If this is July Fourth, this must be Daddy D’z. We joined the throngs there Saturday for the ribs. They were unusually good. The fat on many of them had turned crispy, forming virtual chicharrones. Collards, mac and cheese and coleslaw perfect, as usual.
(Photo by Cliff Bostock)
NEW 'CUE: The combo plate at D.B.A. Barbecue
Let’s go ahead. Let’s commit foodie suicide, Southern-style. Let’s express opinions about barbecue, the stuff that provokes more manly passions than guns and breasts. And let’s talk about effete intown barbecue!
Everyone knows that the once-popular Dusty’s on Briarcliff Road has closed. When it opened, 27 years ago, it was a complete novelty in Atlanta because it served ‘cue in the style of eastern North Carolina. That means the sauce was untainted by ketchup, featuring mainly vinegar and varying degrees of hot pepper. Since I spent a good bit of my childhood in Charlotte, I loved the place.
But I quit going to Dusty’s when its flavors made a decided turn toward the sweeter Georgia-style. I wasn’t alone in my observation and complaints about this, and I’m not sure if the restaurant ever returned to its roots.
Continue reading “Grazing: First Look: D.B.A. Barbecue”
(Photo by James Camp)
Daddy D’z in Grant Park is serving a special New Year’s Day plate today with pork, collard greens and black eyed peas. We stopped in to get our New Year’s Day luck on. The pork was smoky, tender and delicious as always, but some of the sides seemed to have changed quite a bit since my last visit, probably about six months ago. The collards didn’t seem as balanced and tangy, and the mac and cheese was less fluffy and cheesy, and more greasy. Even the sauce seemed a little different to me – sweeter, less tangy and not as spicy. But I still say they know how to handle pork better than anyone else in town, and the atmosphere makes me happy every time.
(photo by James Camp)
STEAK IT OR LEAVE IT: The Kansas City strip steak
Last week, Our Fearless Leader finally uttered the “r” word: recession. Never mind that anyone who has rolled a cart in a grocery store or coasted to a gas pump has known the word has been applicable for months. Now it’s an official part of reality. We’ve been in a recession for a year.
Given that, it’s surprising that restaurants, especially higher-end restaurants, continue to open. My bank account says “burger,” not “steak,” so it felt almost decadent to show up at a new steakhouse last week. Parker’s on Ponce (116 E. Ponce de Leon Ave., 404-924-2230) is located in the former Mick’s building across from the courthouse in downtown Decatur.
The restaurant seems huge – all restaurants look huge to me these days, owing to their epidemic emptiness – but Parker’s space is broken up into several dining rooms. We ate in the front room, where a few other tables were seated.
It’s been years since I was in the building, so I’m not sure how much remodeling has occurred. The space is warmly lit, almost minimalist in décor, and features a few glowing fireplaces. I saw my first Christmas decorations of the year here – a few poinsettias and a silvery stocking.
Our server gave us the scoop. The restaurant, more than a year in planning, has been opened by brothers JT and Chris Scott, who earlier worked at Mick’s. (They are the sons of the late Tom Scott, DeKalb County’s longtime tax commissioner.) Chef is David Hartshorn, who earlier was the chef at Einstein’s in Midtown. (more…)
I picked up a late dinner from Daddy D’z (264 Memorial Dr., 404-222-0206) in Grant Park Monday night. Owner Ron Newman pointed at a billboard across the street that advertises the new film, Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns. The movie includes scenes filmed at Daddy D’z last year.
Newman was a little bummed that his popular barbecue joint is renamed “Bibs and Ribs” in the movie. No kidding. What a repulsively cutesy name. I haven’t seen the movie, but I’ve read a few reviews. If they are accurate, Daddy D’z is a much better experience than Bibs and Ribs. In other words: the movie appears to be bombing.
We got our Labor Day barbecue fix at Daddy D’z in Grant Park and I noticed this sign on the window next to our table. I’d love to see this sign in every restaurant and retail store in the city.
What is it with people who stand at cash registers blathering about the minutiae of their life while a clerk tries to ring them up? And what is the point of sitting at a restaurant table and delivering a monologue to neighboring tables? A friend tells me he was lunching at the bar at Taqueria del Sol recently and the woman next to him conducted a lengthy conversation on her cell phone that nobody could avoid hearing.
Why can’t ordinarily sensible people understand that this kind of behavior is rude? Shut up and eat!
