Kent Wang

Although Lola's is mostly a Southern cuisine restaurant, she does offer gumbo and crawfish etouffee. The gumbo is rather thin and mediocre, but the crawfish etouffee is very good, with a healthy amount of vegetables and crawfish, on the spicier side.

Wow, I did not realize this. Thanks, Steven.

Or perhaps your meals in Lockhart were below average. Indeed, barbecue is highly variable, from the cuts of meat to how the grill was handled that day. Reviewing barbecue is more difficult and requires more data points than any other genre of food. Their sides do look great. Only one of the Central Texas joints has good sides, Louie Mueller's in Taylor -- which I think is a tiny bit better than Lockhart anyway, and the ambiance is second to none; next time you're here you must go -- but they pale compared to the photos of Hill Country's sides. There just has never been much of a focus on sides with the top joints, and I theorize that it may even be a point of pride for them to have sub-par sides, just as many of them do not allow forks or sauce. Even if Hill Country fails to meet the impossibly high standards of the top Central Texas joints, a good attempt is better than nothing. I imagine it has raised the standard of barbecue in New York, which can only be a good thing. Also, most barbecue outside of the South is in the Kansas City or Carolinas style, so I'm glad that Central Texas is getting some representation.

All the clam chowder I've had, even the ones from fine restaurants (admittedly, none from New England) have small pieces of chopped up clams. I really like clams. Why not have copious amounts of whole clams in there? Is this against tradition? Clams aren't even that expensive. A shrimp or crawfish etoufee found around these parts uses more -- in terms of quantity, size of individual pieces, and total ingredient cost -- than clam chowder. Has anyone ever thought the same thing? Are there crazy iconoclasts in New England making chowder with obscene amounts of clam?

It's a Texas joint so they have ice cream from Texas. You want they should serve some gelato for dessert? Sheesh. ← Yeah, Blue Bell is a pretty commercial product. Of course, so is Big Red soda. They have it because it's part of the Texas identity, which is cool, but let me just say that as a Texan I'm not vouching for the quality. Well, I think it has smoke flavor but it's subtle smoke flavor. That's basically the point with Lockhart-style barbecue, as I understand it: the emphasis is on the meat, whereas the smoke, seasonings and sauces are minor enhancements not the main event as they are in, say, Memphis. In my notes from the trip I took to Lockhart a few years back I noted (at Smitty's) hardly any of the strong smoke flavor characteristic of a lot of the best barbecue in the other states where I'd just been. (Of course with the sausages it's a totally different situation -- they're quite smoky.) ← It's hard to discuss smokiness without being there in person but it should be so smoky that, say, if you take some home to go and leave it in the car while you stop to go to the rest room, once you return to the car the smoky smell will hit you square in the face -- even stronger than the few times I've had to go boxes with dishes with truffle oil. It should be quite smoky. If you found it to be lacking in smoke flavor, you must be either some kind of crazy smoke fiend or something is wrong with the meat.

Steven, while I greatly respect opinion on many issues, your comment that Hill Country is on par with Lockhart makes me raise my eyebrow. No where outside of Central Texas is on par with Lockhart. Not even in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio and these are places in Texas. One major difference is the use of the Ole Hickory "pit". Southern Pride is another company that makes a similar device. None of the top Central Texas places use them; they instead use the brick "finishing pit" depicted in Jason Perlow's blog for the entire cooking process. I cannot explain why it works better, but a sampling of the places in Texas that do use the traditional method versus the new fangled pits is conclusively in favor of the traditional method. Frankly, I think the use of the brick pit as a "finishing pit" is more an attempt to deceive the customer into thinking this is cooked in the traditional process than for any legitimate cooking reason. Salt Lick here in Texas employs the same trick. Some commentary about the photos in Jason's blog: Was the brisket really served in pop form? An incredible amount of fat is lost on the cutting board that way. It should always be served like so (Cooper's in Llano, TX): The ribs also look funny to me. Are they all spare ribs? I will be in NYC at the end of the month. I considered going to Hill Country just to see what the hubbub was about, but am not sure if I'm prepared to spend my limited time for the high possibility of disappointment. edit: Some confusion about Jason's blog.

September 7, 2007 Austin Chronicle Aster's Ethiopian Restaurant. By Mick Vann. "...there is a wealth of vegetable sides, so vegetarians naturally flock toward Ethiopian venues. The flavor profile resembles Pakistani or Afghani cuisine, crossed with North African: complex layers of spice and piquancy."

By chuckwagon you mean a metal barbecue grill on wheels? I believe there is something special about the (immobile) pits that is essential to Central Texas style barbecue. Maybe it's possible to create CenTex masterpieces out of them, but all I know is that all the top joints use pits. Can you describe in greater detail the output of these Abilene places? How does it differ from Taylor and Luling? Why do you feel they are superior?

I went to Catalan with a friend on Wednesday night. I thought it was a bit expensive for what it was. The anchovies were $6 and came with five small anchovies and eight olives in olive oil, that's it. For the same price, the anchovies dish at Dolce Vita was a much better value with more anchovies and a bevy of vegetables. The charcuterie plate was OK. One major flaw was that everything was cold. The African sausage and terrines were rather mute in flavor, further compounded by the temperature. Foie gras torchon served cold was very delightful and unique as I'm used to it served hot and melting. The plate also included some pickles that were a bit too sweet but had an excellent bouquet of spices -- I think there was clove and/or nutmeg. I was also hoping for more Catalan or Spanish inspired charcuterie. Spain has such a rich tradition of charcuterie that I felt was neglected for the rather unfocused array of international charcuterie styles. Morcilla black sausage was good, but the fennel kraut that came accompanied it was even better. Crisp cabbage, not mushy like most kraut, with bold fennel flavor. Service was perhaps a bit too attentive. We only ordered three dishes in the hour and a half we were there and the server repeatedly came by to check on us and ask for orders. She could've just simply walked by and made eye contact without having to interrupt our conversation. I don't think I will return until I'm prepared to spend a lot of money and can appreciate their vast wine menu.

The future is BYO Bread. As hard as a restaurant may try, they cannot hope to serve an adequate range of breads. When I need to impress a potential client, I can't sit there as they are served a rack of lamb with red wine, and then offered a ciabatta on the side! If I want to make a sale, I want the client to know that I'm concerned with how they feel as a human being, and nothing can touch the soul quite like a bread that takes in mind the meal, the wine, and the person. My pantry at the local steakhouse where I conduct my business dinners is stocked with a '97 pumpernickel from Dresden, and I've recently added a fresh loaf of Brioche from Bourgogne as a dessert bread. It has cost several thousand dollars over the years to keep a well maintained pantry, but the feeling that comes with it is well worth the cost.

My parents live in League City. Can you tell me more about this place? What's it called? What's so special about their kolaches?

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences in Lockhart. Maybe they deserve another try. I'm pretty sure Rudy's and County Line are on gas instead of wood. Both places cook their meats on too high heat, for too short of a time -- by Central Texas standards. But maybe you just don't like Central Texas style barbecue. That's OK, it's an acquired taste and is not for everyone. The drive to 2222 is beautiful indeed -- I lived there for two years. If you want to try a longer expedition, you could drive through the beautiful Hill Country to Cooper's in either Llano or Mason. I think Marble Falls is along the way there. There are also a number of Texas wineries in that area.

How does it differ from Esquire Drinks? I was planning on buying it, but should I just wait for Imbibe instead?

Any elitism and snobbery on my part is perceived. I have no desire to educate or proselytize the uninterested, nor to thumb my nose at them. I started this thread simply to discuss this phenomenon, and how it differs from region to region -- and I feel that we have been quite successful in this regard.

I think Mayhaw Man's endorsement is worth much more than that of many published restaurant critics. The one time I went to T'afia I loved it. See thread on T'afia. On the other hand, I doubt Beaver's will be a true Central Texas-style barbecue joint. The culture around these places is completely different. In my eyes, the only way to start a great Central Texas-style joint would be to poach one of the pitmasters from one of the existing places and give him carte blanche. I doubt Pope is striving for this. It's more likely to be well-executed barbecue, though not in the Central Texas-style, priced in the mid-range (well above traditional joints). I bet the sides will be awesome, especially the potato salad. While I'm skeptical, I'm still eager to see how this will turn out.

Agreed. And this is true of some genres more than others. Barbecue, Southern cuisine and soul food are genres that are tied to rural and lower-income groups -- as opposed to cheesesteak which I think is more urban. It's likely that there are great restaurants that are getting by serving their local customers and have not bothered at all with publicity. Barbecue less so, as it does require a significant investment in resources to build a pit. But home style cuisine like soul food and Southern cuisine are not as well-known and evaluated by the media and internet. Two of the best (so far in my experience) Southern cuisine restaurants in Austin are very well hidden and were only recently discovered by internet sources. One, Lola's, is in a dilapidated 15-seat building, the other, Reggie's, is served out of a trailer in a parking lot. I think it's highly probable that there are other terrific Southern cuisine restaurants out there that have yet to be discovered. Yes, it's a live music venue that also serves barbecue. Much of the fame comes from the music venue, and not from producing quality barbecue. The same can be said of Threadgill's in Austin, a popular music venue that serves Southern cuisine. Common sense should prevail here: Does a venue primarily focused on music have any incentive to serve superlative food?

Perhaps the better term is "legend"; nostalgic implies a long history, while effective marketing can build a legend in a short period of time. Salt Lick is the top candidate, followed by Stubb's, County Line, Rudy's. Essentially what you would get if you polled the general Austin population. I don't think Sam's has been around long enough or is known well enough to be considered nostalgic. Sam's and the Lockhart, Llano and Taylor places are just the opposite of what I am criticizing, they're little known (compared to Salt Lick), but are the true best.

It only takes like 15 more minutes to stop another one of the Lockhart Three -- I nominate Black's over Kreuz. They're all on the same main road. One of the best parts about Lockhart is just the opportunity to try two or three restaurants in the same trip. Of course, it sounds like you may be wearing out your friend's patience so pick your battles wisely.

Thanks! I forwarded this information to the retailer. The Chinese crawfish are dirt cheap, $9/lb. Central Market carries American crawfish for $20+. I heard that there are some suppliers from Spain that are more of a happy medium. I'm usually pretty oblivious (daring, or stupid) when it comes to "health scare" stuff, but I think you're right. If there's one thing that one shouldn't buy from China is shellfish.

Another factor is that bad versions of some of these foods really aren't that bad. Gas-cooked barbecue is still pretty tasty, and frankly I eat a lot of "bad" barbecue at various social functions where they have barbecue catered from one of the "legends". Because of this, people with less educated palates are more likely to believe that this passable version is really the Best. Is this more or less true with the other regional foods? Cheesesteak might be another thing that can't be that bad, though I'm not an expert this -- Sandy? I think bad Maryland crab cake is pretty bad, though.

You are employing the straw man argument. At what point do I declare that my opinion is definitive? I don't think anyone on this forum has been pompous enough to say that. I think you're reading too much into this. I have consistently stated that of the top five to ten joints in Texas, it does come down to individual taste and sheer luck of the draw. As for Salt Lick and Rudy's, I think Busboy's apt analogy would put them into the category of the Thomas Kinkades. Maybe you love Kinkade (and certainly many people in the world do), but serious art critics do not. I respect your choice to reject this consensus opinion -- maybe all the art critics are frou-frou idiots -- I'm not here to change your mind about that.

They have Chartreuse but no maraschino liqueur, so no Last Word, but you can settle for a Tailspin.

Yes, taste is subjective, but to take that populist notion to the extreme negates the entire point of informed debate. I'm not going to bother convincing someone that McDonald's is bad food, taste is subjective, but I think most of us here on eGullet would call these people 'misinformed'. No, that's exactly what I mean. In Texas, tourists will also go to the "legendary" places. But for the more discriminating tourist, the kind that looks to eGullet for restaurant advice, there is still the desire to get the Best. This is the Best as decided by informed consensus, and obviously a useful piece of knowledge.

I gave this a try last night for a gumbo. I toasted the flour and tried to add some water to it. I found that it was very difficult to eliminate all the clumps, so I tried to put it into blender. After blending, the clumps appeared to be gone but when added to the soup the clumps separated out. This corroborates Shalmanese's observation: "there was a very gritty texture that was unpleasant. After tasting, a coating of very fine, insoluble granules of flour were left on the back of your tounge." However, I then put the flour in the blender with a lot more stock and then blended. This worked perfectly, the clumps were eliminated and it was able to thicken the soup substantially. The elimination of clumps requires a much higher liquid to flour ratio than is suitable for sauces. For sauces, I think it makes sense to just use a roux -- we're not talking about that much fat anyway. For soups though, this makes a big difference as I put about a stick of butter into every gallon of gumbo. What I don't understand is how these traditional recipes used toasted flour, without the use of a blender.

Beautiful! I believe the Chinese are the masters of the pork belly. I can think of nearly a dozen Chinese preparations for pork belly, all excellent. Is ba zi rou the most quintessential Suzhou specialty, like xiao long bao for Shanghai and Peking duck for Beijing?