Ah, for the good old days. When legendary smoke men, like Sonny Bryan in Dallas and Arthur Bryant of Kansas City, fired the pits, turning out briskets and spareribs that defined American barbecue.
Well, if you're expecting me to say that barbecue just isn't what it used to be, guess again. It's better! A new generation of pit masters have—choose your metaphor—taken the tongs, relit the torch—turning out smoked meats worthy of our barbecue founding fathers.
Only now, they're cooking with heritage pork, grass-fed beef, and organic or natural chicken. They're expanding our notion of what traditional barbecue is to include lamb and goat, salmon and shrimp (wild when possible), even artichokes, corn, and tofu. The good old days may be gone, but the future looks even brighter. 2013 will go down in history as an incredible year for live fire cooking. Here's my top 6 best barbecue joints and grill restaurants for 2013.
- Chi Spacca (Los Angeles): This homey 30-seat grill parlor—the latest in an Italian restaurant empire by Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali, and Joe Bastianich and masterfully run by chef Chad Colby—may be the smallest steakhouse in North America, but everything it serves is bigger than life: a 42-ounce tomahawk pork chop that includes the entire rib bone and pork belly, or a costata alla fiorentina (Florentine steak) that's 5 inches wide and tips the scale at 50 ounces. (Definitely made for sharing.) Meats are grilled over an almond wood-burning grill, but don't miss the crackling crisp foccacia di Recco or butter- and cream-blasted mashed potatoes.
And just in time for 2014, we're announcing our new Barbecue! Bible Wiki. The goal is to make it nothing less than the world's most comprehensive encyclopedia of barbecuing, smoking, and grilling terms. This is a community effort so we need your help. Add to the lexicon with your own barbecue and grilling knowledge.
Steven Raichlen is the author of the Barbecue! Bible cookbook series and the host of Primal Grill on PBS. His web site is www.barbecuebible.com.