Boo-Ray's of New Orleans (Fort Worth, TX)

From time to time, my boss likes to take the firm out to dinner, which is always much appreciated. Tonight, we were treated to Boo-Ray's of New Orleans. I'd never heard of this place, but I'm willing to try anything (well, most things) once.

Boo-Ray's is located out amongst the cattle in the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw area northwest of Fort Worth. It's kind of like a blue-collar version of Razzoo's, which is more or less a blue-collar version of Pappadeaux. Throw some peanut shells on the floor, and this place could have easily been a Logan's Roadhouse. It was really busy during our Saturday night dinner, perhaps because there's nowhere else to eat 'round these parts. It looks like they have a decent bar at least. Oh well, it was a free meal and I had a good time him-hawing with my coworkers, so I won't complain too much.

There's really no logical reason that I should be ordering barbecue from a Cajun seafood restaurant, but I couldn't resist the call of ribs. I ordered up a half-rack of their Baby Back Ribs, which the menu describes as "slow cooked over mesquite wood with Boo-Ray's special BBQ sauce." The ribs automatically come with sweet potato fries and green beans on the side.

I was the first to be served, so I snacked on my side dishes while the rest of our food was brought out. The sweet potato fries were pleasantly sweet and crispy. I suspect that they arrived at Boo-Ray's in a frozen bag, but they were tasty. The few fries that were nestled next to the ribs were the most flavorful, and the sweetness of the barbecue sauce was a nice accompaniment. As for the green beans, they were a bit odd. What I pictured in my mind was a nice bed of haricot verts, but what I received was a bowl of weird, flat green beans soaking in some sort of brown gravy concoction. They had good seasoning, but not much else going for them.

The ribs looked very meaty sitting before me, much meatier than I was expecting for baby backs at least. Unfortunately, that's where the positive attributes ended. I should have known the ribs would be sub-par when the menu said they were "slow cooked" rather than "smoked," but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Mesquite is a tough wood to smoke with in general, since it tends to burn hot and fast. I couldn't pinpoint any mesquite smoke whatsoever, although the thick barbecue sauce may have precluded this somewhat. The sauce was nice and sweet, but lacked any real kick. Each bite I took resulted in the entire portion of rib meat falling completely off the bone, which, contrary to popular belief, is not a good thing. I did find a small amount of meat retention, so these ribs weren't quite as overcooked as they could have been, but they were still far from being cooked properly.

My table-mates all seemed to enjoy their seafood selections. Maybe Boo-Ray's should stick to more traditional New Orleans fare and leave the barbecue to the Texans.

**********

Boo-Ray's of New Orleans
7255 Boat Club Rd.
Fort Worth, TX 76179
(817) 236-6149
http://www.booraysofneworleans.com/

Tacos la Banqueta (Dallas, TX) - CLOSED

For no reason in particular, I found myself craving barbacoa today. Not the hoity-toity Dos Equis "barbacoa" (probably just brisket) that carpetbaggers eat at Urban Taco, but traditional cabeza de vaca (cow's head). Dallas is admittedly pretty far north of barbacoa country, which is usually limited to areas of South Texas near the border. Tacos la Banqueta was one of the few places I found online that advertised cabeza on their menu, so I decided to give it a try.

Calling Tacos la Banqueta a hole-in-the-wall is probably being generous. This place is basically just a grill, with only the tiniest dining counter I've ever seen. While waiting to order, I found myself engulfed in the aroma of sizzling organ meats on the grill, which is much more enticing than you might expect. The lady at the counter spoke a little English, but I thought I'd try my luck and order in Spanish. It's cash only here, though I suspect they also accept pesos. I stood out like a sore thumb, so I decided to take my order to go.

The tacos here are only $1.35 each, so I ordered up a trio for lunch: Cabeza (cow's head), Lengua (tongue), and Chorizo (sausage). I wasn't feeling quite adventurous enough for the Tripa (intestine). Their tacos come topped with onions and cilantro, which is really all I needed. You can also get either traditional salsa or salsa verde on the side, but I decided to forgo the salsa and invest myself in the natural flavors of the meats instead.

Since it was the main reason I came to Tacos la Banqueta, I started with the cabeza. The meat was tender and cooked perfectly. It was almost like a roast, which is bad for traditional brisket, but spot on for barbacoa. You'd probably never know it was cow's head if they didn't tell you. There was only a slight amount of seasoning (mostly salt), which let the cabeza really stand on its own.

It's been at least 10 years since I've eaten lengua, so I was eager to get back in the saddle. The lengua was also very tender, and the crunch of the onions meshed perfectly with the smoothness of the tongue meat. There wasn't much in terms of seasoning, but fresh cilantro certainly helped in that regard.

The chorizo was a little greasy, but luckily it was also extremely flavorful. I found a good mix of spices, as well as a nice crisp char from the grill. It also had the beautiful reddish color that good chorizo should have. Of the three tacos, this was probably my favorite.

If you're brave enough, Tacos la Banqueta is a great spot for barbacoa in Dallas.

**********

Tacos la Banqueta
4500 Bryan St.
Dallas, TX 75204
(214) 823-1260
http://tacoslabanqueta.com/

David's Barbecue (Pantego, TX)

I missed out on lunch today, so I decided to track down some barbecue in Arlington on my way home. The signage outside of David's Barbecue claims that they've been serving up smoked meat "Since 1910." With that much history behind their 'que, I thought it was worth checking out.

As it turns out, it was actually the proprietor's great grandfather who started the Harris-Bryan family's first barbecue joint down in Oak Cliff. David's Barbecue itself actually opened in 1988, and has only been operating under the purview of its current owner, Jimmy Harris, since 1992. While serving up barbecue for over 20 years is certainly impressive and commendable, it's not quite the historical landmark that their advertising would lead one to believe.

David's is a pretty low key place to eat, but it's certainly not run down either. The decor is mostly just pictures of all the celebrities and bigwigs that have eaten there over the decades, including John Travolta apparently. Although, I'm not sure if all of those are from David's Barbecue or one of the family's former restaurants.

I was fairly hungry, but I also didn't want to go overboard and spoil my dinner. As a compromise, I settled on a 2 Meat Dinner of ribs and brisket (fatty at my request). Their non-fried side dishes are self-serve, so I helped myself to barbeque beans and potato salad. I didn't even have to ask for my sauce on the side - they clearly knew better. This is Texas after all.

The beans had a good sweetness to them, but they weren't really anything special. They easily could have come from a can, though I have no way of knowing this for sure. Either way, the beans definitely could have used a little spice. As for the potato salad, it was creamy and had a very good crunch. There were a lot of visible pickles and peppers diced in, hence the crunchiness. It also wasn't overly mustardy, which I liked.

I was really glad I had opted for fatty brisket, which I almost always prefer over the lean cut. Despite the appeal of fatty goodness, my brisket was more like a pot roast than anything else. It certainly melted in my mouth, but not in a good way. I found no taste of smoke whatsoever. The small amount of bark I received had a really nice seasoning on it, but I was sad to discover that the flavor of the crust didn't extend to the meat below.

The ribs looked really tasty and meaty sitting on my plate. I was also pleased to see that my combo came with four ribs instead of the usual two or three that most joints offer. The sugary glaze was very flavorful, and there was a nice crust on them. Sadly, just like the brisket, I couldn't pinpoint any smoke in the ribs. The meat was tender and juicy, though bordering on being overcooked. It wasn't quite falling off the bone, but it was really close.

For all the smoke I smelled walking in the door, there didn't seem to be even a hint of it in the food. I think David's has the potential to have really great barbecue, but they've got a few cooking issues to sort out first.

**********

David's Barbecue
2224 W. Park Row Dr.
Suite H
Pantego, TX 76013
(817) 261-9998
http://www.davidsbarbecue.com/

Bottega (Yountville, CA)

Bottega is the brainchild of world-renowned chef Michael Chiarello, located just a hop, skip, and a jump from Napa. We made our reservations months in advance, and even then the best we could do was an 8:45 dinner slot. The late dinner actually worked out really well, since it allowed us to take our time with the winery tours and do a little shopping too.

The best way I can describe Bottega is to say that it's modern Italian mixed with remnants of the old country. I'm not sure if that description even makes sense, but it'll have to do. Our waiter was very knowledgeable about all of the wines and food selections, though I didn't expect anything less from Napa Valley. On his recommendation, I tried a glass of the Chiarello Family Vineyards' Ribolla Gialla "Chiara Bianco." It was a little drier than I prefer my wine, but very tasty nonetheless.

My wife and I were both salivating with anticipation, so we started with an antipasti course of their Monterey Calamari, which is crisped with Arborio rice flour and served with an aioli nero.

The calamari was fried perfectly and had a nice crispiness to it. My wife is partial to calamari tube rings, so I usually get stuck with the tentacles (which are actually my favorite). Neither of us had any idea what the charcoal-colored aioli nero was, but it was absolutely delicious. I had to ask the waiter about the aioli, if for no reason other than to satisfy my curiosity. Apparently, it was a garlic aioli with squid ink added for both color and an umami taste. Odd color aside, it had an incredible flavor.

For my secondi (entree) course, I ordered the Smoked and Braised Short Ribs that I had my eye on ever since making our reservation months prior. These short ribs come with an espresso argo dolce glaze and a smoky jus, served with a side of polenta-speck polpette. This must have been a good choice, because after I ordered, the waiter commented, "Short ribs. Well played."

It took great restraint not to immediately dive into the short rib, but I managed to sample the polenta-speck polpette first. The term "polpette" usually refers to Italian meatballs, but these were tasty enough that I didn't mind the lack of meat. They were crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside, and delicious all over. It was almost like the Italian version of a hush puppy.

The smell of my short rib was incredible, and I really wished I could swallow it whole. The meat was amazingly tender, making my knife completely unnecessary. Truth be told, you could probably eat this rib with a spoon. The espresso glaze gave it a nice sweetness as well as a touch of acidity. The trick is to eat each bite upside down so the glaze is on your tongue. I also found a decent amount of smoke, both from the smoking process itself and the addition of the smoky jus on top. As much as I wanted to inhale the short rib in one fell swoop, I ended up cutting much smaller bites of meat than usual, just so I could savor it even more. All in all, this was a very interesting twist on smoked meat. I could have easily eaten twenty of these.

Although we were both extremely full, we couldn't resist dessert. All of their dolce options sounded spectacular, but we ended up picking the Tiramisu Fantasia: marscapone mousse with cocoa ladyfingers, kahlua coffee syrup, rum, and crunchy chocolate meringues. I also decided to pair it with a nice decaf espresso.

What we ended up with was a slightly deconstructed Tiramisu in a glass. Like everything else I ate at Bottega, the dessert was phenomenal. There were multiple distinct flavors dancing on my palate at the same time. I had great difficulty containing my giddiness as I scarfed it down.

I don't think it was possible for this meal to have been any better. On a scale of 1 to 10, this was at least a 16.

**********

Bottega
6525 Washington St.
Yountville, CA 94599
(707) 945-1050
http://www.botteganapavalley.com/index.html

Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen (St. Helena, CA)

My wife and I were on Day 2 of our stay in Napa Valley, and we were in serious need of tasty food after a full morning of wine tastings. Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen was only a few minutes away from the winery, so I had it on our itinerary for lunch.

Cindy's is a fun little bistro in St. Helena, just a tad north of Napa. We had a reservation, though it really wasn't necessary on a weekday. There is a perfect courtyard for outdoor seating, especially given the sunny, mild afternoon weather. It has nice shade from the overhanging tree, as well as a good breeze blowing through. This was the perfect outdoor ambiance for wine country.

Although the majority of Cindy's menu consists of salads and sandwiches, today's lunch specials included a few "Supper Club" southern options. Intrigued, I ordered their Louisiana Hot Links, which come with braised collard greens and mac n' cheese. I was certainly looking forward to the hot links, but given my mounting hunger, I decided to nosh on an appetizer of Jalapeno Hush Puppies first.

The hush puppies were beautifully cooked. They had a great, crisp crust with a soft and fluffy interior. This wasn't the typical grainy cornmeal batter. I could definitely taste the jalapenos, although I didn't really catch much spice. The accompanying Tabasco remoulade definitely added some heat, but it was creamy and delicious at the same time.

After I had completely polished off the hush puppies, it was time to dive into my Louisiana hot links.

The mac n' cheese was creamy and homemade. I really enjoyed the crisp crust on top, though what I found beneath was cheesy and delicious. It was more of a sharp cheese, which worked very nicely. I'm not really a big greens fan in general, maybe it's the carnivore in me. These, however, were very good. The grilled onions and bacon added a lot of flavor.

As for the hot links, they were probably grilled rather than smoked, but were still nice and tasty. They had crisp casings and a good char from the grill. These were tight casings around a medium-grind meat. They weren't oozing grease like the typical East Texas links. I found a really interesting spice blend, although not much spiciness. In fact, for something called "hot links," there was barely any heat at all. Then, on my last bite, I caught a big hit of pepper which actually made me tear up a little. I think the potential for the hot links is definitely there, but they need to work on consistency some.

It wasn't the best attempt at barbecue I've seen, but Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen was a good lunch spot nonetheless.

**********

Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen
1327 Railroad Ave.
St. Helena, CA 94574
(707) 963-1200
http://www.cindysbackstreetkitchen.com/

Morimoto Napa (Napa, CA)

My wife and I watch a lot of Food Network, so no trip to wine country would be complete without sampling the culinary masterpieces created by Iron Chef Morimoto. We made our dinner reservation at Morimoto Napa months in advance. This ensured that we'd have a table for dinner, but also made the anticipation almost unbearable.

Morimoto Napa is a rather ritzy, upscale sushi restaurant located on the scenic Napa riverfront. As you might expect, this place has very modern Japanese decor. It is Napa Valley, so of course they have a huge selection of local wines, but you'll also find a tremendous selection of beers and liquors. Chef Morimoto has his own line of beers put out by Rogue in Newport, Oregon. I had to go full force for this meal, so I opted for a 22-ounce glass of the Morimoto Soba ale.

One of the things I most enjoy about this blog is writing about barbecue in unexpected places and unusual forms. All of the sushi we ordered was, unsurprisingly, spectacular. My wife's favorite was the Shrimp Tempura Roll, but I was absolutely blown away by their Eel Avocado Roll: barbecue eel and avocado.

Of all the different kinds of barbecue I've had over the years, I can honestly say that eel is probably the most unique. There was a very pleasant sweetness from the barbecue sauce. I found only a very, very mild taste of smoke, but it was definitely there. The creamy avocado was a nice compliment to the saltiness of the eel. The rice was soft and sticky, rolled tightly and beautifully. I also liked that it was served only slightly chilled, which I think is the perfect temperature for sushi. This certainly wasn't true oink-and-moo barbecue, but an interesting and very tasty offering nonetheless.

We were both completely stuffed after all the sushi we had scarfed down, but it was impossible to resist an Iron Chef-caliber dessert. The couple next to us had ordered this amazing, modern Japanese take on a s'more, so we decided to try it out for ourselves.

From the menu description, the s'more consisted of a kurumitsu graham, smoked soy chocolate mousse, and toasted marshmallow. It's not often that I'm at a loss for words, but it's actually really hard to describe just how absolutely incredible this dessert was. This s'more was the total package: sweet, salty, chocolatey, smoky. The real "culinary curve ball" to this dish was the smoked soy, which really elevated it to a whole other level.

If you're looking for barbecue in the traditional sense, then Morimoto Napa definitely isn't for you. But, if you're feeling adventurous, come here and let Chef Morimoto dazzle your taste buds. A la cuisine!

**********

Morimoto Napa
610 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559
(707) 252-1600
http://morimotonapa.com/

Reo's Ribs (Portland, OR) - CLOSED

My wife and I had been planning a West Coast roadtrip for a few months now. When I discovered that Snoop Dogg's uncle Reo owned a barbecue joint in Portland, I couldn't resist!

This is a very new location for Reo's Ribs, so a lot of the interior is still under construction. It looked like they had borrowed most of their tables and chairs (which say "Mi Casa Su Casa" on them) from the Mexican restaurant next door. I didn't mind, since I came for the ribs not the ambiance. There is a big stage area in the works, which will probably make this a very hip spot once it's all finished.

There's not really a menu other than the small paper ones at the register, but I'm sure that's in the works too. Reo's doesn't have combos available other than their big 5-meat platter. I wasn't quite that hungry, so I made my own rib platter with a la carte items: 2 spare ribs, 2 baby back ribs, hush puppies, and potato salad. Even though all of these items were listed with a la carte prices on the menu, the woman at the register seemed utterly confused by the whole thing, but we got it sorted out just fine.

For some reason the meat was taking longer than expected, so they brought out the sides as appetizers. I usually eat them first anyway, so I was fine with that.

The mashed potato salad was mustardy, but interestingly sweet at the same time. Sugar seemed to be more prevalent than the mustard actually. There was a good crunch from the pickles, and a nice spice blend. I liked it a lot. As for the hush puppies, they were fried fresh and had a good crisp crust. These weren't quite as dense as your typical hush puppies. They were also fairly spicy from the jalapenos scattered throughout, which gave them a good punch. Their sides were definitely tasty, but it was the ribs that brought me to this place.

My duo of ribs came covered in a thick, shiny glaze. I'm used to Central Texas style barbecue, but these ribs still looked delicious. There was a nice crust to them, with very juicy and tender meat underneath. The baby backs were almost falling off the bone (though not overcooked), while the spare ribs had good meat retention. The sugary sauce was really nice actually. Reo sells it by the bottle, and it's easy to see why. I'm not usually a big sauce eater, but I liked it a lot. Despite all the sauce, you could still taste a pronounced smokiness. Both varieties were tasty, but the spares were my favorite of the two.

They were having a little birthday celebration for Reo while we were there. Nothing fancy, just a simple gathering of his friends and employees. Reo came over and asked if we wanted cake. Yes please! Having birthday cake with Snoop's uncle was definitely the highlight of my experience here, and it's something that I'll always remember.

After we finished our meal, we ended up talking to Reo outside for a few minutes. He was extremely friendly, and very nonchalantly exclaims "Snoop's my nephew!" According to Reo, Snoop comes into his restaurant from time to time, along with Katt Williams and Mike Epps. Despite the obvious celebrity-related reasons to eat at Reo's, the food was absolutely delicious and I highly recommend it.

UPDATE (June 8, 2015): Reo's Ribs is currently closed, but they are looking for a new home in the Portland area. Godspeed, Reo.

**********

Reo's Ribs
11140 SE Powell Blvd.
Portland, OR 97266
(503) 310-3600
http://reosribs.com/