A Full Belly

the state of bbq in the city

NYC 'cue Crazy. Gothamist post on how BBQ joints seem to be springing up in the five boroughs.

I visited RUB (Righteous Urban Barbecue), Paul Kirk's brand spankin' new outpost of Kansas City BBQ, last week. I'm still working on a long post about it, so stay tuned for that, but for now let me tell you that the food was outstanding and I cannot wait to go back for more! I know there've been a few reports of slow service and uneven food but keep in mind that most if not all new restaurants would suffer from the same were they to be deluged by our fair city's many foodies (not to mention BBQ fanatics) upon opening, no? And real fans of BBQ, a way of cooking that can frequently take an entire day or longer to get done, should be the first people to realize that good things take time...

North Carolina Barbecue: East vs West

North Carolina Barbecue: East vs West. In North Carolina, there are two styles of barbecue. Western style is  pork shoulders glazed with a ketchup-based sauce. Eastern style is whole hog with a vinegar sauce. The debate over which style is superior flares up when after a state bill passed declaring the western-style capital of Lexington, NC the home of the state's official barbecue festival. I agree with Dennis Rogers when he writes, ""People who would put ketchup in the sauce they feed to innocent children are capable of most anything....Let the word go forth from this time and place that we, the Eastern North Carolina purveyors of pure barbecue, will not be roadkill for our western kin."

Barbecue season is here!

The inagural meeting of the NYS chapter of the New England BBQ Society (NEBS) is taking place this  Sunday, May 22, 2005 at noon at Paul Kirk's RUB restaurant located at 208 West 23rd Street between 7th and 8th Ave. They've have arranged for a $25 tasting menu (drinks are extra) and members and non-members of NEBS are both invited. RSVP by Thursday, May 19, 2005 to [email protected].

More about NEBS:

NEBS was born to offer New England grillers the opportunity to learn Southern style barbecue techniques, whether using wood, charcoal, or even gas. Since its inception, the New England Barbecue Society has accomplished the following:    
* Promulgated the use of natural charcoals and woods for fuels    
* Organized and supported certified BBQ judging classes    
* Organized and supported BBQ cooking classes    
* Organized "road trips" to many BBQ restaurants
* Developed consistent rules and regulations for cookoffs.    
* Sanctioned and Judged numerous cookoffs and BBQ events

Related: Barbecue joints in NYC

Barbeshoes

If two of your passions are BBQ in your belly and stylish sneakers on your feet and you've got money to burn, the $200 limited edition Adidas Barbeshoes are for YOU.

(If on the other hand, you have loads of cash and a fetish for chicks in stylish footwear, feel free to send a women's 8 to 8 1/2 to Lia c/o A Full Belly!)

Texas Barbecue

If you're heading to Austin for SXSW and are looking for a barbecue adventure, you might want to read this story in the Washington Post: Texas Eat 'Em.

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party

There was really only one reason for me to go to the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, and that was to eat some of Mitchell's chopped pork barbecue without having to make the trip home to North Carolina.

In my opinion, it was also the only barbecue at the party worth waiting for in those ridiculously long lines. But you don't have to take my word for it -- this woman was also in line for Mitchell's and something tells me she knows and loves her barbecue more than the rest of us:

If you missed the weekend's festivities, you don't want to miss BBQ NYC 2004 featuring Big Island Bar-B-Cue and Travis the Cuemaster on Saturday, July 24th.

UPDATE: Be sure to check out the "Live" from the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party '04" thread at eGullet, if only to read the first post by Steven A. Shaw a.k.a "Fat Guy" on Mitchell's Barbecue, including his visit to Wilson, NC.

barbecuing areas

Just in time for the holiday weekend: NYC Parks designated barbecuing areas [via BS]

It's an all barbecue weekend!

Hopefully sunny skies will return in time for an all barbecue weekend! Saturday afternoon, BBQ NYC kicks things off on Ward's Island with their barbecue picnic featuring "Slow-Smoked, Dry-Rubbed, Non-Commercialized, Un-Corporate-Sponsored, REAL LIVE BBQ In The Greatest Food City On Earth." $15 in advance or $20 at the door, all you can eat and drink. Details and directions can be found on their website.

On Sunday, the Hudson River Park hosts Blues and Barbecue. Restaurants participating include Blue Smoke, Brother Jimmy's, Oscar Famous BBQ, Tennessee Mountain, and Virgil's Real BBQ. Stay late for fireworks over the Hudson!

And if you're up for a roadtrip, you could always pay a visit to Big W's Roadside Bar-B-Q in Pawling, NY. Ed Levine writes:

This is Big W's Roadside Bar-B-Q, which appeared on a little bit of roadside lawn in front of Pawling Collision earlier this summer. The pork ribs served there are about the best I've ever had within 90 miles of New York City.

Big W is Warren Norstein, 39, and it would be a nice romantic thing to tell you that he learned the fine art of smoking meat from his daddy in Memphis, who in turn learned it from his father. But this is not the case. Mr. Norstein said he is simply "a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn."

Related: Gothamist's write-up of the 1st Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party (May 31 & June 1), including a Jeffrey Steingarten encounter.