Marietta, GA is rapidly becoming a hot spot 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 four restaurants operated by cooks with strong backgrounds in competition barbecue - 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.
My visit to Smokin' J's happened on quite short notice. I assembled a couple of my oldest friends, Jason and Robert, and my newest friend the mighty Tom Blair to help me work through Jeff's menu. Lunch that day was on the house (thank you, Jeff.) Our first course might seem a little out of place for a visit to a BBQ restaurant. While waiting on the big show, Jeff brought us out a BBQ chicken pizza. It turns out that Jeff partnered with the former residents of the space, who just so happened to run a pizza joint. The pizza ovens and original staff are still in place. Pizza might seem a little unusual for a BBQ joint, but I think Jeff and his crew just might make it work. This pizza was GREAT. It's really awkward for me to praise a pizza in a barbecue review, but I have to. It's that good. My family devoured the leftovers. Jeff has integrated his pizzas nicely into the menu, and parents will appreciate the kids pizza option on the kid's menu.
Shortly after wrecking the BBQ chicken pizza, the good stuff started showing up. The above picture is a simple pulled pork plate with pineapple express and brunswick stew. The meat was as good as it looks. The pineapple express was a mystifying surprise, enjoyable and a bit confusing at the same time. The express was light and fluffy and sweet. Everyone at the table took a turn sampling it and guessing at the ingredients. Possible culprits included potatoes and eggs. In talking to Jeff, we were way off. Pineapple express is a sweet, lofty bread pudding that serves as a nice counterpoint to the big flavors on the plate. Jeff told me he sells out of it every day. My only problem with my pork plate was that the bread could have stood to have been toasted a bit.
Jeff's brisket plate was pretty strong. The brisket was nice and smokey and was a big hit with all the boys at the table. My personal preference would have been for a thicker bark, but that's my only request. Jeff had developed a nice smoke ring, and the beef was very flavorable and tender. Jeff uses rotini for his kid-friendly mac and cheese. I visited Smokin' J's with my daughters roughly a week after my first visit, and I can vouch for the kid-friendly bit. I wound up having to order seconds on the mac and cheese.
Smokin' J's also offers a pulled, smoked chicken plate. Delicious. Smoked half chickens are also available. The only dish we were not able to sample that first visit (because we simply ran out of room) was the smoked hot links plate. Jeff has partnered with his colleagues at the Cajun Meat Co. to offer a really nice, smokey, spicy piece of sausage. When I came back a week later with my family, I ordered the links. Don't hesitate to follow my example.
Setting the food aside for a second, one of the truly amazing things about Smokin' J's is that Jeff completed the restaurant build out by himself. When I met Jeff that day at Pork U long ago, I knew him as a home renovator/remodeler with a serious BBQ fixation. In making the transition to a restaurant owner, Jeff leveraged his construction talents to complete his build out on his own. Smokin' J's is set in a rather large commercial/retail space. I'm just guessing, but I would bet Jeff could easily handle 80 to 100 covers without running into seating issues. He's even got a nice stage built in for musical entertainment.
I think that these last couple pictures are my favorites. This is Jeff as I've known him for a long time - a great guy who really loves cooking barbecue. For the moment, Smokin' J's is running on the back of Jeff's go-to competition cooker. It's a true stick burner. Jeff has a cooking timer set by the register that goes off every half hour that lets him know it's time to throw some more logs in the firebox. A visit to Smokin' J's means that you get a chance to sample what is typically reserved for competition barbecue judges - carefully crafted, authentic, slow cooked, smoked meats. Make it a point to stop by and try Smokin' J's and tell Jeff I sent you.
