Food & Drink

By Robert Haynes-Peterson

a high-end barbecue spot in Austin, NYC or LA offering the best-of-the-best tri-tip or slow-cooked brisket—boasting the perfect char and a juicy smoke ring—alongside an extensive menu of rare bourbons and ryes.

But it wasn’t always the case: As little as 15 years ago, even great destination BBQ was largely relegated to bare-bones neighborhood spots, served on paper plates alongside a cold beer. Nothing wrong with that. But now the world has opened wide. “I love the American whiskeys, and I love them with barbecue,” says chef Aaron Robbins, owner of Boneyard Bistro in LA. Robbins insists that good BBQ has always been a luxury product of a sort: “It’s protein, often with bones: There’s nothing cheap about it. It’s been served at the White House for 100 years. What’s changed in recent years is a recognition that these two innately American traditions have similar roots: They’re handcrafted products that require time (around 24 hours for great ’cue and two years or more for great whiskey), and they both depend on the influence of wood to bring out their natural flavors, infusing notes of caramel, oak and spice. They’re also highly adaptable. Grilled meats are a staple of Japanese and Korean cuisines, and whiskey is produced around the world. Kyu (pronounced “cue”), a popular Japanese-American grill in Miami, bills itself as “Asia Meets Austin.” Chef/Owner Michael Lewis said that moving into the demanding Miami market (where barbecue was taking off), he and his partners decided, “Why can’t we do both—the Asian flavors everyone loves with the old-school American slow-cooking techniques?” You’ll find inventive offerings like Duck Breast Burnt Ends (chase with the bourbon and amaro-fueled No Figgity No Doubt cocktail).

Closer to home, prolific Cleveland chef Zack Bruell is equally enthusiastic. At Alley Cat in the Flats, his East Bank cocktail (Watershed Bourbon, apricot liqueur, fresh lemon juice, pomegranate and a splash of Angostura bitters) is a great partner to the BBQ pork steak entree. A few miles away, the alchemists at Cleveland Whiskey fastage bourbon in handmade barrels, going far beyond the traditional oak. “It’s hard to make a barrel out of hickory, black cherry, or honey locust that doesn’t leak like a sieve,” they joke, “but not impossible.”