Review: Smoke Joint

Drinks with dinner at Smoke Joint on S. Elliott and Lafayette in Fort Greene.

Drunken Sow (bacon infused bourbon, bitters, dark brown sugar, and muddled orange):

Note: Have I mentioned how fucking awesome their pulled pork topped how dog is?? Best dog I’ve had... ever.

Bacon Beer

Sure, bacon and beer pair well together—or so I’ve heard. I don’t drink beer. Some good (or at least interesting) news for those of you Homer Simpson types who drool over both: Brooklyn Brewery is experimenting with a bacon infused beer. Yeah, I don’t know... bacon infused bourbon is pretty damn tasty but I’m a bit over bacon vodka. For those of you might prefer to have them separately, Jimmy’s No. 43 is having a bacon and beer tasting next Tuesday 8/18 with Josh Ozersky!

More Bacon & Bourbon

As you can see, there is no shortage of bacon and bourbon lovers out there. By far one of the coolest events I’ve been to... ever... in life.

Applewood smoked bacon samples being passed around while Josh Ozersky spoke of the importance of a 50/50 meat to fat ratio in bacon. He compared it to a well balanced meal in which “the fat is the meat and the meat is the vegetables.” Ozersky also recommends Benton’s bacon and his preferred method of cooking bacon is in the oven at 375°.

Scott Smith from RUB shares with us step-by-step his recipe for making BBQ Bacon Chunks—cured, triple smoked and deep fried in lard. Note to self: Eat at RUB very, very soon!

Bacon & Bourbon—a wildly successful pairing. Read more about the event here. And check out video from The Feedbag.

Bacon, King of Meats

This past Thursday, I attended the long-awaited Bacon and Bourbon Expo. Josh Ozersky (aka “Mr. Cutlets”) of Grub Street was our host. He began with a poem...

Bacon, King of Meats: The food all men desire
Perfumed by the aromas of the slowly smoldering fire

We gather in your honor, with bourbon or with beer
Two hundred souls collected for the thing they hold most dear

May your meat be bathed in smoke of one thousand fragrant logs
Created from the belly of obese and happy hogs

Redolent of hickory, with a cure as sweet as sin
You go places gastronomical, no sausage has ever been

All hail the mighty bacon! Whose scent inspires longing
Whose taste sets hearts afire and empty stomachs gnawing

Most precious of necessities, most beloved of all treats
From China to Peru, the undisputed King of Meats.

Please Don’t Wait

Last month I went to Please Don’t Tell to try their bacon-infused Benton’s Old Fashioned. I may have mentioned that reservations are hard to come by. A seat at the bar can be over an hour wait (although they will call your cell phone while you hang out in the neighborhood). My suggestion—make your own:

Dreams do come true!

The Astor Center NY invites you to “Sample premium American whiskies while tasting an array of tasty bacons, from artisanal producers including Nueske's, RUB, and other surprise VIP's from the world of smoked meats.” at the 2009 Bacon and Bourbon Expo. 

If you plan to go, use the promotion code "Citysearch" to save $20 on each ticket! 

I’m telling...

I enjoy bacon. I enjoy bourbon. So when I heard of a bacon-infused bourbon, I was very eager to make a reservation at PDT (Please Don't Tell) to try their Benton's Old Fashioned. PDT is a speakeasy style bar accessed through a phone booth inside Crif Dogs in the East Village. Unfortunately, I could not get a reservation and we had to wait about an hour for seats at the bar. It was well worth the wait. Although I didn't get a strong sense of bacon-ness from the drink it was still a very well-made, tasty cocktail in a pleasant and uncrowded atmosphere. A good reason to go back: the PDT specialty dogs menu. More specifically, the Chang dog—a bacon wrapped, deep fried Crif dog topped with Momofuku kimchi. I'll make reservations in advance next time...