Faux "Southern Style" BBQ in Northern California

Robin said she was starving while we were on our way home from the weekend's West Sonoma County Sojourn. After buying some local produce and other stuff at Andy's, we decided to take a chance on a "Southern Style" BBQ place in between Whole Foods and the Barlow in Sebastopol. Most of it was pretty good, but this "Texas style" brisket certainly was not. Anyone who's had the real thing can see by the photo above what the problem is. I don't need to explain it to them.

There's a number of ways they could have botched it, but Robin's suggestion is likely enough: they cooked them yesterday, then re-heated them this morning in some pan juices. Also they probably sliced them yesterday.

The flavor was pretty good, and the brisket was moist, but it didn't taste like it had 20 hours of smoking at low, indirect heat. Pretty tender, but nowhere near the real thing. Which means a black crust, red ring, and pink, juicy meat inside.

I'm guessing that most people around here, who've never had the real thing, might think proper Texas-style BBQ looks way under-cooked, which could be another reason why this brisket looks grey and over-cooked.

But then these, Pork Ribs more or less in the Memphis/KC/St. Louis/Chicago style, were pretty good. Most BBQ places around here do a pretty good job with pork ribs. Get that. I've had better than these, but I'd say these are better than average. Nice char on them. Very light on the sauce, if used at all during cooking. Seemed like dry rub ribs to me.

The sides were much better, and close to my favorite BBQ place in Austin for sides: Ruby's. Funny thing is, of course, many BBQ joints in Texas don't serve sides, and most purists disdain them. Some have been heard to utter "goddamn Yankee carpetbaggers" in reference to people wanting sides, other than raw white onion slices, pickle chips, possibly some pickled banana or jalapeno peppers, and your choice of white bread or crackers. 

Take a look at the Furr's-esque sides they try to sell you at Black's in Lockhart--pretty close to hospital food--nowhere close to the quality of the meat. That makes Ruby's stand out. This place in Sebastopol (playing Marcia Ball on their PA at one point) did a credible job with the cornbread, pretty damn good garlic mashed potatoes, and some of the best coleslaw I've ever had. Unsurprising since Sebastopol isn't known for great restaurants as much as it is for great local goods, especially Gravenstein apples.