Pulled Pork, Burnt Ends and Brisket at Sebastopol’s BBQ Smokehouse

[Melanie Wong]

My first (and most recent) posting on the BBQ Smokehouse in Sebastopol was in June 2009 when I tried the ribs and chicken. Last month I was back to give the brisket a try. The menu’s far more extensive now with an array of daily specials, including a smoked New York steak sandwich, teriyaki tofu, rib tips, and special order smoked turkeys and hams for the holidays. A wine list with many selections by the glass matches wines to specific menu items. I was almost distracted by the steak, but stuck to my brisket mission.

The brisket was offered as burnt ends or slices, only as a plate, no sandwiches. To try both, I had to order a Two-meat combo. Before I placed my order, I made my server guarantee that it would be juicy and not dry. For my sides, I picked mac n cheese and cowboy beans. The meaty beans were full of flavor and were not overcooked. The mac n cheese, made in a refined style with a light, white cheddar saucing, featured toothsome elbow macaroni. The terrific cornbread was even better with the honey butter.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/5191071082/

Chef Vito was not on site, but earlier he had explained to me that the brisket is smoked for 14 hours, then served with jus. Here’s a photo of the sliced brisket, doused with jus, dusted with paprika and topped some lightly pickled sliced onions.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/5191071080/

The buttery tender brisket was just delicious with the smoky, French-inspired jus. While squeeze bottles of three different sauces were on the table, I preferred this as is without any other sauce. The texture might be a little soft for some, but it wasn’t falling apart, and made me think of the best pot roast I’d ever eaten. A little too much untrimmed fat on the rim, but the fatty marbling shot through the meat was ultra-flavorful and harmonized well with the sweet, light smoking. The pickled white onions made a nice counterpoint to the richness of the beef.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/5191071070/

The fattier point cut of the brisket is turned into burnt ends. After smoking, the point is cut into chunks, roasted further and then tossed with and baked with sauce. The ends tasted great but some of the pieces were over-roasted, lost their fat, and verged on stringy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/5191071078/

But all in all, this was a fine BBQ brisket showing, if idiosyncratic.

I had the pulled pork in July 2009, as shown here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniew...

Then the pulled pork sandwich was $7.95 and served with side of Texas slaw and housemade bread and butter pickles. The bread was soft and kind of mushy, but that’s how many BBQ fans like their buns. All good, great in fact. Tender but not too soft texture, the smoky pork was blended with a little of Vito’s red sauce and I perked it up with some of the vinegar sauce to bring it closer to Carolina flavor. I tried a strawberry lemonade, $1.50, including one refill, that was a little too sweet.

Any recent experiences to report?

-----
BBQ Smokehouse
6811 Laguna Park Way, Sebastopol, CA 95472

[pickypicky]

I and my friends ate at BBQ Smokehouse yesterday, on the above recommendation. It seemed the perfect place to stop on a day of wine-tasting. Alas, it was a disaster. I always hesitate to write negative reviews because I have so many friends in the business, and there is nothing harder than running a restaurant. But let's just say that the so-called barbecue served at BBQ Smokehouse was inedible. I am a native Texan. My friend is a North Carolinian. We knew when we arrived and saw both styles on the menu we were in trouble. But we so hoped to find the beloved flavors we were looking for, that we stayed. (Surely a "5-Star chef" who has found his true passion wouldn't let me down?) When someone thinks that barbecue is so easy that they can master and serve Memphis, Carolina, and Texas barbecue on the same menu, that's a bad sign. (As are carefully labeled squeeze bottles of different designer sauces so the diner can mix and match.) Another bad sign is that the owner prides himself on "East Texas-style" brisket. Any Texan who loves barbecue knows that East Texas has the WORST barbecue in the state. (Just check the threads here on Chow. Central Texas is our bbq heaven.) So to the food: yes there was a bit o'smoke to my brisket but there was more flavored salt and paprika than true flavor. No pink ring of long-term smoking. Just greyness. It truly tasted like meat from a hospital cafeteria. My Carolina friend's pulled pork tasted little like pork and mostly like stewed meat from the same hospital cafeteria. Sadly, the sides were even worse. The slaw and potato salad were dressed identically and of equal color and taste. Yellowy greenish. The cornbread and mac/cheese tasted like it had been made from a box. The ONLY bright spot of this sad place was the young server, who was as friendly as a Texan. He was so eager to please we were embarrassed to tell him what we thought of the food, since he'd been on the job just a few days. So I vow to myself a rule I had once vowed never to break but did yesterday to my rue: no bbq outside of Texas ever again UNLESS the que-er states that it's California barbecue. Just as in Texas, I never eat "California" cuisine. You may fool the CA locals and maybe the catering is better that the restaurant, but please don't call this food Texan or Carolina BBQ-- not even East Texan. (And no, Ms Wong. That is NOT Texas slaw. And the untrimmed fat on my brisket was the only tad of flavor I got. Like me, many Texas BBQ lovers adore the fat and request extra-fatty cuts.)

-----
BBQ Smokehouse
6811 Laguna Park Way, Sebastopol, CA 95472

[Melanie Wong]

That sounds thoroughly awful. Thanks for reporting, we need to hear both good and bad. Clearly there's a consistency problem here. Maybe I should mention that I've eaten here on Fridays and Saturdays and not been displeased with the meats. Not that this excuses a bad performance on Thursday of what sounds like leftovers, but that might help others get a better meal. I was served some inedible, non-smokey, dried-out, cooked ahead and warmed over "bbq" a couple weeks ago at The Grill in San Mateo that made me just as mad as you sound.

As you can see from my photo, my slices of brisket were marked with a pink smoke ring under the black peppered bark.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniew...

"Texas slaw" is what the cabbage salad was called on the menu, so I copied and pasted. Skimming the site, I'm not able to find where the owner calls the brisket "East Texas-style". He does mention having his first eye-opening barbecue experience in East Texas, which could well be revelatory for anyone not raised in barbecue country. I do agree that he does his customers and himself a disservice by labeling his brisket as "Texas" style. The rub's not typical and the smokes not nearly as heavy. He should give himself credit for the French-style jus and his own style.

I'm hoping to get to Lexington, NC this year to taste Carolina BBQ.

[celeryroot]

The smoke ring means nothing. Also , South and North are different as are within state. So going to one place is totally different then some place 40 miles. Vinagar, mustard, tomato etc depending where you are from. Going to Lexington, NC means nothing.....there are very many more variations of Carolina BBQ

[Melanie Wong]

I agree that the smoke ring means nothing, that's why I didn't point it out in my original post. But since it's absence was noted by "pickypicky", I brought it up.

Of course there are as many variations as there are cooks. You're saying there's no BBQ in Lexington and I won't find any worth eating there?

[Civil Bear]

Thanks for your report Melanie. I believe Lexington has more barbecue joint per capita than anywhere else on the planet.! The kicker is that you will be hard pressed to find a place that serves anything else other than western NC style barbecue (meaning pork shoulder smoked over hickory and doused with red (ketchup infused) vinegar sauce. My favorite is Lexington BBQ #1 and your menu options boil down to fine chopped or course chopped, and of course a few sides.

[pickypicky]

I appreciate your gracious response, Melanie. Thank you. I respected your detailed post and took a chance. As I said, my alarm bells set off the minute I walked in. I knew better. The chef owner would do well to make his own style BBQ-- one style-- and devote everything he can to it. I've had barbecue that's tasty in places other than Texas. AZ, NM, NYC and in the farmer's mkt in San Diego. On Thursday, not one thing on three plates was worth eating. I could have forgiven the BBQ, but the sides were not good. If the chef owner has the credentials he says, then it seems an even worse experience. I can fault someone who doesn't know food thinking they do-- but someone who claims to know has no excuse. As far as a smoke ring, every great piece of TX brisket I've had had it. Sorry if it doesn't mean anything. A completely grey-brown piece of meat is not appetizing no matter how it was cooked. And yes, you are right. The menu does not claim that the bbq is East Texan, but on the wall is a large framed review that does. My mistake.

As far as NC bbq in Lexington, yes, yes, yes! I can't tell you where, but I can tell you that it should be there. I think I ate there once five years ago and had some great NC-style bbq but I'm not sure the place. But what I can tell you, is that I've had great NC-style bbq all over NC (east, west, central, south is all a little different but not that much to me since I'm not an authority nor native.) I'd post on the NC board and ask. Or check Road Food. BBQ Pork sandwich with coleslaw on it, hushpuppies, and Sweet Tea! oooolalala.

[Civil Bear]

pp, it reads like your issues had more to do with syntax than the actual food. I agree that it would be very difficult (and not very practical) for a restaurant to authentically serve different styles of BBQ from around the country (if not downright impossible when using only one pit), but that doesn't mean one can't impart some techniques and flavors from specific regions for different cuts of meat and make them edible -- at least to a non-purist. And even the OP acknowledged that the brisket was eccentric.

One thing to note is that the smoke ring has nothing to do with the length of the smoke. It is a chemical reaction that occurs between the smoke and the enzymes in the meat while the meat is below 130-135F, so after the first few hours the smoke ring is fully developed.

[pickypicky]

cb, if you read my comments my beef is first and foremost with the food. It was inedible. We are three food sophisticates with NC and TX roots. We cook, eat, and love all kinds of cuisine. I hope for this poor chef's part, we were there on a very-off day.

[flavrmeistr]

Barbeque is a sacrament and should be approached with love, respect and understanding. It's a shame the animals in Melanie's pictures died in vain.