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I must admit that I
have trouble keeping my ribs straight. No, I don't mean I walk all
funny and shit; it's just that I can't tell my spare ribs from my
baby backs. Not diggin' on swine, I scan barbeque menus for anything
that sounds like it might be made from cow. As it turns out, there
really isn't a whole lot of beef in the rib department. Some even
consider beef ribs a terrible bastardization of that whole food genre.
Far be it from me to argue with generations of greasy Southerners,
but I say that there is still good stuff to be found in the bovine
barbeque category. My first visit here brought an absolutely delicious
plate of beef rib tips. The things were as soft as a baby rabbit--although
less furry and didn't squeal on the way down. They had a pot roast
quality with that nice flour-thickened red wine type sauce. Going
back for my second time, I couldn't wait for more tips. Alas, I forgot
they were the special, and weren't available that night. After the
waiter practically told us he would trade his girlfriend for that
night's special, the prime rib, I could hardly resist its beefy allure.
It ended up paling in comparison with my first meal, and it wasn't
until afterwards that I realized the waiter was probably more attracted
to the special's $27 price tag than he was to its seasoning and au
jus. We ordered a bunch of sides too, none of which was shockingly
good, but was still better than a kick in the nuts. Nobody else at
the table seemed overwhelmingly pleased with his or her meal. I heard
no ''oohs'' or ''aahs.'' People seemed more excited about the post
glut toothpick than anything else. Despite this, the experience of
going to Blue Smoke is more about going to Blue Smoke and talking
about the fact you went to Blue Smoke than actually eating there.
People buy into the barbeque hype, and fool themselves into thinking
(or at least telling everyone) that the food is better than it actually
is. That's the magic of barbeque. And that's the magic of dressing
a place up like it's in the South somewhere, when, in fact, it's in
a boring-ass neighborhood in Manhattan. New Yorkers just can't enough
of that shit. [MF]
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