(01/27/08)

The Joint

From the street, Fette Sau is a little imposing, with the locked high gate and barbed wire fence shielding the former autobody shop’s narrow outdoor corridor. Up close, Fette Sau is a treat for all of the senses. As soon as you walk in the door, you’ll hear the loud music, feel the heat and smell the smoke, and if you’re wearing glasses, they’ll fog up by your second step. As I wiped mine off, I took in my surroundings.

The seating consists of large communal picnic tables spread evenly throughout the large room and out into the walkway. Rising up to the high ceiling on the back wall are artful rendiions of the classic meat charts for pork, beef and lamb. The bar area, where you can order microbrews by the glass or by the jug and choose from more than 60 bourbons, has metal tractor seats for stools and an assortment of cleavers and other cutlery for tap handles. A "virtual fireplace" on a wide screen television, with real firewood beneath, adds an element of humor. It was only after the line passed through that I was able to see the market style display case. Here you can get a good look at ribs, butts and other barbecued meats that will be cut as ordered, weighed and sold by the pound.

The Menu

Before you advance far enough in line to see the meat offerings, the chalkboard menu apprises you of the choices, a subset (varying nightly) from the master menu. All of the pork items are from Berkshire pigs: Berkshire Boston butt, Berkshire pork ribs (babybacks or spares), Berkshire pork belly bacon and Berkshire pork sausage. Beef items include brisket, flank steak, ribs and "Akaushi" beef shoulder. Occasionally they have pig tails and leg of lamb. Chicken is a notable omission. Sides are limited: baked beans, German potato salad, broccoli salad and assorted pickles and potato chips.

The Visit

I joined a fellow barbecue judge and two members of a New York competition team for a Sunday night visit. When we arrived shortly after the 5:00PM opening, the line was fairly long and the joint filled up within the hour.

The Appetizers

There are no appetizers as such, but if the line length permits two separate trips, I'd recommend starting with the sausage and the pork belly.

The Meats

We shared a full rack of the Berkshire babyback ribs. These had a very dark, very thick bark from slow smoking and a liberal use of rub. The rub had a sweet, pleasing flavor that had hints of clove. The inside was bright pink, with a light smokiness more than balanced by the pure porkiness of the meat. Our rack was moist and juicy, although racks I saw later in the night looked a little less moist.

Some of the pieces of the bark-studded pulled pork shoulder were moist, some were a little dry, but all had a strong, pleasing pork flavor and light smokiness. What the pork shoulder may have lacked in moistness was made up by the pork belly bacon that gushed pork fat at first bite. The crisp outside was also a nice carrier for the rub. The heaviness of the meat makes it something you probably shouldn’t have too much of, but some careful segregating of the meat from the fat yielded tasty pork goodness.

Beef brisket was sliced fairly thick, with a blackened bark that mimicked the other meats. The flavor of the brisket wasn’t as rub-intensive as the pork, and though moist, it wasn’t as juicy. Still, I’d place this brisket in the top third of those I’ve tried. Beef shoulder was much juicier, with a good ratio of fat to meat. Although I really liked the flavor, I found the texture a little tough. The larger cut on our neighbor's table looked perfect.

Sausage had an unusual red color and a texture closer to a hot dog than typical sausage. The inside was juicy and tasty.

The Sauces

The sauces seem to be one of the most criticized aspects of Fette Sau in early reviews, but I had no problem with the three offerings in squeeze bottles on the table. One is a typical commercial-style sauce, one is a much fruitier batch (cherry, I thought) with significant heat, and there’s a Carolina style sauce that’s mostly vinegar. I liked the hot sauce on the ribs and the vinegar on the pulled pork (the only meat that needed the sauce).

The Sides

I liked the generous serving of German potato salad, which was well lubricated without being wet and—uncharacteristic of German potato salads—as savory as it was sweet. The burnt ends baked beans had plenty of meat, but were a little too tomatoey for my liking. We didn’t try the broccoli salad, but it looked fresh and fairly straightforward. Overall I’d say that sides are a weakness here, more so from lack of selection than lack of execution. Because the bar is such a strength, I’d like to see some additional sides that could double as bar snacks.

Other Thoughts

Fette Sau is the first of the German style “BBQ market” restaurants to hit New York City, predating Hill Country by about three months. Unlike Hill Country, Fette Sau isn’t attempting to recreate a specific Texas joint; on the contrary and to its credit, Fette Sau strikes me as very original and very New York. On the other hand, Fette Sau's lines don't move nearly as quickly as Hill Country's, with only one person taking and assembling the orders (Hill Country uses four to six employees for this). The food? It all comes down to what you feel like having that night.

The bottom line: Fette Sau has a lot going for it: good to very good barbecue meats with a killer rub, a rotating menu, a great bar atmosphere and a comfortable place to hang. I’d like to see a little more moisture in some of the meats, a little more variety in the sides and a little more speed in the service, but this joint easily ranks right up there among my top five for New York City. I was really looking forward to my first visit to Fette Sau, but I think I’m looking forward to my second visit even more.

other opinion/info:

New York magazine's Fette Sau profile

Free Williamsburg's Fette Sau Profile

Robert Sietsema's review of Fette Sau in Village Voice

Gastro Chic's post on Fette Sau