BBQ Brisket Slider by Good Foods Catering at Stonestown Farmers Market

[Melanie Wong]

Sunday morning I headed to the year-round farmers market in the San Francisco’s Stonestown Galleries for the first time. After picking up Paige and Satsuma tangerines from Hamada, a pretzel croissant, fresh pomegranate juice, and a cup of individually brewed Ecco Caffe from GaGa, I had intended to grab a couple lamb skewers. However, the line at Happy Dumpling was too long and slow-moving, so I slid on over to Good Foods Catering to check out the barbecue menu.

For a small taste, pulled pork or brisket sliders are offered at $3. I inquired about the brisket and was told it’s smoked for 12 hours then finished by roasting in the oven and braising in its own juices. The slider was served on a small bun that was buttered and grilled on the spot. I asked for easy on the sauce and mine had just a little swab, which was just right to highlight the smoked meat without overwhelming it. The two slices still had some fat on them, one cut across the grain and the other sliced with the grain. The meat was so soft, as in “don’t need no teeth to eat this meat” proclaimed by some barbecue purveyors, the direction of the grain wasn’t a problem. While tender to a fault and verging on mushy, the brisket still held onto its own moisture and was very silky on the palate and not coarse at all. Very flavorful with but moderate smoke influence, this was one of the most beefy bites I’ve had in a long while. Beefier than pho bo, more intense than a grilled skewer of Kobe beef, as richly primal in beef character as short ribs or oxtail. Even though it was much different than my platonic ideal of barbecued brisket, a week later, I’m still thinking about it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniew...

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Ecco Caffe
90 Timothy Rd, Santa Rosa, CA

Good Foods Catering
San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

[DavidT]

Per your recommendation, I stopped by the Stonestown farmers market late this morning. The stand serving BBQ was named "Urban BBQ." No brisket was available today, so I tried the pulled pork slider ($3). It was served on the small buttered & grilled bun. A nice portion of tangy cole slaw was placed on the bun first, the pulled pork was placed on top of it and then the pork was hit with some BBQ sauce. The sandwich was tasty and surprisingly filling. Two of them for $6 would be plenty for lunch. I will certainly return at some point to try the brisket.

[Melanie Wong]

Thanks for the report on the pulled pork. Yes, Bay Area Urban BBQ is another DBA.
http://www.sfweekly.com/bestof/2010/a...

[Kaname650]

Thank you for the info about "Bay Area Urban BBQ." I tried Dontaye's Pork Belly BLT at Moxsie's Street Eats and loved the flavor. I was gonna go for the pulled pork nut he talked me into the BLT. He seems like a really good guy which is always a plus.

[Kaname650]

"pork but he talked me into the BLT"
Whoops!

[Melanie Wong]

Cool. Here are the links to Dontaye Ball's twitter accounts. He doesn't seem to announce every appearance.

http://twitter.com/BAYAREAURBANBBQ
http://twitter.com/goodfoodscaters