Fette Sau BBQ - Brooklyn, NY

After the American Museum of Natural History, I went to my hotel to shower and change for the subway ride to Brooklyn. But first I have to say, I was not supposed to take the subway to Brooklyn. Before I left, my mother told me "Do not even think the word subway!" She was especially horrified at the concept of me going to Brooklyn at night. But it was Joel's fault. For him, I was riding the subway in the evening to Brooklyn for barbecue. It was Joel and Aubrae's joint hen and stag party, which I wouldn't miss for the world. And I wanted to see just how Brooklyn does barbecue.

I almost missed the restaurant walking by. It looks like just another garage or lot of autoparts on a street that seems full of similar locations. But then I saw a pink neon sign with a line of people stretching beyond the chain link fence interest. The restaurant appeared to be in a garage with long picnic tables for family-style eating. At first glance, the whole thing seems a little sketchy. But the food is as good as it comes. All the meat - beef, pork, cornish hen - are raised on organic and/or family farmed heritage breed animals. This is not the meat you buy frozen at the grocery store. And it is prepared with the same loving dedication that it is raised. It is smoked on locally sourced word and dry rubbed to perfection. Because it was prepared dry-rubbed, I opted not to try any of their sauces with my meat (although I heard they were delicious) just because I think dry-rubbed meat should be eaten dry.

The menu changes constantly based on what the farms are able to supple, which is both the blessing and curse of using small farms. Your product will be some of the best, but you may not always be able to get it consistently. Luckily, they had the one thing I will always order when I get barbecue - ribs. Specifically, they had Berkshire St Louis Style Pork Ribs. It was a little difficult to order because they don't offer them by number of ribs but by pound. I had never actually considered how much an order of ribs weighs before. I discovered it weighs 1/2 lb., which was something for me to think about as I tore the meat off the bone with my teeth. It was wonderful. Now I live in the land of Kansas City barbecue and I'm not going to pretend that Brooklyn barbecue comes anywhere near to taking our crown. But it was great barbecue, and not just for Brooklyn, it was just plain great.

However, the sides weren't so much. I ordered the coleslaw. Like sauerkraut on my hot dog, I always have coleslaw with my barbecue. Good rich and smokey barbecue needs the crunch and vinegary acidity of coleslaw, I think it is the perfect combination of flavors. But at Fette Sau, I just had slices of cabbage is some kind of oil. There was no flavor, none of that sour and vinegary tang that bounces off the earthy richness of the barbecue. It was just cabbage.

But overall, it was an amazing meal. So amazing that I ate way too much of it and had to run to the grocer next door for some antacids if I was going to make it through the rest of the night.

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!