste it?

Does anyone like Wildwood BBQ?...

...'Cause I certainly did not. Not even close. Worst NYC BBQ I have had to date. Sorry Dallas BBQ, you just moved up one notch from the basement. I will qualify this review with the fact that I ate there one night in the first week they were open for business, so things could have improved since then. My friend said as we walked in, "I didn't realize this is where we are eating! This place is a doomed space. Everything Steve Hansen puts in here ends up failing. We are in for a baaaad meal. I can feel it already." And after waiting an 45 minutes at the crowded bar, he was right.

I realized up front the service would probably be awful. I mean who has their service down pat in the first few nights of operation? It just doesn't realistically happen, and it did not on this night either. I think we had three different servers during the evening and the first one disappeared and never returned. At one point the hostess had become our server, trying to do whatever she could to help save the sinking ship. Anyway, it was the food that really concerned me. You don't learn how to smoke meat on the fly when opening a BBQ restaurant, you better have a damn good knack for that coming into this endeavor!

Obviously I am sure they have experience, and maybe they are still getting used to their smokers, but I found it to be hit and miss - and mostly miss. Also, the space is way to large, impersonal, and souless for a BBQ joint. Table service in cramped quarters with a typical NYC hot spot look and feel, as well as a loud crowd that was way too well dressed for the venue - or would have been had it not had that chichi feel to it. Not how I like my BBQ joints to look and feel. Give me down and dirty and a tiny shanty shack on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere with a pitmaster who was raised smoking 'Que by his daddy and his daddy's daddy (and so on), and I'll take that any day over this corporate bull shi*t!!!

I did not find much of my food satisfying. The lamb ribs were an odd addition to the menu, so we obviously tried that - fatty beyond belief. I could barely find any meat on that bone to justify it being worth going back for a second rib, but of course, glutton for punishment that I am, more high fat/low meat ratio on #2. The other styles of ribs (Kansas City and St. Louis, maybe?) were not memorable, but certainly passable. They were firm enough and not too fall-off-the-bone, which usually means an oversmoked rib. The brisket was way too lean and not nearly enough marbeling or moistness going on. I may have just gotten a bad cut, but serving lean brisket is like ordering your steak well done - why even bother? The chicken was OK, but who can fuck up chicken? The sides were rather small in size. Not exactly family style. The sausage was solid and I think my Diet Coke tasted good. Nothing like good fountain soda.

A few friends of mine ate there a few weeks later and this was the reveiw I saw afterward:

"Feces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from a digestive tract expelledthrough the anus (or cloaca) during defecation. The word faeces is theplural of the Latin word fæx meaning "dregs".

You may think I am talking about sh*t, however I am talking about Wildwood (dregs) BBQ which may actually be the same thing given our experience lastnight. Steve Hanson has once again taken the one thing that is almost impossible to mess up (there is no such thing as bad BBQ) and turn it into an all around horrible experience from the first breathe of the faux smoker that has the looks of a chinese death wheel with bits of torture wood. The margarita I had was so sweet I had to inject myself to insure diabetes didn't set in prior to my departure which could not have come soon enough. This is the point I blacked out due to frustration or the fact it took 1.5 hours to seat us after every other person who came in after us had already left. I should have know what our future had in store when these BBQ zombies left without the leftovers, who does that?

I HATE THIS PLACE AND CURSE ANYONE WHO TREATS BBQ LIKE A DIRTY WATER DOG. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have gone for the dirty water dog.

-Peter Vankman"

editors note - Both this review (and the review within the review) were delayed because, well, I am a delayed human being and I took awhile to getting around to it. I am sure, especially due to the close proximity of my apt. to Wildwood BBQ, I will give it another shot. But I can assure you it will be in due time and I will not be rushing to it anytime soon.

Bacon Explosion!

The Big Guy Upstairs has answered my prayers and given me the bacon loaded delicacy that I so crave. Apparently so do a lot of other people, according to this article that hit the New York Times. I guess this just goes to prove there are a few hundred thousand Baconites out there. Good to know I am not alone. This may have to be tried on Friday at Memphis In May this year. Although I pray Gary's Perfect Sandwich's are still present too. No reason to mess with that slice of Heaven here on Earth!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/dining/28bacon.html

Bacon Explosion fresh off the grill

Bacon Exlosion glazed with BBQ sauce
Cross section of Bacon Explosion

Allen & Son Barbeque - Chapel Hill, NC

I was in Chapel Hill, NC the other weekend visiting my good friend, The Hup Dog, and he took me to a cozy little spot for some North Carolina pulled pork with vinegar sauce and slaw! Allen & Son Barbeque was the spot. We were prepping to go to the UNC Tarheels host the Miami Hurricanes later on that evening at the Dean Dome, and we had had some sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits at the Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe earlier that afternoon (we'll call it brunch). We drove just a few miles out of town, but I can see that just outside of the main drag and the life in Chapel Hill, it gets pretty spacious and quiet - farmland, to you Northerners like me. Place was delicious! The pork plate was hefty and loaded with awesome mayo based slaw (the way I prefer my slaw - none of that health slaw shit!). I got a pulled pork sandwich with slaw on it. The sauce was obviously a vinegar based sauce with lots of spice. I could taste (and see) the red pepper flakes floating around in it and there were certainly many other spices going on in there too. Lots of flavor going on in the sauce, but I am more of a tomato-based BBQ sauce fan so when in Rome... The fries were just OK, but lets be honest, I wasn't coming here to sample fried potatoe products. I actually may have been more blown away by their homemade pie selection! They must have had 20 different types, made fresh and ready to eat! We went with pecan and a scoop of vanilla ice cream - excellent! (For those of you back home, not quite Luger's pecan pie with schlagg and vanilla ice cream, but then again, nothing is.) The one pie I probably should have pushed Hup to get was this insane chocolate peanut butter pie and another one called the Klondike pie (this one sounded insane, but I figured I would never appreciate a good dessert again after this one). I will be back, perhaps as early as July for the Merge XX 20th Anniversary Celebration, so I wouldn't be surprised to find myself back at Allen & Sons BBQ sampling a Klondike pie all to myself!

Hup's plate of pulled pork, hush puppies, and cole slaw

My pulled pork sandwich with cole slaw on it

Pecan pie with vanilla ice cream and powdered sugar