Blue Smoke (5/10) - 116 East 27th St, New York, NY 10016

Su-M: 11:30a-10p

Tu-Th: 11:30a-11p
F-Sa: 11:30a-1a
(p) 212.447.7733
http://www.bluesmoke.com/blue/
Menu (pdf)

While on my latest escapade to New York, some friends and I made reservations at Blue Smoke -- a relatively upscale barbecue joint in Gramercy that literally stands above a renowned jazz club, the Jazz Standard.  I never made my downstairs, but I still liked the vibe of the  restaurant -- basically, provide all the elements for our customers to ensure there's at least something for everybody approach.  Blue Smoke tries to include the best aspect of the barbecue from each region of the country (Texas, Memphis, Kansas City, Carolinas, etc) to accommodate its customers' needs.

We were seated above the main dinging room on the restaurant's second story balcony and we ordered some drinks from Blue Smoke's extensive and eclectic drink menu.  While waiting for my beer, I sampled the sauces and was very pleased by the variety of the two.  They both reminded me of my trip through Kansas City: fairly thick tomato-based sweet sauce with a hint of liquid smoke (makes me think KC Masterpiece) but a decent amount of spice that kicks in at the end.  Our first order: pork belly on toast, or what Blue Smoke likes to refer to as PBJs.  The plating of the dish was a nice touch comparative to more traditional barbecue joints I've frequented.  I thought the belly was smoked nicely, and there was a good concentration of fat that matched well with the crushed peanuts and light dressing prepared with the dish.  It resembled a PBJ, but with thick cut of bacon fat to get a customer like myself excited.  I assume the greens were just for decoration, cause I saved up all my room for the barbecue to follow.

For entrees, I settled on the Rhapsody in Cue: baby back ribs, pulled pork, smoked chicken and sausage so I could sample as many of Blue Smoke's smoked meats as possible in the most cost advantageous way ($24 is pricey).  My friends (or couple, or married couple, or lovers?) decided to split a rack of Memphis Baby Backs which we hoped would provide enough food for the three of us.  While I waited and the alcohol started to ease in, I decided to experiment once more with the barbecue sauces.  Instead of the master cleanse, I wish somebody somewhere would finally invent a barbecue sauce cleanse.  Maybe I'm looking for the easy way out since I've started, quit, restarted, and quit p90x more times than  I care to count.  That workout system works for 99.99% of its customers. Not 3rd Degree Berns.

There she is.  Good Old Rhapsody in Cue to the left.  The chicken was smoked very well, even though I would have preferred the option so I could have only sampled the dark meat.  The pulled pork had the best flavor of the plate.  I really enjoyed the the few dry strands that I was able to separate from the already sauced mound of pork.  The sausage was the least memorable item on the plate while the ribs unfortunately tasted as though they had been glazed throughout the smoking process.  I would have preferred ribs that had a dark and thick adhesive bark attached to the meat.

The heavy glazing application was even more evident on my friends' order of baby backs.  The meat had spent a long time in Blue Smoke's pit, and subsequently, the fat had been well rendered which made made the meat moist and juicy and easily able to pull off the blade with a slight tug.  A slight application of Blue Smoke's Magic Dust took each bite up a notch, and I regretted not taking that action sooner.

Blue Smoke also prides itself on its extensive list of sides so we were hoping jalapeno corn bread, mac & cheese and collared greens would nicely complement our meal.  The collared greens were fairly tasty (slightly sour) while the mac & cheese started off incredible in my opinion.  Ultimately the thick cheese base resembled Velveeta as the plate cooled, quickly diminishing my affection towards the dish.  The jalapeño cornbread appeared to win-out as our highest approved side dish.

When considering eating out in New York, I found it difficult to get excited by this meal that was priced at such lofty levels, especially since I didn't believe the quality of meat mirrored that cost.  Don't get me wrong. The food and presentation was strong, it was just significantly overpriced for comparable options, even in the city.  There are alternatives inside/outside the city for barbecue (especially if one doesn't have established plans to attend a live jazz session immediately afterwards), so I'd suggest Dinosaur BBQ or Fette Sau: both are more affordable although they're more difficult to reach from Midtown -- but the big kicker is that their food is both a lot better while the atmosphere are more relaxed settings for barbecue consumption.

Bernstein + Isenhour reunions are typically the best, evident by our campaign flyers (enclosed) when were both graduate students at Texas (UT).  Our classmates fortunately knew better than to vote for us in the 2005 elections.  Despite a short stay in Texas, our alliances still remain with the SEC (although Isenhour loves the Pony's at SMU) and we'd never care about anything in the Big XII outside an enjoyable Bob Stoops big game loss.

Fette Sau BBQ (9/10) - 76 Havemeyer St, Brooklyn, NY 11211

M-Su: 5p-2a
(p) 718.963.3404
http://www.fettesaubbq.com/

*** (4/10/10) Something very troubling has started to evolve on the barbecue sabbatical -- barbecue hasn't been tasting as great as it did towards the beginning of the journey.  Perhaps I've recently frequented worse establishments; maybe I've subconsciously built up previous meals that has subsequently and unintentionally elevated my standards to levels that are almost impossible to meet or exceed.  A follow-up meal to Fette Sau, what I previously chalked up as one of the best barbecue joints across the country, would provide both the sanity check I desperately needed and the chance to gorge on a hearty meal with friends.

Our group of seven put the ordering in my hands and it went as follows:
1) Baby Back Ribs - Half Rack (I just noticed that the word 'half' is one of those words in the English language that looks absurdly misspelled)
2) Beef Ribs (Boneless) - Half Pound
3) Pork Belly - Half Pound
4) Pulled Pork - Pound
5) Brisket - Pound
6) One Sausage (not pictured)

Although our meal still easily dominated 93% of the food I have tried over the previous year, it was not as delicious as it was back in October.  The one major change that jumped out to those in the group that accompanied me back in the Fall was the substantial difference in the consistency of the pork belly.  During our first experience, the pork belly was pure slow smoked fat that could have been easily spread on a piece of toast.  That might sound grossly unappealing to some, but trust me, it was amazing.  I have since tried to smoke pork belly on my own at home to try to replicate that taste.  During this experience however:  the pork was mostly protein that was difficult to chew -- definite disappointment.  The ribs were also slightly under-smoked and could have spent a little longer in the smoker to breakdown the meat a little better while the brisket was fairly dry.  The flavor of the barbecue and crust was still incredible and our group consumed every last morsel.  I expect barbecue outfits that hold the 10/10 ranking to produce the same quality day after day.  Fette Sau will definitely have another chance to make it up to me.***

(10/14/09) Back earlier in the Summer when I was talking with Timmy's friend General Burnsides at a local bar - Neighbors - about barbecue, he recommended a number of places in addition to OB's in McDonough.  Of all his recommendations, he gave his highest backing to a place called Fette Sau in Brooklyn, NY.  I checked the website, and it looked legit.  Most people from New York recommend one of the following: Dinosaur BBQ, Daisy Mays, Blue Smoke, or Hill Country (the latter from my Jewish Wash U friends who wouldn't know the first thing about smoked pigs).  But of those who confirm that they've heard of or have tried Fette Sau, claim that it's easily or supposed to be the best in town.  Since I was already in the New York area, my only concern was convincing friends to come along for the ride to Brooklyn.  Nikki, Matt, and Emmelene were in for trip.  We boarded the L train at 14th and took it to the first stop in Brooklyn.  From there, its a three block walk until the neon-lit Fette Sau sign grabs your attention and you notice a solid crowd of barbecue-goers eating meat and drinking beers in the open-air walkway into the main section of the restaurant.

Once you're in the main dining room, you notice a line of people snaking across the right wall waiting to place their orders for food.  A beverage station, specializing mainly in whiskey, was constructed in the left corner and it was serving patrons who were waiting in a different line.  The wall to the left was decorated to illustrate all the different cuts of meat from cows, pigs, and sheep.

Our group was extremely hungry and ready to sample almost every meat offered by Fette Sau.  We decided on one pound of brisket, a pound of pulled pork, 4 baby back ribs, 1 sausage link, one boneless beef rib, and a half pound of pork belly.  The meat behind the counter looked incredible.  Every cut of beef as well as the pork belly and spare ribs had a solid black crust on it -- from the oak, cherry, beach, and maple woods used in their Southern Pride smoker.  I could only begin to imagine the rich flavor of it in contrast to the moist slowly cooked meat underneath.  The sides looked fairly decent, so we decided to get an order of coleslaw and a small cup of baked beans.  I kept snapping pictures of the carver in action, and at one point after my flash went off, he turned around extremely aggravated with the facial expression that read: "I'm ready to punch you in the mouth."  The food looked too incredible for me to get excited over his emotions, so I kept a low key profile and got the food.  Matt disappeared and returned with a glass of whiskey and a quart of beer in either a honey or pickle jar.

The sliced and pulled meat looked incredible as everything across the board looked perfectly smoked and prepared.  The pulled pork was positioned in the middle of the tray.  To his left was the smoked sausage who was peeking out from underneath the baby back ribs.  Upper left of the ribs position was the smoked pork belly and to his right was the sliced boneless beef rib.  Finally, the sliced brisket was positioned to the right of the show.

There were three sauces on the table for us to try.  First, an extremely vinegary sauce that had zero viscosity.  It was fairly bland and not something I was trying to incorporate into the meal.  The second sauce looked like a sweet mustard barbecue sauce, but after trying a bite and realizing it was almost all entirely horseradish, I coughed all over the place and distanced myself from the bottle as far as possible.  The third sauce was a more basic sweet barbecue sauce that tasted good but it was neither great nor memorable.

Besides the sausage, which I'll get to in a minute, everything was great. The meats that were exceptional: boneless beef rib, pork belly, pulled pork, and baby back ribs.  The brisket was better than average, but the sausage tasted just like a hot Italian sausage one would put on spaghetti.  Would definitely pass on it on a subsequent visit. The pork belly was other-worldly.  It took the fat concept from a Gates' burnt end sandwich and took it to the next level.  It was basically chunked pieces of pork fat with a nice smoky crust on the outside edges.  At one point in the meal, I stacked brisket, beef rib, and pork on a sandwich, and then used a few pieces of pork belly as a condiment on top.  Even without sauce, the sandwich was packed with so much flavor that I could eat one every day for 8 months before I could imagine getting sick of the taste.  The ribs had a great crust on the outside, and the tender meat underneath had a great smoke ring and could effortlessly be tugged away from the bone.  The flavor of the beef boneless rib was great, potentially the best beef rib I've ever tried (even if it was prepared away from the massive cow rib bone).  Brisket was a little too dry for my liking, but the flavor was enjoyable.    

The coleslaw was definitely a positive for the restaurant too; it had a good mix of vinegar, sesame oil, large cut cabbage, and apples.  The beans were decent although there was a good mix of smoked pork in the mixture.  Our table dominated the entire platter of food and all left knowing that we had just conquered one delicious and memorable pile of meat.




If I had to rank the meats from best to worst at Fette Sau:
1. Baby Back Ribs
2. Beef Boneless Rib
3. Pork Belly
4. Pulled Pork
5. Brisket
6. Sausage

Anyone in the Northeast needs to make the trip to Brooklyn to experience Fette Sau, especially if you love barbecue or whiskey.

Community Q BBQ (8/10) - 1361 Clairmont Rd, Decatur, GA 30033

M-Th: 11a-8:30p
F-Sa: 11a-9:30p
Su: 11a-7p
(p) 404.633.2080
http://www.communityqbbq.com
Menu

*** (4/9/10) After devouring Fox Bros highly acclaimed short beef rib, I felt David Robert's recently opened Community Q deserved both a revisit and a chance to demonstrate his short beef rib product.  Community Q has made some minor improvements since January: a wooden fence separates its 'pseudo-front patio' from the parking lot while its official signage now proudly hangs on the front facade.

Community Q smokes its ribs for 14+ hours in its pair of Southern Pride smokers fueled with hickory wood.  Like Fox Bros, the rib had a nice crust but the one attribute that really pushed it over the cliff was how sweet the pieces of fat tasted in the meat.  As an aside -- I love the flavor of fat in meat.  If I order a ribeye in a public setting, I'll sneak bites of the marbleized pure fat from the cut when I'm fairly confident that no one will see.  The rib had a great flavor and I quickly made my way through the entire blade.  Much to the chagrin of The Food Abides' pride in his tongue for barbecue, Community Q's rib was superior to Fox Bros'.***

(1/20/10) A former co-owner of Sam & Dave's in Roswell, GA, David Roberts parted ways with Sam Huff leaving Sam to operate Sam's BBQ1 while David turned is attention to another barbecue venture in the Atlanta community.  Community Q is his newest creation and the restaurant has definitely generated some serious online buzz.  I corralled a small gathering so we could gauge the quality of the food for ourselves.  To my delight, I was excited to learn that I'd be dining with one of the locally 'in'famous Woodward students who was expelled from The Academy in 8th grade for dropping LSD on the Washington DC school trip.

-- Please note that Community Q is lacking a lit sign above the restaurant, and each party in our group consequently drove right past the restaurant on its first attempt --

It was only 7:30pm when we arrived, but the restaurant had already completely sold out of both beef and pork ribs and only had a few smoked chickens left.  Since we had four people in our group, we decided to strategically order so we could have a wide variety of smoked meats to sample across the table.  It was decided that we'd make the most of this trip (sans ribs) with an order of a smoked half chicken, a few orders of brisket, a pork sandwich, and a few sides: mac & cheese, potato salad, rub coated french fries, and Brunswick stew.  Community Q was reasonably priced, and I was definitely pleased to see that all prices on the menu were inclusive of tax.

We took a seat at the table, and I sampled the two sauces provided in the clear and yellow bottles.  The clear bottle housed a sweeter Kansas City-based sauce and the yellow bottle approximated a strong vinegar-based Southern style sauce.  I was more excited about the Kansas City style and thought it would  more appropriately complement my meal.  I first sampled the beef brisket without the sauce, and the bark had a great smoky sweet flavor.  As I dug deeper into the meat and brought full slices to my mouth, I was less impressed and wished that the smoke had better penetrated the brisket.  The meat pulled apart extremely easily, a consequence that typically results from being cooked too long.  It was extremely moist, but the taste better resembled a cut of meat that was instead steamed than being meticulously smoked.  While the chicken was cooked extremely well, I couldn't help but notice that we were only provided a quarter bird.  We definitely ordered enough food so I felt that it wasn't worth the effort to raise this point with the staff.  I'm hoping that they catch on and correct this issue.

My ladyfriend's pulled pork sandwich looked incredible.  A huge mound of pork glistened from underneath the slightly toasted Texas Toast and I stared at the sandwich long enough to alert the table that I was primed for a huge bite.  The sample I was offered managed to exceed my already high expectations, and I thoroughly enjoyed the combination of the outside and inside of the slow cooked pork shoulder.  The meat was slightly salty and was perfectly cooked.  I would definitely order this sandwich on a subsequent trip to Community Q in hopes that they could replicate this masterpiece.

All the sides I tried (decided to not sample the potato salad) were executed well.  The penne mac & cheese had a great concentration of hot oil (perhaps from the cheese/cream cheese), the rub on the fries was unique and provided another layer of flavor, and the Brunswick stew had a subtle kick.  Community Q BBQ definitely delivered this night, and considering that this barbecue joint had just recently opened, I'm excited to go back in a few weeks/months to sample the ribs and order my own pork sandwich (at the expense of the sub-par brisket).

Fox Bros. BBQ (7/10) - 1238 DeKalb Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307

M-Th: 11a-10p
F-Sa: 11a-11p
Su: 11a-10p
(p) 404.577.4030
http://www.foxbrosbbq.com/
Menu (pdf)

*** (4/8/2010) The Food Abides recently forwarded a picture of the short beef rib at Fox Bros, a specialty of this barbecue outfit that is only available each week on Thursday and Saturday.  In addition to being about as wide as my fist, the beef rib appeared to have a well-formed black crust and smoke ring that was enticing enough that I made a return visit to taste a  rib for myself.  The rib was nothing short of gargantuan.  Unsure how to best attack it, I started by pulling away pinches of the crust that were slightly dusted with Fox Bros seasoning.  The crust was sweet while the flavor of meat confirmed that it had a nice smoke flavor (all Fox Bros' meat tastes slightly oversmoked in my opinion) and the fat had been well-rendered into the beef.  The seasoning complemented the flavor of the smoked meat, but the flavor got a little monotonous towards the end of this dining experience.  Nonetheless, I still made my way through the entire rib until I was basically examining the bone for any potential remaining residue.  I'm a gluttonous eater, so this dish definitely fit my billing.  In retrospect, the rib was executed well but I'm still not as big of a fan of the barbecue at Fox Bros' in comparison to what appears to be most the locals in the Atlanta area. ***

(9/8/2009) Sharing the common concern regarding the lack of good/great barbecue in the city, Jonathan Fox progressed from a typical backyard barbecuing experimentalist to an official barbecuer caterer on Wednesday nights at Smith's Olde Bar on the corner on Monroe Drive and Piedmont Avenue.  Mr. Fox honed his skills and developed a following that warranted recently opening a restaurant called Fox Bros. BBQ.  Its located on DeKalb Avenue a few blocks south of Little Five Points.  The restaurant's following grew and it is now evaluating expanding into a second location.

I visited Fox Bros. within the first few days of moving back to Atlanta in August, and I remember being impressed by the authenticity of the barbecue.  Fox Bros. specializes in Texas-style barbecue and offers brisket, ribs (not beef however), and pulled pork whereas the typical local barbecue restaurant serves finely chopped pork with a strong vinegar and cayenne-based sauce.  Now that I have had the pleasant experience driving across the country eating a wide array of barbecue, I wanted to return to Fox Bros. to see how it held up against the rest.

I took a seat inside to shield myself from the 83 inches of torrential downpour in Atlanta.  I briefly browsed the new revamped and aggressive menu although I knew I was going to re-order the 3 meat plate.  During my first experience, I was informed that Fox Bros. considered chicken wings as one of the available meats in the platter so I obviously jumped on that.  As an aside: the only food I like eating more than barbecue is chicken wings.  A fraternity brother had once curiously asked one of my ex-girlfriends what it was like dating me.  Her response: "He eats chicken wings with two forks."  How profound.  I had read that the brisket was great at Fox Bros. so I ordered the brisket, pulled pork, and baby-back rib plate.  Oh, and they served fried pickles and jalapeños too.  Got that money combination as an appetizer.  The waitress was definitely impressed by my aggressiveness towards eating.

Learning from a past mistake, I definitely did not even contemplate ordering the jalapeño poppers without Fester's permission (once got into a 'scene' at Ri Ra over jalapeño poppers - no joke - ask Angela "Pookins" Glynn). If I'm/we're lucky, Fester will write a guest post to discuss this night and any and all stories regarding the Pizza Pirates.  In brief, the Pizza Pirates order delivery pizza and decide which guy will take the door while the others hide in the bushes near the driveway.  When the delivery man approaches the door with their pizza in hand, the other Pizza Pirates who are waiting deafeningly quiet in the bushes sneak (choice words) into his car and steal whatever pizzas he has remaining in the heat wave.



The fried pickles and jalapeños were both great as far as fried vegetation is concerned.  The batter was light and peppery and didn't make the food taste greasy at all.  The saltiness and garlic flavor went great with the spice from the jalapeños.  The spiciness was definitely there but hot enough too hot to scare people who dislike spice.

Then the brisket, pork, and ribs came with a side of potato salad and fried okra.  The potato salad lacked any substantial flavor (no dill, onion, mustard, etc.) and the fried okra was really good despite that I had already reached my fried food quota for a day.  The brisket was very disappointing.  It was dry, lacked any moisture whatsoever, and tasted like it was exposed to too much hickory flavor.  It was 3:30pm on a Sunday so perhaps I got the meat they cooked for the 12pm - 2pm crowd.  Fox Bros. does however cook great ribs.  The meat was cooked perfectly and the outside of each rib had a great sugary coat.  If I ever recommend this restaurant, I'll definitely give a disclaimer to only order the ribs.

If there was a rib competition within the city limits, I would have a difficult time deciding between Fox Bros. and Maddy's.  Maddy's serves enormous juicy ribs with an above average sauce while Fox Bros. serves ribs that have a great crust and flavor.  It would seriously too difficult to crown a winner without having both ribs in front of me for a side-by-side comparison.