Big Apple BBQ day one: let's eat some ribs

June 15, 11:17 AMNY Barbecue ExaminerChris Black

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The hungry, happy crowd at the Big Apple BBQ, Madison Square Park (Photos by Chris Black)

If you found yourself near Madison Square Park in Manhattan this weekend, you probably detected a hint of char in the air. On Saturday and Sunday the seventh annual Big Apple BBQ Block Party rolled into town. With it came a cavalcade of meat.

Barbecue draws a crowd, and it seems like the city's appetite for pit-fired food grows stronger every year. The block party started small back in 2003, but now it's a full-blown culinary happening. Hungry fans braved hour-long lines to get a taste of ribs, pork, brisket, and sides from all corners of the barbecue map.

There was a lot of meat to eat, but over two days I got a pretty delicious sampling. To start, I went straight for the ribs. Here's how they measured up, favorites first:

The best of the bunch were from Baker's Ribs in Dallas. Pitmaster Joe Duncan has a handful of restaurants in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area. I didn't know if they would measure up to Texas legends like Black's BBQ and Kreuz Market, but these St. Louis-style ribs were stellar. Meaty, peppery, charred on the ends, the pork still had a satisfying chew after its time in the smoker. A light dash of Baker's tangy tomato and vinegar sauce went great with the meat, great enough that I bought a bottle to take home.

The ribs came with a pile of jalapeño coleslaw, easily my favorite side of the weekend. A little heat, a little creaminess, and a crisp bite to the cabbage -- I lost track of my fork in the excitement, but I was happy to scoop up the slaw with my fingers.

Over at his blog, The Feedbag, Joel Ozersky offered some sensible advice for barbecue fans living in New York: don't spend your precious block party time sampling the New York offerings. It's a great rule of thumb -- there's something hilarious about waiting in line for Hill Country brisket when you're a block away from Hill Country -- but I made an exception for the baby back ribs from Rack and Soul.

I knew from a trip to Harlem that Rack and Soul serves up a mean plate of chicken and waffles. The ribs, though, were even better. The meat was ringed with smoke, just burnt on the edges, and brushed with a sweet barbecue sauce. Like the ribs from Baker's, these were tender but not falling apart. I'm a real sucker for that chew.

By the middle of the afternoon, the Rack and Soul tent had been hit hard and was out of beans. I was not disappointed to have a meat-only plate.

I was pretty pumped to try the Memphis Championship baby backs from 17th Street Bar and Grill. They were good, but the least exciting of the day. You could tell the meat was smoked with love -- the texture was spot on, the smokiness there -- but the plate suffered from a little too much sweet. Sweet sauce and sweet beans combined for a case of molasses-mouth. A little heat would have gone a long way.

By the end of day one, I had eaten so many ribs that I saw burnt ends when I closed my eyes. Luckily I had a whole day to get hungry again. Day two promised sausage and sandwiches...