I think that it is safe to say that most Memphians can be overly opinionated when it comes to their own personal definitions of what barbecue is and how it is to be done. And since I'm on a Barbecue team that competes in the World Championship of Barbecue every year in Memphis, I feel that I certainly have the credibility to determine what good swine should taste like. I should also point out for those who aren't familiar with Memphis barbecue that when we (Memphians) say "barbecue" or "bbq" that we are pretty much always referring to pork, whether it be slow smoked shoulder or ribs.
After I moved to the area I was fairly skeptical of the few barbecue joints I had been reading about in my neighborhood. I would say to my self "Barbecue in New York City? Screw that man, I'll stick to my own smoked meats..." Well like my Jamaican friend at work says "Never say never man."
Fatty Cue is a restaurant that serves a unique fusion of Deep Southern and Asian cuisine. Based on my friends' word, this place has been written up in publications such as the New York Times, New York Magazine, and Time Out New York. And there is good reason for that.
We got there for an early afternoon brunch after a long night of partying at my oldest friend's (Joe) good bye party. We maybe had 5 hours of sleep and I personally had a very foggy state of mind. Joe had been talking about going here for the last few days and we decided it would be a good place to enjoy a nice meal together before he moves off to Portland. The host took us to the back of the restaurant where we sat at a table that was pretty close to this windowed door that opened to a patio where I saw a large smoker and a gentleman moving around large shoulders and briskets of meat. For those who don't know me very well, I am a very sociable person who loves making small talk with randoms. I became very curious and approached the door, knocked and told the guy manning the meat my name, the spiel on this blog, and a brief snip-it about my barbecue team membership. With a smile he invited me back to the patio.
His name is Robbie and he is the Pit-Master at Fatty Cue. Here is his rotating smoker full of shoulders, briskets, and legs of lamb.
Tasty legs of lamb.
Pit-Master Robbie showing off a brilliantly flavored leg of lamb. He said he mainly competes in the Kansas City Barbecue Circuit but that he competes in the World Championship of Barbecue in Memphis as well. I didn't get the name of his team, but we are going to meet up for sure come May.
He just tore off a piece and handed it to me. We were both very interested in eachother's smoking endeavors however Robbie could offer me samples of his feats first hand. He's going to have to wait until May before I can share with him the flavors of Memphis and Pig Diamonds (the barbecue team).
Robbie takes great pride in the excellent quality of his meats. As he pointed out to me, the marbling on this shoulder is truly unbelievable.
"You want meat? Yeah we got meat. Here's a ham."
"You like bacon? Here's some bacon. We cure it right here." That is honestly the largest portion of pork belly I have ever seen in my entire life.
After Robbie showed me his meat lockers and all there was to show about his prized meats that people from all over New York come to indulge themselves in, I went back in as we had ordered our food before I began this crazy exploratory adventure. I was hungry and wanted to eat our Southern/Asian fused brunch goodies.
First things first. Had they not been out of orange juice, I wouldn't have taken a picture of my brunch-time screwdriver. I asked them if they could substitute OJ with pineapple juice and they did. Not only did they make the substitute, they added a nice hunk of smoked pineapple on a cocktail spear to it. It really was one of the most refreshing hair-of-the-dog, brunch-time drinks I've ever had.
Dude. These are the curried black-eyed peas covered in eggs cooked the way you want them (I got em' scramby) with a large halved slice of homemade Texas toast. Un-real.
This dish is called "the Whole Pig". It consists of a mound of smoked pork covered in two eggs any style with three "bao". Bao are similar to the "char siu bao" at dim-sum however they aren't stuffed with meat. They still have that good fluffy texture and you can load em' with whatever you have.
Here's a side of bacon. Thick sliced and cooked to perfection. Not crispy, but hefty and juicy. Epic.
My buddy Aaron went for the pancakes and bacon. They were some of the best pancakes I've ever pout in my mouth, without question. Pancakes aren't usually that impressive to me, but Fatty Cue's are.
"Heritage Pork Ribs" that are basted in "smoked palm syrup and Indonesian pepper." Fell apart and left a clean bone. The texture and flavor where on-point for sure.
I stuffed this bao with some of the rib meat. Sooooo good.
This was called the noodle bowl. It was a basic Asian flavored noodle bowl with a side of siracha sauce. It was good to add pieces of pork and some of the other dishes with it.
I can honestly say that today I experienced my first "courtesy-of-the-chef" moment. So mid-way through the meal, Robbie comes out with this plate. On it are a few slices of truly succulent pork belly and some extra bao for stuffing. As my old neighbor Dewey used to say: "You can't chew something that melts in your mouth."
This picture doesn't really do it justice, but this was another gift from the Pit Master. It's a Cauliflower-Au Gratin smothered in a mound of pulled pork shoulder and then given the final topping of a white-wine vinegar based sauce that gave it this amazing sweet and sour flavor. I mixed this with some of the noodles from the noodle bowl making it the most flavor popping item on the table. I think this was my favorite item out of everything. One of the expediters had never seen it before and asked how we got it. I guess it pays off to be sociable and curious.
Here's our spread. While everyone ordered their own thing, it turned into this huge sharing festival where everyone tried everything. I guess they take encourage the "sharing is caring" concept at Fatty Cue. Doing this allows for everyone to try and combine different things. I can honestly say that this was one of the most pleasurable brunch experiences I've had to date.
For those of you who live in New York and haven't made it to Fatty Cue yet, I would say it's about time that you made the trek on over there. And for those of you who don't live in New York and might make your way at some point then you should definitely make this a "Must-Go-To" when you do come and visit. The food here is sure to soothe the soul.
- Boatner
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