Top Chef Las Vegas: The Season of Unlikable Contestants

Misfire on the casting this season, production crew. [Bottomless Chips]

Top Chef: Masters

I locked out on Top Chef: Masters for 95% of its original run. I was shocked that Bravo re-aired it the other weekend, but I finally watched and got hooked.

SPOILER

In last night's finale, Rick Bayless won. Bayless is the brother of ESPN's, Skip. I knew this for awhile, but watching Rick's humility, tact, and pleasantness in last night's finale made me laugh when juxtaposing him with his brother's demeanor.



Their family gatherings must be interesting. Skip, who I actually kind of like (Should I admit that? Isn't that blasphemy in the blogosphere?), frothing at the mouth over some issue, while the wise, older brother nods and smiles in a diffusing manner.

BBQ: Fette Sau

(I Googled, "Hipster BBQ" and got this.)

($26.00 total)

In the midst of pretentious breakfast spots and coffee shops in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a BBQ joint emerges from the ordinary.

Fette Sau, located on Metropolitan, has the hipster charm in its decor. You must walk through the outdoor picnic table seating and join the line to the "lunch counter." You order your meats by the pound, and they're piled onto a cafeteria tray lined with parchment.

Show up past 8:00p on a weekend and you'll wait for 30 minutes. You can admire the purposely dingy decor with hints of an old meatpacking warehouse. You can also order a mason jar of beer or a whiskey or bourbon with a nice, fat ice cube for the people like me who aren't 45 yet and need it watered down. This makes the wait go by faster, of course.

Anyway, the choices vary daily but the staples are the pork shoulder, brisket, pork belly, St. Louis-style ribs, Berkshire sausage and pastrami. I've been three times now and have been told that the cuts vary due to their meat purveyor. This kind of sucks as the pork belly has been noticeably different each time.

I went the other week--sober for once--and got the shoulder, brisket, pork belly, beans and potato salad.

The shoulder was dry. I re-hydrated it with the vinegar based sauce which I preferred over the tomato based one. The flavor of the vinegar sauce was average; I couldn't taste much more than some cumin. The flavor of the pork shoulder was okay, but the texture was harmed by the overcooking of the meat. As "bottom butt" is fatty, this is hard to do. However 30 fewer minutes and I think this would have been above average.

The brisket was flavorless. Cooked perfectly, the bark/crust was absent. The beef had a great beef flavor and I was happy with this overall. I used the tomato based sauce which was basically Hunt's ketchup. So not only was it a ketchup, it was a crappy ketchup taste.

Of the animal proteins, the highlight was the pork belly. I always order extra of this and bring it home to make a hash or use it as a side with eggs. It's always cooked perfectly; pork belly takes time to create a lush, tender finish. However the consistency of the flavor and seasoning has questionable at Fette Sau. On this visit, it was overly seasoned and overly smoked. The belly is a 4-hour smoke and it's a heavy smoke. It was indiscernible to me; I do know that many of the NYC BBQ joints use a New Jersey wood that has a hickory-like taste. Nonetheless, the pork belly was good.

The sides were ordinary. There's an absence of mac and cheese, greens, and another root vegetable on their menu. Most patrons I've seen, go with the baked beans and potato salad. The beans have a nice smoky taste with large chunks of the ends of the pork shoulder. The potato salad is woefully flavorless. It uses a whole-seed mustard based vinaigrette, and it omits any salt, pepper, and onion-y bite. They went with chives and went light on them. Scallions would make this an average side.

The rolls are potato rolls that are definitely straight from the Wonder Bread factory. Blah.

Considering its location, quality, and overall experience the price is right. You can pay $15-25 and fill your stomach.

Overall, due to its monopoly on the Brooklyn BBQ scene, I'm going to recommend this place. I'll go back and bring friends after a night of drinking, but on a relative-true-to-the-food-and-ignoring-the-fluff scale, Fette Sau is a C+.

(Brisket)

(Pork Belly)

(Whole Seed Potato Salad)

(Pulled Pork and Beans)

(The vicosity of the two sauces)