[Pigging by Wilfrid: December 12, 2012]
Actually, BrisketTown seems to have a split identity. It wants to call itself Delaney BBQ -- so says a large illuminated sign inside the joint, not to mention the website: delaneybbq.com. I guess the brisket kind of took over.
Actually, there's no name at all on the exterior. Just an unmarked, heavy wooden door on a block of Bedford Avenue just before it dives under the Billyburg Bridge. The J train is closern than the L.
Now brisket lab is over, Delaney has landed in a "brick and mortar" BBQ joint, but the brisket lives on.
It lives on shrouded in the deep darkness of the place, anyway. As you might anticipate, it's a bare bones, wooden-seated truck stop, without any of the studious griminess of Lake Trout or Blue Collar Burger. Enter, and a line to your left snakes along the wall, to the ordering station, past the register, the plastic tableware and hot sauces, and disgorges you among the limited seating.
Determined not to be suckered by short supplies, I visited about fifteen minutes after the place opened for the week: Tuesday 6:45pm. There was a brisket on the carving board, dwindling ominously as the line advanced. But there were several other briskets too, waiting on warmed trays.
Service is quite charming, from the greeter to the cutter to the register person. It might be too charming when it gets really busy, because the cutter -- one of the pitmasters -- takes a Di Palo approach to his function, chatting with customers about their lean/fatty preferences, then setting to work with slow precision.
Offered a mix of lean and fatty, I accepted. What I took to be the lean brisket had a more pronounced grain and held together in slices (the fatty fell apart into chunks under the knife), but it was still very juicy. The website makes the boast that BrisketTown serves two or three proteins each day. Make that two or three fats.
The only alternative to brisket the night I visited was pork ribs: $25 and $22 per lb respectively. It turned out you could order ribs by number rather than weight, so I asked for one to garnish my half pound of beef. Sides? German potato salad or red cabbage slaw, $4. There were pies for dessert, which I didn't investigate. No alcohol yet: diners were clutching sodas wrapped in a disarming proprietory sleeve which read "Fat is the new black."
So is it good? My benchmarks for BBQ brisket are the fine specimens I've been served by private pitmasters, a specimen from Kreuz's market, and the original product at Hill Country. In that order. This brisket, on one tasting, is at the top level. The rub is said to be simple black pepper, but I thought I could detect something more interesting, something herbal. The smoke ring is visibly prominent, the smokiness is distinct but not overwhelming, the texture excellent.
Well done, that Lab.
Downside: because they serve in the traditional manner, direct onto brown paper from a piece of meat long out of the oven, the food gets cold quickly. Cold beef fat is not good, so you'll eat fast. You'd probably eat this stuff fast anyway. This isn't a place to linger, and take-out might be a good option for some. The meat is easily moist enough to stand re-heating.
I have to say, the pork ribs were spectacular too (and my benchmark for that is Memphis Tennessee). Delaney could be, and may well become, an outstanding BBQ generalist, and not merely a brisket maven. Your meat comes with one slice of white bread (open sandwich?), and pickled cukes and onions. The slaw was notably fresh and crisp.
It's more expensive than Fette Sau and Mable's Smokehouse -- even marginally more expensive than Hill Country -- but Delaney's product (again, based on one taste), is better. Good luck, though, with the lines, if you go at a civilized dinner hour.
Comments