You already know a little bit about my eating habits. You know, for instance, that I'm a sucker for a great slice of pizza and that while I enjoy a fine meal, I'm often just as happy with something down home (did I just say "down home"?) and basic. Special K is much the same way and one of his semi-regular cravings is good barbeque.Note that I qualify barbeque with "good" because there is plenty of "bad" out there and having spent many of his formative years in Texas, Special K knows his ribs, tri-tip, brisket and links.
For months now, he has had his eye on a little hole-in-the-wall kind of place just down the street from my office and we finally decided to go check it out a couple of weekends back.
I could tell he was excited by the extra spring in his step as we made our way from the car across the tiny parking lot and as he flung open the door and stepped aside to let me into the place first. Now, I am not such a huge BBQ fan simply because I don't really like BBQ sauce all that much. However, I do like items that have been cooked ON a barbeque. (Heck, I grew up in the Texas of Canada, so I BETTER like it!) In spite of my fair-weather barbeque tendencies, even I could sense that something was amiss after one quick, cursory glance at the giant menu on the wall behind the counter.
Lots of burgers.
And more burgers.
Huh. And that's about it.
Special K wrinkled his nose and asked the guy behind the counter about the REAL barbeque stuff. With that, the guy gestured towards the grill top where another guy was flipping burgers.
"But what about brisket? Chicken? Sausage? Tri-tip?"
"Burgers" came the bored reply.
So we ordered burgers and called it a meal. Sort of.
Fast-forward a couple of weeks.
Last Friday night, we were driving down one of the main streets in Santa Clara when Special K's eagle eyes spotted the sign: "Andy's Bar-B-Que" in large neon lights. In a flash, I was in the right lane, turning into the parking lot.As we walked into the place, I could feel Special K relax. "Ah, yeah.... this looks right... it SMELLS right." And sure enough, amidst the wood-panelled walls and pleather-seated booths, we were treated to REAL barbeque, Texas-style. Piles of chicken, tri-tip, pork ribs, and giant baked potatoes with the works. (When the waiter asked me "Do you want sour cream, butter, cheese, or chives on your potato?", I just replied with "Yes, please." He laughed.)
And I bet I'm the first person to eat a meal there and never (not ONCE) even dip into the barbeque sauce.
(Andy's Bar-B-Que is located at 2367 El Camino Real in Santa Clara. Go. And get the blue cheese dressing on the salad. A-mazing.)
2 comments:
I worked with a guy from West Virginia who was always going on about NOT being able to find BBQ in Portland, Or. Of course I really didn't have any idea what he was going on about. I equated BBQ with cooking meat IN the barbeque. But as he explained, "Cooking meat over an open fire goes back to the caveman, but cavemen didn't BBQ! Know why? Because he had no sauce!"
Go have a peek here:
http://www.kcbs.us/events.php?year=2009&month=03&id=342
It's all things BBQ including all the yearly BBQ competitions. The big one is the "Annual American Royal Barbecue Contest" held in Kansas City (this year is the 26th).
From the site: "The American Royal Barbecue is the opening event of the American Royal and the season finale for the competitive circuit. Spreading over 20 acres in Kansas City’s historic Stockyards District, and with nearly 500 teams competing in four culinary contests, The Royal is the largest barbecue contest in the world. Combine this with a barbecue-related trade expo, this two-day food festival is truly the “World Series of Barbecue.”
Do you or Special K have clients in Kansas City?
Wow, lady, you know your bbq resources!!
No clients in KC. Charbroiled royalty will have to wait.
And yes, prior to going to Texas, I just equated BBQ with using an actual barbeque to cook it with. But it's a whole world unto itself!
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