12 Bones Smokehouse (3/10) - 5 Riverside Drive Asheville, NC 28801

M-F: 11a-4p
Sa-Su: Closed
(p) 828.253.4499
http://www.12bones.com/
menu

I was talking to a barbecue pitmaster in Atlanta and he essentially instructed me to make my way to 12 Bones Smokehouse whenever I was ever going to be in the Asheville, NC area.  He claimed that in addition to having great tasting smoked meat, 12 Bones had some delicious barbecue sauce recipes to take the meal up a notch.  My ladyfriend accompanied me on my drive from Atlanta to NYC, and she laid down some groundrules for our upcoming drive: one barbecue joint per day.  12 Bones Smokehouse was added to the itinerary and by the time we arrived a little before noon, a solid line formed out the front door providing assurance that this place indeed had product the locals thought was worth waiting for.

As the name suggests, a typical order of ribs contains 12 blades/ribs/bones.  12 Bones allows its customers to split the 12 rib orders in half, so I decided to sample the Blueberry Chipotle and Spicy Peach BBQ varieties and a pork sandwich.  My companion got a BLT (much to my chagrin), perhaps as a subtle objection to the amount of barbecue I've consumed over the past year.

The blueberry chipotle sauce didn't taste anything like chipotle or blueberries, and the spicy peach wasn't spicy nor peachy.  In a blind taste test, there would be zero chance that I could have deciphered each rib against the other.  They were basically slow smoked ribs with an application of a non-descriptive flavored sugary glaze.  It didn't take long before I determined that a disaster of a meal was quickly unfolding in front of me.  Shockingly, the pork sandwich was worse.  Bread, too firm and thick.  Pork, too dry and tasteless.  The sweet potatoes were adequate and the vinegary odor emanating from cole slaw was nauseating.

I was alloted one barbecue meal for the day and I blew it.  Also, the bacon in my ladyfriend's BLT was delicious, and I was upset about being out-ordered in a barbecue joint.  The owners/chefs need to focus less on being creative and put a lot more emphasis on executing the basics when it comes to smoking barbecue.

Momofuku Ssäm Bar (7/10) - 207 2nd Avenue New York, NY 10003

Su-Th: 11:30a-3:30p, 5p-12p

F-Sa: 11:30a-3:30p, 5p-2a

(p) 212.254.3500‎

http://www.momofuku.com/ssam-bar/

menu

When I first moved to Manhattan a few weeks back, a friend and self-proclaimed food connoisseur demanded that I head to the East Village with him to try Momofuku's pork steamed buns.  This tasty morsel has basically every attribute that I could dream of in a hand-held pork package.  To summarize: the steamed buns were light and delicate, the pork belly was fatty and delicious (and was gelatinous enough to be spread on toast), it was topped with green onions and pickled cucumbers, and customers are provided sriracha to spice it up (yes please).   I seriously considered eating nothing but steamed buns  but decided the overkill might risk ruining a great thing in the city.  The rest of the dishes we shared were done well but nothing highlighted the buns.  When another friend recently invited me to return to Momofuku to partake in its bo ssäm, I immediately committed without hesitation.


The step by step process of the bo ssäm goes as follows:

remove a leaf and coat with rice

select an oyster

position the oyster on top of the rice

pull a substantial tong-full of pork from your table's personal smoked shoulder

add pork to the lettuce wrap

top with your choice from an assortment of sauces and kimchis

There was supposedly 10 of us lined up to share the shoulder, but after a few cancellations, the group was narrowed down to 6 (including the "host's" vegetarian girlfriend).  I approximated that we probably had somewhere between 1lb - 1.5lbs of pork per person.  I was quite surprised to be instructed to add an oyster to the wrap but it provided a nice consistency and flavor I was happy to taste.  The pork lacked any natural smoke flavor, but the sugar and kosher salt rub provided a good flavor complex to complement the sauces, rice and oyster in the wrap.  Once I took my first bite, there was no slowing me down until I was physically and emotionally incapacitated (I believe I stopped counting after my 7th wrap).

Although the food was difficult to compare against more traditional barbecue meals I've had on my sabbatical, it was still definitely an enjoyable, delicious and memorable experience.  I would just suggest going with a group larger than 5 so you don't overeat at one sitting and definitely starting with a few orders of pork steamed buns -- they are a must.  And if you depart as full as I was, I suggest not walking by the monstrosity of a pile of pork belly behind the counter at the restaurant's adjourning Milk Bar as it may make you ill.