The BBQ Invasion

Art may imitate life, but some food life seems to imitate TV. What do I mean by that? Well, I recall a time when no one, and I mean no one played a form of Poker called Texas Hold'em. That is until about three cable networks started televising tournaments. Now, it's everywhere and on line and everyone is suddenly Phil Hellmuth. Well, now competition BBQ is the rage on TV and everyone wants to be Myron Mixon.

This phenomenon has taken root right here in River City. By my count, we have several BBQ start ups fresh off local competition trails. We will discuss a few in a moment, but first a little more background.

BBQ can mean a lot of things, depending on what part of the country you happen to be standing in. In Kansas City, it means ribs slathered in sauce. In Memphis, it means ribs with a dry rub coating and sauce on the side. In Chicago, it might mean a local sausage called a red hot.  In the Carolinas it probably means pork, either shoulders or whole hog, pulled or chopped and served with light, acidy (mustard or vinegar based) sauces. In Texas, it means big cuts of beef like brisket or short ribs and spicy sausages. In all places, the common thread is bigger cuts that are cooked low and slow over wood fires and smoke from hickory, mesquite, pecan, or fruit woods. It's very simple cooking, but anyone who does much cooking should know that some of the simplest methods can be the hardest to master. True BBQ is much less of a formula executed on good equipment (although those help). No, it's more of an art form that you can spend your life practicing to achieve that ideal combination of meat, time, and smoke. Hey, beer is just malted barley, water, hops and yeast, right?

We've got several places here in Sioux Falls that are cranking out pretty good Q. Let's run through the list that I know of . . .

• Famous Dave's. Yeah, it's a chain joint and I don't normally like to delve into the chains, especially when there are great local options, but to give credit where credit is due, these guys do pretty respectable BBQ for this part of Fly Over Country. Good quality, nice sides, fun atmosphere and consistent product. Don't count these guys out.

• Big Rig BBQ. The newcomer to the game.  Big Rig is situated in a trailer in the parking lot of Home Depot. The owner, Bob Brenner, is clearly a student and a devotee of the Texas methods of BBQ. Simple stuff here served in to-go containers and portioned by weight, or sandwich specials. Do yourself a favor, just get at least a half pound of brisket, something to drink, a couple slices of bread, and stand there at one of those wire spools and eat it. I'm just going to say it: this is probably the best local Q you are going to get here. Skip the sauce. Skip the sausage. Skip the sides. Get brisket. Ask Bob for a few burnt ends. Did I mention the brisket?

• Backyard BBQ. We've tried these guys before. It's pretty good. I still like the ribs best of all and the wings are pretty good. I like the sides. Nice place. Unfortunately, not a whole lot more to say.

• Rib Shack BBQ. Rib Shack operates a catering and retail BBQ business. This is almost the best kept BBQ secret in town. You have to check Facebook to see when and where they are open. Generally, they sell ribs, brisket, pulled pork and sides from their truck parked at King's Liquors on the corner of North Cliff and Benson Rd. Sometimes they are open other spots around town. The ribs and brisket are excellent. Well worth the noon-time trek.

• Rowdy Hog Smokin' BBQ. I first tried Rowdy Hog at Jazzfest several years ago. I had a brisket sandwich that failed to impress me. Instead of slices, the brisket was cooked down to goo and seemed more like an overly moist Iowa loose meat sandwich than anything. I chalked the whole thing up to less than ideal circumstances.  Rowdy Hog has since opened a retail location over near 12th and Marion. I've stopped in for a rack of "award winning" ribs, some sides, and a sampling of the six or so sauces on hand. Yeah, still not impressed. Enjoyable, but lacking in big flavor.

Get out and try these places and see what you like best. We are lucky to have these sorts of choices, so get out and support them with your dollars.

And, when traveling across the country, especially when you are in some of the great BBQ regions, be sure to seek out local greats there.

Eat This Right Now! Menudo at Gilberto's

This is Menudo at Gilberto's. Not the Latin boy band. The soup. Rich, spicy, and chock full of pork knuckle, tripe, marrow, and some hominy. Add some squeezes of lime, some onion and cilantro, and, if you dare, a little extra red chili. Tear up some fresh tortillas. Knock yourself out. It cures almost everything that's wrong with you. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's got tripe in it and other jiggly meats. Get over it and eat it. It's cooked perfectly.  Tender and tasty. Hands down, this is one of the best things I have ever eaten at any restaurant in Sioux Falls. It's that forking good. And for $7.50 for a quart of it on the weekends, it's a tremendous bargain. Eat it until you are about to burst and then put the rest in a to-go container. 

Once again, Gilberto's knocks it clear out of the park. 

Prairie Berry East Bank: The Good,The Bad, and The Ugly

For those of you who are not familiar, Prairie Berry is a South Dakota winery. Kind of an oxymoron, I know since this isn't exactly grape country. The original location is in the Black Hills near Hill City. Like most other SD based wineries, Prairie Berry produces a lot of fruit wines, made from things like rhubarb. This seems to hearken back to the dandelion wine all of us were told about as kids by our parents and grandparents. Although, Prairie Berry also produces some regular varietals like Zinfandel under its Ana Pesa label, named in honor of the winemakers grandmother.

Earlier this year, Prairie Berry opened a branch office on the East Bank in Sioux Falls. It's located in the building where you also find Queen City Bakery on 8th Street. I have visited a few times. Like most places, service was a bit clunky when it first opened. It's clicking better now, at least to a point where I feel justified making some comments and sharing some thoughts.

The Good

What's good about the place? The space where Prairie Berry East Bank is located is beautiful. The building is an old Sioux Quartzite building and the interiors are the stone walls. It's really well done and really gorgeous. There is retail space inside, a small bar area that seats maybe 8-10, a tall communal high-top table and perhaps 8 tables for seating. There is also some outdoor seating.

The food is also worthy of mention. The menu items are good and feature soups, salads, and pizzas. Recently, Prairie Berry opened an Epicurean Bar featuring selections of cured meats and cheeses, some of which is relatively locally sourced. I have noticed some cheeses from Iowa. You can select what you want and it is cut to order. It's really outstanding, but there are significant drawbacks. We will get to that.

The beverage selection is also pretty good. Prairie Berry brews craft beer under the Miner name and there are some very unique beers. Try the Blue IPA made with blueberries or any limited-edition brew. As for wines, unless the fruit wines are your thing (and they are certainly not mine) stick to the Ana Pesa.

The Bad

Although generally well-staffed, there is no table service. If you want food or beverages, you need to go order them. It's not necessarily abundantly clear how it all works, so consider yourself forewarned.

It's also not abundantly clear when the place is open and for what. I know of small groups who have walked in at say 7 or 8 o'clock in the evening t enjoy some wine and food, only to be turned away because it was closing time. Conversely, you may be able to get drinks at some hours, but not food.

Remember that Epicurean bar I mentioned? Also seemingly totally random. Apparently, only a few key employees have license to operate the state-of-the-art slicer and scale to portion out selections. You can walk in there at the middle of the day on a Saturday after doing some browsing or farmers marketing downtown, only to find out the charcuterie cutter upper doesn't come in until 3 pm.

The Ugly

First and foremost, it's the pricing. As I mentioned above, the space itself is very nice. There is merchandise for sale, but it's not bursting in your face. Let's put it this way: it's not hard to walk around inside. I should know better that this is generally a warning, because businesses have to pay for that prime real estate and swanky decor somehow. Make no mistake about it, the joint is spendy. A couple beers or glasses of wine for you and a friend, along with a charcuterie tray could very well set you back 50 to 75 bucks depending on how carried away you might get.

The other ugly is largely a repeat- it's the randomness of the whole thing. Never knowing for sure if you can get food or beverages at the time of day you want to visit. If the place is open, is the Epicurean bar available? Are all the items on the menu available? I heard one server have to explain to a customer who walked up to the bar to order that the items he wanted from the menu were unavailable and that the menu was extremely outdated. WTF? Throw it away and print one that actually has items that are available! How hard is that?

I'm also really torn on service. The people are really quite nice and are knowledgeable about product. But I miss an overall sense of urgency. Exhibit one on that is the fact that the last time I ordered charcuterie, it took a whopping 45 minutes from placement of order to delivery. Honest to God, a high school kid at any Hy Vee deli could have cut up everything in the case in the same amount of time.

Overall, I am not headed back anytime soon and I would have a hard time recommending the place to friends, at least without severe reservations and a bevy of disclaimers. I don't mind paying a little more for special or good product, but that has to include the entire package-- good stuff, beautiful decor, and smart, snappy service. And these guys just don't seem to have it figured out yet.

The Perennial Problem of Poor Parenting in Public-- A Guest Post on Kids in Bars

Climbing summer temperatures means kid sporting events are in full swing. That's great if you are a young athlete. Unfortunately, it also means a strong uptick in kids in the local watering holes between and after games. In this post, the SSS addresses the stresses inflicted on the general public when mommy and daddy decide it's time to was the taste of sunscreen and sunflower seeds out of their mouths with a cold beverage as their kids run roughshod.

I like kids, primarily my own.  I like good food and good bars too.  But mixing good bars and kids is a toxic combination for the patron at the bar without kids.  

I don't know when the shift began, but I have noticed an uptick in the number of kids at a local bar - a place primarily for consuming adult beverages.  In the last two months, I have observed the following:

Parents bringing their kids to the bar, armed with lots of dollar bills to put into pool tables, dart machines and not-so-oriented to kids games like Beer Pong, Beerball or a Big Buck Hunter.  

The aforementioned kids, after using their dollars, generally run amuck- attempting to climb the dart machine,   crawling under the pool tables, playing hide and seek under the pool tables (and everywhere else where kids could hide).  In a bar.  A place where the patrons are there to enjoy an ADULT beverage - and not usually wanting to be around the antics of small children.   And the parents?  Well, they are enjoying their adult beverage and glued to their smart phones oblivious to their children running amuck. 

Some suggestions for bars and parents:

Do not allow kids.  McNallys and JL Beers follow this approach.  It makes them extra desirable to many people.  Remember the hyperbole that banning smoking was going to kill bar profits?  It hasn't happened.  Indeed, many people, like me, enjoy coming home and not reeking of smoke.  I propose a similar rule for kids.   Bars should be 21 only.  If you want your kids to eat dinner with you, go someplace that is not primarily a bar.   The government shouldn't have to regulate common sense.  

Only parents think their kids are cute.   Other bar patrons do not think it is cute when your kids are running around chasing each other or using their straws as water squirting devices. 

If you do want to go out to eat and consume a beer, go to Chuck-E- Cheese.  Beer is served there.  It was designed for kids to get sugared up and run amuck.   You don't like the food? Too bad. Or be THAT annoying person and take your kids to a bar and make other patrons miserable by your kids wanting to play Beer Pong while climbing on a bar stool to reach a dart stuck far above their reach. 

If a bar has sections, and you need to lift your kids up to sit on chairs on one side of the bar, that is the implied adults only side.   

Lastly, this should go without saying:   Lawn darts were changed because a family game involving children throwing sharp objects resulted in some kids being injured.   For the same reason, giving young children darts to throw at a machine is a bad idea.   Dart machines were not intended to be a substitute for a pitching cage.   Some kid is going to get his or her eye poked out by a dart and the parents bringing their kids to a bar will sue.   Unfortunately, the law is behind the times and there is no "parents are idiots defense." 

And, a shout out to bar servers.   Families who choose to patronize bars should be subject to a mandatory 30% gratuity.  Their kids cause twice the mess of adults, so they should be compensated accordingly.   And generally, the poor server has to keep track of separate checks at the adult table and keep track of whose kid is whose.  Sadly too many parents that think it is appropriate to bring their children to a bar do not think it is necessary to tip the server based on the extra work serving families involves.  

Bottom line:  the world would be a better place if kids and bars did not mix and parents had the common sense not to bring their kids to bars.  If parents must bring their little darlings, it would be nice if they would exercise the bare minimum of supervision and require their offspring to sit in the chair and play with an electronic device.  If they aren't willing to do that, for the love of God, go to Chuck-E-Cheese. 

Pizza Rev or Fiero Pizza? Your Guide To Hipster Pie in Sioux Falls

So, it turns out that Wednesday, May 6, 2015 is International No Diet Day. Forking A! How can you beat that for timing, because I am jonesing for some pizza. And these days here in River City, pizza is the newest trend in fast casual dining. What's fast casual? Been to Qdoba, ahem Chipotle, or Panera lately? That's fast casual.

In terms of pizza, Red Rossa has been doing this concept justice for years. And I love Red Rossa. It's a great Neapolitan style pie.  Today, however, we are going to concentrate on the newest players on the scene: Pizza Rev and Fiero Pizza. (Footnote: I hope to write about Breadico's pizza in the near future. If it is half as good as the bread, it's going to be awesome. Unfortunately, Breadico's pizza times don't easily coincide with the Fork's hectic social calendar.)

At any rate, Pizza Rev and Fiero Pizza are what I refer to as hipster pie. It's the newest thing. And, the target audience is a 20-30 something that likes to customize his or her food choices from among an array of fresh, hopefully organic, ingredients. I didn't make that up. I read it in the Argus, so it has to be accurate.

Both of these places specialize in pizzas that are more or less a single serving. You process through a line, not unlike you would at a Pita Pit, Subway, or Qdoba to customize your pie. In both places, you start with a crust choice, then a sauce (tomato-based, olive oil, or a creamy alfredo sort of thing), then cheeses, then proteins (grilled chicken, various sausages, bacon), then vegetables and such (need I explain), followed by any last minute sprinkles of fresh herbs or dried spices. You pizza is then cooked while you pay and make a drink selection. You then go sit down, or play with your smart phone, and wait for a friendly staff member to hunt you down and deliver your tasty creation. I want to be very clear that both Pizza Rev and Fiero execute this formula very well. Good service experiences at both places. Fresh ingredients. Quality product.

But, they are also both very different and which you prefer probably depends on your own personal preferences. Here's my take on both.

Fiero Pizza is located downtown in the heart of Phillips Avenue. Food & Fermentation was once located in the same spot- right across from Stogies. Great location if you are downtown strolling about. Fiero is also totally locally owned. It's not part of a chain, so the owners are probably there when you are. The Fiero pie is oblong. The crust is most definitely hand-crafted and is cooked on a little conveyor oven that allows it to puff up and create bubbles and pockets. At Fiero, your choice of cheese is applied to the crust in slice form after exactly one ladle of sauce is applied to the crust. Each one of those slices is so thin, you could read 605 Magazine through it. If you want more cheese, prepare to flip out some more coin. The end product, absent extra cheese, is very tasty. It's warm and soft. If the ingredients don't go well together, that's on you because it was your idea to put whatever on there. Fiero must be doing something right because they managed a rookie win in Cory Myers' Food Falls annual bracket challenge.

Pizza Rev is a chain located on West 49th Street and is somewhat disguised in a bank building. Go google the address if you can't find the place across the street from Hy Vee and next to Pier One Imports. It's a chain. It's owned by Todd Porter, the guy behind the local Applebees, Carino's and Chevy's. (Todd probably isn't the guy making your pizza, by the way.) The Rev crust is round and it's undoubtedly a franchise formula. Each crust is pressed using a big machine that flattens a ball of dough into a nice round crust. I rather suspect the machine also applies some heat and slightly parbakes it. The cheese is grated and I've never seen a person be told they have reached their pre-designated allotment of cheese. The pie is then baked in a pizza oven on a stone floor. The end result is a round, crispy-crust pizza.

Warning. At either place if you decide to be that guy that sees how many toppings you can cram onto your pie so you feel like you have personally tipped the economic scales in your favor, you are going to have a major mess on your hands. Literally. As much as it pains me to say it, moderation and balance are key.

Personally, for me, Rev offers the correct coefficient of crust, sauce, and cheese, albeit in a more suburbany, chain-type of place. For me, these components are the soul of a pizza, and Rev is hitting them spot on. If you want downtown and locally home grown, and are willing to pay more for cheese, then Fiero is your place. Either way, the food life is good here in Sioux Falls and I can pretty much guarantee, come May 6, I'm at one of these places to celebrate International No Diet Day.

Get You Some Gilberto's

I've said it before. We are extremely lucky here in Sioux Falls to have ever increasing and diverse opportunities to enjoy an ever-expanding world of food and cultures. Today, I find myself compelled to share my thoughts on just one such place, the relatively-recently opened Gilberto's, on South Minnesota Ave.

Housed in the former location of Long John Silver's, and now painted a very bright yellow, Gilberto's is a 24-hour, non-stop parade of some of the best Mexican street food as you are likely to lay your hands on in our fair city. If you like fresh, authentic, hand crafted flavor, this is your place. If your idea of authentic Mexican is a burrito full of tater tots or tacos made out of Dorritos, well, you know where to go.

Gilberto's isn't doing anything you cannot find in other established eateries in Sioux Falls, they are just doing it extremely well, if not better, than others. You can get similar, awesome food, at places like Nikki's and a host of other places that I think frankly appear a little intimidating to a lot of pasty white Sioux Falls natives. And, I suppose Gilberto's may seem a little intimidating, as well, so here is what to expect when you go:

• The parking situation SUCKS. There is one relatively narrow driveway off Minnesota Avenue that leads to an "L" shaped parking lot that sort of wraps around the back of the building. Some of the spots are in some places that are easier to get into than out of. Overall, probably very close to the utter inconvenience of the Eberts & Gerbert's parking lot on South Louise. Of, and when exiting during daylight hours, you probably realistically cannot turn left to go south, so don't even think about it.
• The ordering situation looks a little funky. Go in the back entrance of the building. Step around the corner and you are going to be confronted with a short line (a good thing). As you wait, you will peruse an extremely large menu posted on the wall. And I mean huge. There are breakfast items served all day that range from huevos rancheros to egg filled burritos. There are some platters of various items that even include Americanized fare such as chimichanga. There are some most definitely authentic items, like menudo by the quart on weekends. The real stars, though, and where you want to concentrate your focus is the listing of tacos, burritos, and tortas. You will have time to study the board as you move toward the extremely efficient and friendly people who will take you order. And don't fret, there is a smaller version of the menu on the counter right in front of the registers.
• The "trick" to the menu items is that they are all built on a foundation of one of about seven types of meat. It's all fantastic. If you cannot fathom the concept of nose-to-tail eating, stick to carnitas (moist pulled pork), carne asada (grilled steak), adobada (marinated grilled pork), or chorizo (pork sausage). If you want awesome flavor and adventure try some lengua (tongue that is beefier and more tender than your granny's Sunday pot roast), tripa (tripe, a/k/a stomach lining- not for everyone), cabeza (beef from the head area- cheeks, temples), or chicharones (pork skin- pork rind taco).
• Tacos are a great way to experiment. They are maybe $2 each, so you can try several different flavors. The tacos are served on a couple warm, fresh, corn tortillas and topped with a little guacamole and onion. Fresh and bottled salsas and hot sauces are available.
• The burritos will blow you away. The burritos are in the $6-7 range. They will include one or more meats and may also include other ingredients like rice, beans, guacamole, onions, peppers, or nopales (cactus). (Special hint- find that one on the menu and try it. It's the bomb.) Be advised, these are not like the thigh-sized homage to Mission-style burritos chock full of rice and beans and studded by a few chunks of meat like you get at Qdoba or, ahem Chipotle. These are more like super-flavored meat logs. Oh, and I swear the tortillas are made in-house.
• Tortas are sandwiches. Like the tortillas, I swear the bread is house-made. So, you've got the meat foundation of your choice along with avocado, onion, lettuce, and some beans on a pillowy soft, warm and toasted in all the right spots bollio roll.
• Be careful with sides. Things like rice and beans are available and they look awesome. Orders of chips and salsa or chips and guacamole are available. The chips don't come out of a bag or a warming hopper in the corner. Nope, made to order. Super good. I recommend getting a side if you brought a friend to lunch, because if you order about $7 of food a piece (roughly three tacos, one burrito, or one torta each) you are not going to leave searching for a snack.
• Try the pickled carrots on the fresh salsa bar.
• No cerveza. As much as I would love a super ice-cold Tecate or Negro Modello to wash down these delicious treasures, it ain't happening. So, do the next best thing and get a nice, authentic, sugary drink like a Jarritos, a bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola made with cane sugar, or at least some Orange Crush out of the fountain.

Seriously, give Gilberto's a go. Take a friend. Try something new. You won't be sorry.

Guest Post! SSS Sounds Alarm on New Spezia Menu and A Bad Salad Experience

Check this out!  The SSS has provided a special guest blog.  After previous good salad experiences at Spezia, a not so good one.  

I went to lunch with a friend at Spezia.  I chose Spezia specifically because I like their Mediterranean salad with chicken, artichokes, tomatoes, onions, pepperoncinis and kalamata olives.  It is delicious.

After a noticeably slow seating, we were given the menu.  It not only looked different, Spezia re-did their menu.   On the new menu, the Mediterranean chicken salad is gone.   I was alarmed.  The new menu now consists of four salads:   a beet and goat cheese salad, a pear and fennel salad, a pear and cranberry salad and a salad with bacon and tomatoes.   I personally do not like fruit with my salad.  So, my salad choices were down to the beet salad or the bacon and tomato salad.  Since I do not like beets, I really only had one choice.   Pay $7.50 for a salad that has tomatoes and bacon.   Or, if I wanted an “entrée” size salad, I would have to add an additional $2.00.   If I wanted to add chicken, add on another $3.00.   If I wanted to add salmon or shrimp to the uncreative bacon and tomato salad, that is an additional $7.50.    I refuse to pay $9.50 for a salad that just has bacon and tomatoes, let alone $17.00 for a salad that would have bacon, tomatoes and shrimp!

I surely am not alone in not liking beets or fruit with my salad.   When designing a menu, for people like me who want to have a salad for lunch that doesn’t include fruit or beets, the best they could do is some romaine with bacon and tomatoes?  Even the house salad at Olive Garden has more ingredients – and it is all you can eat for just $6.99 – which is less than the non-entrée size of the boring tomato and bacon salad at Spezia. 

The missing Mediterranean chicken salad was noticed by customers at the table next to us.   It also did not appear to be the first time that our waitress was asked about that salad.  She suggested ordering the Mediterranean chicken without the pasta and then mixing it with the house side salad.  I followed her suggestion because I really did want a salad.  They just didn’t have a salad that I would pay to eat.   That suggestion sort-of worked – but there wasn’t nearly enough lettuce.

At one time, Spezia used to have the most ingenious salad section.  They listed ingredients and customers could order a customized salad.   I was disappointed when they removed that option.   But, I still had the Mediterranean chicken salad.  Now that salad is gone and there literally is not a single salad that I would pay to eat at Spezia.   To say that I am disappointed is an understatement.