NYC Tastes

The newest addition to the Dinosaur BBQ empire just opened in Park Slope and I was pretty excited to have such great BBQ right near work.  The restaurant is absolutely enormous...possibly their largest location yet with the same combination of sports bar and honky tonk decor. Mr. T and I went on an off hour to avoid the crowds and got a seat in the bar area.  The beer menu is always focused on local flavor no matter where the location so Brooklyn favorites like Sixpoint and Kelso were predominant while old upstate favorites like Dino Ape Ale and Genesee found a spot on the list as well.  I was psyched to see Dino Poutine on the menu but sadly it wasn't as good as the one I had at the Stamford location.  The pulled pork and gravy were perfect but the fries could have used a bit more time in the fryer and the pimento cheese, the best part of the entire dish in my opinion, was virtually nonexistent.   Luckily the BBQ Brisket Sandwich was amazing. ...

As I look back on the past year I'm shocked by how much delicious food was involved.  I didn't come even close to hitting all the restaurants on my 2013 Wish List.  I made it to only two out of fourteen...yet I still consider this year an incredible success of food and drink moments for both old favorites and brand new places.  To the list! Best Wings-  Pork Slope/Talde This is a complete tie between Dale Talde's two Brooklyn restaurants.  Both are fried in rice flour for an ultra crisp exterior; the first coated in garlic, butter, Sriracha, Franks Red Hot and honey while the second combines crunchy peanuts, sweet chili and hot sauce.  I can't choose between the two and with both restaurants being just blocks apart there really isn't a need to:) Best Foie Gras-  Marc Forgione There aren't enough words to adequately describe how silky and luxurious the Foie Gras is at Marc Forgione.  This may have been the best thing I've eaten all ye...

The weather gods let the incredible sheets of rain stop for two glorious days of the Big Apple BBQ Block party.  I got there early with my Fast Pass for the best Pulled Pork sandwich I've ever eaten at Big Bob Gibson. Pitmaster Chris Lilly was on hand and the sandwich was just as incredible as I remembered... nice brunt ends and lots of saucy meat.  Then it was onto 17th Street for their smoky Baby Back Ribs. I had to take a break and do a little walk around the park to get some stomach room going...hey there's Ed Mitchell checking on his whole hog! I still wasn't ready for round two so I stopped into Eleven Madison's Kentucky Bourbon party and ordered an incredible Old Fashioned. Normally drinking an Old Fashioned at 11:45 in the morning would be crazy but it seemed totally appropriate on BBQ weekend. The band was fantastic.  I stayed for the whole set and finally felt ready for round two.  Over to Jim N' Nick's for some ...

One of my favorite BBQ places of all time just opened up another location in Connecticut.  What a perfect excuse to have lunch with my friend Carrie who just moved there and has a love for all things BBQ as I do...like this glorious mound of Dino Poutine. Fresh cut fries, smothered in a rich beef gravy, topped with pimento cheese and a hefty topping of smoky pulled pork.  I've never seen this offered at other Dino locations and I'm not sure why.  It was insanely delicious, oozing cheese and gravy everywhere.  This would be the prefect thing to order after a long night of drinking... ...and speaking of drinking this location has a great beer list that focused on Connecticut Breweries.  We did a flight of their local beers and tried out some new ones I've never even heard of before. A must order for me at Dinosaur is their Wango Tango wings.  They have a great spicy, sweet sauce and are...

So we went out to two BBQ dinners this past week and I have to compare them since we got basically the same things. Okay- just to start- I have eaten at both RUB and Dinosaur BBQ before, although the dinosaur I ate at was in Syracuse, but I knew what to expect walking in. At Dinosaur we started off by splitting an order of their Honey BBQ and Garlic Chipotle wings. This is one of each and once I saw them coming to our table I couldn't help but smile. These were actual wings!! They were big, meaty and oh so close to the Buffalo wings I grew up with!! The Honey BBQ sauce was nice although I thought it could be a little sweeter The Garlic chipotle however rocked!!! They had an excellent smokey garlic flavor which just enough spice at the end to leave your lips and mouth burning for a few seconds after. For my main I ordered the 1/2 rack BBQ Plate that came with a choice of two sides and cornbread. The ribs were just as I remembered from Syracuse. Meat that was juicy, moist and covered...