The Food Maven Diary
[Archives]
Barbecue in Brooklyn
For many reasons, I really enjoyed my drive down south. The route was Wilmington, Delaware to visit Winterthur, the Henry Dupont estate-turned museum of American antiques and decorative arts, then Washington D.C. to see an old college friend, the Pompeii and the Roman Villa exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, and how grand the city is looking in general, except for the muddy mall that really does need re-sodding as President Obama's recovery bill had suggested. (You know, growing sod and planting it DOES create jobs.) Then on to Charlottesville, Virginia, for Thomas Jefferson's Monticello; then Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for old friends and to see what it's like there; then Charlotte, NC, to see an elderly relative; then Asheville, NC, to visit the Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate, then Cloudland, Georgia, to visit more relatives (that's on the Alabama border, about an hour south of Chattanooga, Tenn.). On the way back north I drove diagonally across Tennessee, through Virginia, then Pennsylvania, New Jersey and home. In case you're interested, Tennessee has the cleanest rest stops.
As you can see, I drove through some of the best barbecue regions in the country and don't think I didn't eat barbecue at every opportunity, and in some of those regions' most often and highly recommended barbecue joints.
I was never impressed. There were no epiphanies - "Oh, now I get why southerners wax rhapsodic about this stuff." I kept thinking, eating bun after bun filled with smoked pork "pulled" into shards, that I can get barbecue just as good if not better in New York.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed all this meat, especially in North Carolina, where barbecue is often dressed with a vinegar and hot pepper sauce as opposed to a sweetened tomato-based sauce. Fortunately, sauce is almost always served on the side in these joints, usually in a squeegee bottle so you could douse your meat to taste. I was able to avoid the sweet sauces that I don't usually care for, although, of course, I tasted them. True barbecue aficionados may disagree about this, but I think the meat should be delicious and succulent enough on its own to not really need sauce. It should have some smoke flavor, if nothing else. But it hardly ever does. Sometimes it was juicy, but never all that flavorful without some sauce.
It's true. I am a hopeless New York provincial and chauvinist; maybe worse, I am a hopeless Brooklyn provincial and chauvinist. I think that if you live in Brooklyn everything you could ever want in life is no more than 20 minutes away. How could I possibly, a Jew from Brooklyn, criticize locally favored barbecued pig joints in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina? I'm just saying you don't have to drive all the way to North Carolina to eat barbecue like they have in North Carolina, or even South Carolina.
Big, huge, immense FOR INSTANCE: 168 Quincy St. between Bedford and Nostrand Aves. in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, no more than a 5-minute drive from where I live. I could walk it if I felt energetic. And all I could think of while I was in the south was that I can't wait to get home and see if KINGS COUNTY BARBECUE is as good as what I was eating.
It is. In fact, it is better than some of the barbecue I ate on the road, particularly the ribs. I am thrilled. Christopher McGee, the barbecue master, is from Kansas City, famous for its smoky sauce-glazed ribs, but Christopher also makes excellent pulled pork, and amazing smoked brisket, an item I never encountered in the south. I think you need to go further west - like to Texas (or Kansas City I suppose) - to get smoked brisket like this, with a smoky crust. I am in love with Christopher's chili, too, mostly composed of brisket ends, but with a few beans, a good hit of chilies and a noticeable note of cumin.
Kings County Barbecue is a big, red kitchen/smoker truck parked behind a steel roll-up garage door and white cinder blocks. There's not even a roof over this "garage." It is mainly a take-out business, and you can buy the food as ready to eat - as a sandwich or sandwich platter, which holds more meat than a simple sandwich, or by the pound. Some Pratt students have painted a covered alcove next to the truck. Graffiti-style, in loud colors with cartoon figures, it's the perfect backdrop to the que. Here's where Christopher intends to set up a few tables for the warm weather. On my last visit, there was but one table and two chairs.
The meats are well worth taking a detour to Kings County Barbecue. But, except for the wonderful barbecue beans, the sides are less interesting, although I read a comment on line that the fries are very good. I'd order them only if I was eating there. Fries do not travel well, even if the trip is only 5 minutes. The greens are full of onion but also way too salty. I like the jalapeno-cheese grits well-enough, but I'd like them even better if they were creamier and not so stiff. They are so firm, in fact, that I unmolded them from their plastic container, reheated them in the form of the container, like a large timbale, and served them in slices, like solid polenta. The coarsely cut coleslaw has a light, acidic dressing, not mayonnaise, which I like.
Kings County Barbecue is open every day but Monday. And Tuesday's offerings can be limited early in the day, as Christopher may not have finished smoking the meats. On Saturday and Sunday afternoons you can find the red truck parked outside the indoor winter flea market at Front and Washington Sts. in Dumbo. His goal is to open by noon, but, to play it safe, I wouldn't show up until 12:30. About 4 p.m., he moves back to Quincy St. - open until 10 p.m. On other afternoons, Chris tries to open by 12:30 on Quincy St., but, again, it's safest to show up (or call for a delivery in Bed-Stuy) a little later.
The prices are very fair: A full rack of ribs is $20. Brisket is $14 a pound, pulled pork $12 a pound. Brisket chili is a mere $10 a quart, $4 a small side container. Sandwiches on hamburger buns with pickle and coleslaw are $6 and $7. I haven't yet tried Christopher's chicken wings or smoked then fried and sauced chicken drumsticks, but I can't wait.
For more information (or for a delivery order in the neighborhood - from 5:30 to 10 p.m. - call 347-881-6696. Christopher also has a website - Kingscountybbq.com -- and a Face Book page where he posts his specials.
