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The best barbecue in Durham is of course Bullock's Bar-B-Que. Their amazing "family style" presentation - which is all I have ever ordered there - is a feast that usually leaves me unable to walk away from the table. The selection is wide, and it is all-you-can-eat. The dishes include:

• Barbecue - of course. Shredded pork shoulder cooked all day, and served with a fantastic Central Carolina style sauce that is one of the better ones I have ever had.
  
• Fried Chicken - Their recipe is simple, but they cook it perfectly. About the juiciest I have ever had. (Besides my own buttermilk fried chicken of course...)
  
• Brunswick stew - Bullock's was the first place I ever had this dish that is still contested between Virginia and North Carolina as to it's origins. I don't care where it is from originally, I am only concerned with where I can get more of it now. It is a favorite of mine.
  
• Dixie slaw - this is the sweet cole slaw variety, which is a perfect side note to any spicy barbecue
  
• Green Beans - Done in the southern style, which means cooked forever. Not my favorite, but you gotta have some vegetable matter when eating this much meat.
  
• French Fries - If you must have a starch, might as well fry it first! (This goes for the hush puppies on the table too...)
  

>No, Brunswick stew isn’t much to look at, but the flavor more than makes up for it.

But alas, this sojourn was made over a Sunday and Monday, and guess which two days Bullock's is closed? So I was unable to partake of this feast this time down, but my hosts - Mike and Carrie - were able to scare me up some from another local purveyor: The Q Shack. No, it was no family style in the crowded booths of Bullock's, but surrounded by good friends and chowing down on way too much pork is a good time no matter where you do it.

I think I need to make that my motto...

For a total change of pace, on the next night, Mike and Carrie invited me out to Starlu restaurant to sit at the Chef's Table and watch Chef Sam Poley at work. Sam has a background story similar to mine in that he went into the work-a-day world (though in different fields) but found that cooking was his true calling. And it is a good thing he recognized this, as he is wonderfully creative with food, an amazing host to his guests, and runs his kitchen with both professional efficiency and theatrical flair.

>Chef Sam Poley – our host for the evening. (Photo taken from the Starlu website)

I had been to Starlu before, back before I became a chef, and Sam took a good part of his time to show me around his restaurant and tell me all about what it was like to start a place from scratch, and what I would be expecting as I came into this business. Upon my return on this latest trip, he immediately recognized me, and was happy to know I had entered the business. (He was also a bit jealous to learn that the restaurant I work at enjoys about two full turns of the dining room every Friday and Saturday night... :) )

We sidled up to the bar that is the chef's table, and were informed as to the menu for the evening. It sounded heavenly, and Mike asked Sam for the wine recommendations. After all, if the chef made the food, surely he would know best which wines to pair with it, right? It is that kind of trust in a chef's abilities that makes dining at the chef's table ideal. To let yourself go and put your palate in the care of one who knows more than you is the ultimate form of dining for me - and as I chef I appreciate the customers who are able to do this as well.

The first course was a deep and smoky corn chowder with spicy chorizo and truffle oil. The flavors played wonderfully together, and the creamy base of the soup was a great way to start things off. The garnish was deep-fried tomato skin - a trick that was lovely to look at, full of tomato flavor, and one I will surely steal for myself someday. ;) Paired with a wonderfully crisp Sancerre that had an amazingly dry finish, I was almost afraid the meal couldn't get any better.

The next course proved me wrong, and never was I so glad to have underestimated a chef! Toasted ciabatta was topped with a half wheel of goat camembert cheese. Topped with green onion puree, oven-dried tomatoes, marinated anchovies and roasted garlic oil, this was another amazingly rich dish, but I was still hungry for more.

A new bottle of wine accompanied the next course to the table, a mild-mannered Petit Verdot that at first under-whelmed me, but I soon saw how well it paired with the dish in front of us. Butternut squash and current sauce surrounded a carrot puree wrapped with ham and was topped with a decadent slice of fish that alas, I cannot remember which type. I think the wine may have been getting to me at this point, but seeing as how I am a chef, not a professional restaurant reviewer, I wasn't taking notes while I ate... It was a rich white-fleshed fish that was grilled to perfection, and the its salty firmness acted as a wonderful contrast to the smooth creaminess of the carrots resulting in a perfect match.

OK, so maybe this is a bit too rare…

Just when we were starting to think we may be done though, out came the moo-shi wraps accompanied by soy-glazed ahi tuna. There is only one way to serve tuna this good, and that is super-rare. And that is just what we got. The Vietnamese hot sauce on the plate provided a spice burst that could not be ignored, and provided as good an excuse as any to wash down the remaining wine.

Dessert was a chocolate mouse with a Mexican chocolate brownie that was admittedly difficult to fit down on top of all the other great food. However, I have long believed that dessert actually goes into a different stomach in our bodies, so there is always room for something sweet to finish off a great meal.

It dawned on me later that night how I had experienced two amazing meals on this trip - one served out of styrofoam to-go boxes and eaten with plastic forks, while the other was carefully created and painstakingly plated by a fabulous chef given total creative license. I have always considered the qualifying factor that determines a "great cuisine" to be one where you can find great food at both the high end and the low end of their spectrums. (Italian is a perfect example of this, and is of course recognized as a great world cuisine.)

Perhaps it is time to start thinking of "Southern" in same light?...

(Cross-posted on Deglazed.)

Crooks = best bbq in Chapel Hill

Posted by: lesser being of leisure at April 20, 2007 12:20 PM

I'm glad I live in FL, where the BBQ is abundant. I couldn't imagine living in a region without pulled pork, if you can even call that living, anyway.

Posted by: Chris Santoro at April 21, 2007 2:29 PM

Oh yeah, and I'd definitely agree with your characterization of "great cuisine." Southern food definitely fits the description; I'd like to add Cuban food to the list.

Posted by: Chris Santoro at April 21, 2007 2:36 PM

lesserbol - I have not eaten at Crooks, though I have heard of it. But really, why go to Chapel Hell?... :)

Chris - yeah, a world without barbecue is not a world I would want to be a part of. Once I knew what it was about, I knew I would never be able to be without it again.

I'm glad you agree with my concept of great world cuisines. My choices are: Italian, Chinese, French and perhaps "Southern". I must admit my knowledge of Cuban food is far too scant to judge it as one, but that is based solely on my ignorance. I would love to learn more about it!

Posted by: Matt at April 22, 2007 8:52 PM

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