Black Tie Barbecue

1/20/2010

4/5 stars

Ok, I'm only reviewing the food aspect… Catering involves much, much more than just the food, so remember my focus.

I, too, sampled their cooking through the SugarComa lunch. You'll notice a bit of an echo chamber here. But there is one item worth emphasis: the chicken.

There's a saying that you can judge a chef by their roast chicken. I'll generalize a bit for Black Tie. The quality of roasted, grilled, or smoked chicken speaks volumes towards an attention to technique. It is very easy to pass off mediocre chicken. Spencer and Neil demonstrated their mastery (with the caveat that this is typical chicken[1]). The chicken was juicy and flavorful. The combination of brine, rub, and smoke was perfect, and they knew it. The chicken was served bare, without sauce. They were intent on showing off their skill. They were successful. I'm very curious about their pork.

Now add to the masterful chicken a delightful almond bok choi… They are clever using bok choi. It's in the cabbage family along with broccoli, kale, turnips, and cauliflower, but to my tastes it leans far towards the broccoli flavor with sauteed kale texture. Bok choi is not what a traditionalist would expect, but it serves as a great side to smoked and barbecued meats.

The salmon was quite good and tasted like salmon. I love salmon (Pacific (all of 'em) and Atlantic (well, not as much as Pacific)), so I'm glad the spice did not overwhelm the fish. And the salad also was quite good. The salad was very, um, California, in a good way.

So Black Tie took inspiration from both coasts and demonstrated flexibility and flavor to a sampling event. They chose their dishes very well. If they carry the same attention to detail over to catering gigs, I suspect Black Tie Barbecue will please.

[1] "Typical" in the sense that this is typical, farmed chicken . Chicken that can roam and eat bugs and grass has a different character, and many people raised thinking meat comes in styrofoam from the freezer section would object to atypical chicken. Also, it wouldn't be affordable…

Yelp tags: Barbeque Caterers