BBQgeek

Dave Poe's BBQ - Marietta, GA

 
 

Barbecue brings people together.  Friends and family gather at the table to eat, laugh, and talk while enjoying pulled pork, ribs, brisket, chicken and delicious side dishes.  But for some families, barbecue is more than just a great meal.  Dave Poe of Marietta, GA embodies the idea of barbecue as a way of life.  Dave's family has been in the barbecue business for many years.  Dave got his start in barbecue with his father, catering and competing around the state with Stump and Sons BBQ.   Atlanta magazine recently recognized Dave Poe's BBQ  as some of the best barbecue in the city and the best cole slaw overall.

The  accolades in Atlanta magazine are just a friendly reminder of the quality barbecue served on a daily basis at Dave Poe's.   Over the past few years, Dave has earned glowing reviews from the Atlanta Journal Constitution and a devoted word-of-mouth following that keeps his restaurant packed for every lunch and dinner.  I recently stopped by to visit my best friend and mentor to grab a bite and some photos to share with each of you to remind you why you should make it a point to stop by and enjoy some of the fantastic food available at Dave Poe's BBQ.

continue reading Dave Poe's BBQ here....

Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc Apple Bacon BBQ Sauce

Thomas Keller is the nation's de facto chef laureate.  His culinary achievements are the stuff of legend, and his flagship restaurant, The French Laundry, has become a foodie mecca and the birthplace of many of our greatest up and coming chefs.  While I have spent much time admiring Thomas' achievements, cookbooks, and protege's, our two worlds have not crossed paths in any significant way.  But then the need for a Mother's Day gift sent me into a local Williams Sonoma, and I stumbled upon what you see pictured left.  Ad Hocis one of Thomas' more laid back restaurants in the Napa Valley.  It's family style.  No menu.  Simple food created with the same loving care as the pretty plates he creates at The French Laundry. So, it figures that he would bring a BBQ sauce to market under that label vs. The French Laundry BBQ sauce.  I picked up the jar and took a peek at the price. $16 for thirteen ounces of BBQ sauce.  Down here in the South, we'd say that Mr. Keller is awful proud of his sauce.  Our Northern brethren might be a little less genteel and a little more to the point.  That's a lot of scratch for some jacked up ketchup, Thomas.  I realized I was holding in my hands what was, for me, the most expensive bottle of BBQ sauce in the World. We're talking over a dollar an ounce, good people.

So, I bought the sauce and began tainting my mental jury before I could even get out of the parking lot.  See, I've made more than a few gallons of BBQ sauce from scratch in my day.  In fact, it was a bit of an obsession for a few years.  Along the way, I learned a lot of lessons, and I spread the gospel of fresh-sauce-over-bottled far and wide and made many converts along the way.  I drove home mentally working through my mise en place for the dish of sous vide Smug served over a bed of poached told-you-so that I was planning on sending over via FedeX to little Tommie in Yountville, CA.  Continue reading Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc Apple Bacon BBQ Sauce here....

Community Q named as a Top 10 New Dining Destination in the USA!

MSN.com published a list of the Top 10 New Dining Destinations in the US this morning.  Atlanta's own Community Q was the only restaurant in Georgia to be included on the list.  Other notable restaurants included Collichio & Sons (NYC), and Thomas Keller's Bouchon (Beverly Hills).  Congratulations to David, Stuart, and Jim on such a tremendous achievement. 

Cochon 555 - Atlanta, GA

Pork liver pate with apple jelly from 2010 winner Sean Brock of McCrady's of Charleston, SC at Cochon 555.

Cochon 555, a multi-city, national event celebrating the cultivation of heritage breed hogs, rolled into Atlanta, GA this past Sunday.  It was my second pork-themed event in less than a month.  You may have already read my write up of the Southern Foods Pig Out in the Park.  What can I say?  I'm a lucky guy.  The basic premise of Cochon 555 is to assemble five of the best regional chefs, give them each a 175 lb. heritage breed pig to cook, and let the assembled masses enjoy the fruits of their labors.  Joining these five chefs are five wineries showcasing their wines.  So, the 555 equals 5 hogs, 5 wines, and 5 chefs.  Simple enough.  Atlanta's Cochon 555 took place at the downtown W hotel.  Several hundred foodies, food critics, and bloggers turned out to indulge in everything fine about swine (did I really just make that horrible rhyme?).  I've assembled a simple photo essay with minimal commentary to describe the event for you.  Enjoy.  Continue reading Cochon 555 - Atlanta, GA here....
 

Smoked and Sous Vide Duck Confit

 

For well over a year now, I've been trying to figure out how to make smoked duck confit.  Standard confit technique requires one to cook the duck in duck fat that has been seasoned with herbs and spices.  Once the duck is cooked, it is allowed to cool in the fat and can be stored for months.  It is an ancient preservation method that yields incredibly tasty meat.  Combining confit and smoke is an entirely different matter.  I've tried several times, and it never worked out the way I wanted.  It was only after I purchased my Sous Vide Supreme that I realized that I might be able to fix some of the problems I had run into previously.  What were those problems?  Well, the first question is do you smoke or confit first?  If you smoke first, the smokiness tends to disperse once you sink the duck into fat and confit.  The end product just is unsatisfying.  Working in reverse by first using confit and then smoke, the end product tends to be bitter.  But one recent day, it occurred to me that sous vide might be the answer.  If you can smoke the duck to satisfaction and then seal it in a bag to cook with duck fat, herbs, and spices, then you might avoid the bitterness issue while retaining all the flavor.  So, I set forth on a grand experiment to blend sous vide and smoke and see if I had found the secret.  Continue reading Smoked and Sous Vide Duck Confit here...

Clyde Cooper's Barbecue - Raleigh, NC

 

For the second time in a month, business took me to Raleigh, NC.  On my last trip, I paid a visit to the Pit to experience Ed Mitchell's vision of upscale barbecue.  This time I decided to try and find a different experience.  I wanted something that really painted a clear picture of traditional Eastern Carolina barbecue.  I did a little Googling and ran across Clyde Cooper's Barbecue, in business since 1938 in downtown Durham.  Online reviews of Coopers were very good.  I also checked with a couple of my Raleigh colleagues and they said it was very good stuff.  One colleague even remarked he remembered eating there as a kid and loving it.  After finishing up my morning business meeting, I made a quick run into downtown Raleigh with three of my coworkers to sneak in a quick lunch before hopping back on my flight back to Atlanta.  Coopers really impressed me that day with  some great food and an authentic experience.  Continue reading Clyde Cooper's Barbecue here....

Judge's Table - Southern Foods' Pig Out In the Park

Pictured from left to right are a few of the chefs, as well as one judge, that participated in Southern Foods' Pig Out in the Park - Jose Hernandez and Matt Swickerath (Valenza), Shane Touhy (Dogwood), Allan Benton (Benton's Hams), Stephen Herman and Guillermo Hernandez (Haven)

Twelve chefs from some of Atlanta's best restaurants gathered yesterday at the Park Tavern in Piedmont Park to participate in Southern Foods' Pig Out in the Park, a food industry showcase featuring a pork cookoff.  The participating restaurants included Holeman and Finch, 4th and Swift, Haven, Rathbun's, Dogwood, Valenza, JCT kitchen, Serpas True Food, Speakeasy, Parker's on Ponce, Two Urban Licks, and Miltons.  The pork cookoff was judged by Allan Benton, David Roberts, and me.  Allan is famous throughout the American culinary world for crafting some of the highest quality artisinal country hams in the world at his smokehouse in Tennessee, Benton's Hams.  David Roberts is a the chef and partner in Atlanta's most recent barbecue darling, Community Q.  Me?  I run a little BBQ blog, and I'm still trying to figure out how I managed to be lucky enough to land a seat at the judges table.  Chefs, line cooks, service professionals, and restaurant owners all stopped by the Park Tavern to sample all manner of foodstuffs from some of Southern Foods top line vendors, as well as taste dishes from all twelve of the competing restaurants.  Continue reading Judge's Table - Southern Foods' Pig Out in the Park here....

Smokin' J's BBQ - Marietta, GA

 
Marietta, GA is rapidly becoming a hotspot for BBQ restaurants owned and operated by cooks with a background in competition barbecue.  By my highly unofficial count, the Marietta area plays host to at least four restaurants operated by  competition barbecue cooks - David Poe, Sam Huff, Jeff Rittman, and Bubba Lattimer (who currently holds the #1 position in the national competition barbecue rankings.)  The latest addition to the Marietta barbecue scene is Smokin' J's, launched by Jeff Rittman roughly three weeks ago in the East Lake shopping center on Roswell road.  In the spirit of full disclosure, Jeff has been a friend of mine for years now.  We met while assisting Sam Huff at one of his legendary Pork U. barbecue cooking classes.  While I channeled my BBQ fever into a little blog, Jeff turned his love of BBQ into a successful competition cooking team and catering.  Jeff is bringing to Marietta all the tricks of the trade that he has learned over years of competing and catering around the metro Atlanta area.  All of Jeff's meats reflect lessons learned in competition.  They have solid flavor, bark, and smoke.  The interesting bit is Jeff's sides.  Pineapple express (a heavenly pineapple bread pudding/souffle) and three different kinds of cobbler seem to speak to his background in catering.  All in, Marietta has a solid new option for barbecue.  Continue reading Smokin' J's BBQ - Marietta, GA here.....

Suggest your favorite ATL BBQ spot to Atlanta magazine

Atlanta Magazine food editor and blogger, Bill Addison, is mounting a barbecue hunt to seek out the best BBQ in the metro Atlanta area.  According to the article, Atlanta magazine will be doing a cover feature article on barbecue in ATL this summer.  I'm not looking to rekindle the annual "who has the best bbq in ATL" argument that always surrounds the AJC's "Best of" lists and the utterly toxic comments that always litter their online comments .  But if you think you know where the best BBQ in Atlanta is, please visit the article above and leave Bill a friendly suggestion for his hunt. 

Pig Out at the Park - March 23,2010

Southern Foods will be sponsoring an event for food industry professionals at the Park Tavern in Piedmont Park, Atlanta, GA, on March 23rd from 3pm to 8pm to highlight their services and products.  Pig out at the Park will feature a BBQ cookoff competition between 13 of Atlanta's top chefs.  The competition will be judged by Allan Benton of Benton's Hams, David Roberts of Community Q, and yours truly (the BBQgeek!).  Here is the lineup of competing chefs:

1    Rathbun's  - Kevin Rathbun 
2    Dogwood Restaurant  -    Shane Touhy   
3    Serpas True Food  -   Scott Serpas  
4    Two Urban Licks   -   Cameron Thompson   
5    Holeman and Finch  - Jason and Ryan
6    4th and Swift  -  Jay Swift  
7    Miltons  -   Boyd Rose  
8    Haven  -    Stephen Herman
9    Valenza  -    Matt Swickerath
10   JCT Kitchen   -    Ford Fry   
11   Speakeasy  - Wes Chapman   
12   Prestige Gourmet   - Robert Guillou
13   Parker's on ponce   - David Hartshorn