Bones and Brew - what does it need?
I remember attending Bones & Brew several years ago when it was stationed at Holliday Park just north of the MAX stop. I’m a huge ribs fan…loved exploring local beers (if I recall, they had local beers there), and the bonus of helping a local charity made the trip that much more worthwhile.
Ever since then, Bones & Brew has bounced around, seemingly unruddered. Waterfront Park back to Holliday over to the Pearl District - and the benefit charity’s changed as well. I might have been back once more - but I haven’t made time for it since, despite my twin loves of bones and, yes, brew. And from the way it’s been bouncing around, I suspect I’m not the only one.
I meant to head out again last weekend - but it got overlooked yet again. Is it because it’s falling at the end of a very full festival season? Does it need to anchor somewhere for good?
What’s up with Bones & Brew, anyway?
Update: Nick over at ExtraMSG did go - and filed this scathing report. None of the vendors sound familiar to me (there were at least 15 vendors at the event I attended in the late ’90’s), and I do remember getting some decent ribs and brisket.
Related posts:
It was pretty sad. Very sad. I’m just glad that I have tickets to fly to Texas and do a four day BBQ chowdown in another month. This is my first stop:
http://dallasfood.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4
Me too! I’m going the last week of December. I lived in Austin for six years, so I’ll be making the rounds of my old haunts in Lockhart - Kreuz, Black’s, & Smitty’s. You might also want to try Meyer’s Elgin Smokehouse, the Salt Lick in Driftwood, and Bert’s in Austin. Some swear by the County Line in Austin, but I was never that thrilled with it. It’s almost heresy to say in Texas, where beef is king, but you gotta try the chicken at Bert’s. It’s not all BBQ, but if you want down-home southern cooking in Austin, skip Threadgill’s and go to Hoover’s.
I love the Kreuz/Smitty’s drama. Kreuz Market had been there for 100 years. The old guy died who owned the place, and in his infinite wisdom, left the business to his son and the building to his daughter. Of course, siblings being as they are, they had a huge blowout and she threw her brother out of the building. So, he moved up the street - taking the business and the Kreuz name with him, and she kept the building, starting Smitty’s. There was this incredible procession up the street in Lockhart, because the fire in the Kreuz BBQ pit had supposedly never gone out, so the son built a little portable pit on wheels and took the fire with him to his new building.
All that said, where can one find good brisket in PDX? Texas BBQ is hard to find up here - some of the BBQ places I’ve been to specialize in other regions, such as Georgia or Carolina BBQ (which is totally different). BTW - don’t dare suggest Buster’s. They actually have those in Austin - only the tourists went.
Did you ever try LOW? Kyle and Rodney were from Texas and doing everything central Texas-style. They’ve sold now to Ken Gordon of Ken’s place. He’ll be doing BBQ on Tuesdays only at his restaurant on Hawthorne starting tomorrow night. His opening will be a benefit for Katrina victims. Rodney and Kyle will be helping on the pit tomorrow, so I’m not too worried about quality. I imagine it will move away from being Texan as Gordon takes more control.
Otherwise, for brisket the second best I’ve had is Campbell’s. But it’s very inconsistent. Sometimes it’s great. Sometimes it’s mediocre. Rarely bad, but you have to send back a bad cut if they give it to you. My biggest complaint about Campbell’s is their willingness to sell the dregs of the pit. I’ve gotten ribs with nearly nothing on the bones before. Do they really think they’re helping their long-term profits by handing out crap? But at times there’s no better.
I haven’t found brisket from anyone else worth eating. Buster’s brisket makes okay sandwiches, but it’s too dry to just eat. I think Buster’s is a local chain only, btw, so I imagine it was a different place in Austin.
It’s not Georgia or Carolina BBQ (wish there was real Carolina BBQ). Most of the places around town are doing Black BBQ. Not necessarily Southern BBQ, just Black BBQ. Much of it the same kind of stuff that African-Americans have been making in their backyards for a long time. And it’s mixed in with soul food — fried catfish, oxtails, fried chicken, etc. Nothing wrong with that, but even there most don’t do it well. I haven’t seen any places that are too beholden to a place, like KC, or Memphis, or the Carolinas. ie, no burnt ends or thinly sliced meats, no chopped pork with slaw and ribs served wet or dry, no whole hog with vingarry sauces. It’s cultural BBQ, the BBQ of Blacks, whether in the South, Texas, LA, NY, or Chicago. Speaking of which, Cannon’s does have some connection to the midwest since they offer ribtips, a specialty of Chicago’s Black BBQ.
Is LOW an acronymn? Do not know what you are referring to.
It was an acronym, but they never really went by it. They were two guys who got laid off and decided to open a BBQ shack. They started serving at the Portland Farmer’s Market and a hut on Hawthorne. Then when Apizza Scholls opened, they served out of there on Mondays only. Here’s some reference material:
http://www.portlandfood.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=148
http://portlandfood.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=176
http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=26
http://www.portlandfoodanddrink.com/?p=55
That explains it - I never get to the east side of the river.