Having freshly returned from a road trip eating through the Texas Hill Country, I was excited to learn that the Solomonov, Cook, and O’Shea trio were opening a BBQ joint in Philly specializing in Texas’ finest. I am a fan of their restaurants from the byo Marigold’s Kitchen to the Aztec Xochitl to the upscale Israeli Zahav. In the pursuit of authenticity, the trio even took their staff (and an army of PR peeps) on a fact finding/learning trip through the Hill Country with a very nicely made promocumentary to prove. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXzkG_617F0)
Decorated in a modern rustic way, Percy Street is a much bigger restaurant than we expected. There is no cafeteria style picnic tables, no smoking room; but a large upscale bar, and table service. The only things that are distance reminders of the Texas linkage are the menu chalk board on the wall and the butcher paper placemats on the table.
“We don’t have Shiner Bock”
Huh?!?!
“It’s Texas BBQ, how can you not have Shiner beer? Any Longhorn, any Pearl?” I interrogated the waiter.
I applaud the restaurant for carrying all local brews but not having a single Texas beer is like Le Bec Fin only having PA wines and doing away with the French ones! (Picture: Menu chalk board and a nice view of the indoor smoker (the red thing) thought the kitchen window)
Everything was brought to us in a paper lined cafeteria tray. The meat looked delicious with sliced onions and pickles sprinkled throughout the tray. In keeping with the local Hill Country tradition, our waiter offered us slices of white bread with the meats. We graciously turned it down but I did ask him for cheese slices. He gave me a blank look. Never mind, I guess they didn’t get all the facts during the fact finding trip.
The brisket comes in moist, lean, or extra lean. We chose the moist. The flavors were a bit subtle with a nice pink ring around the meat. It tasted pretty good but the moist was not really that moist. I never understand nor know anybody who knowingly eats lean brisket. I cannot fathom that anybody would want the extra lean here. It would be like eating cardboard. I had a little trouble with the size of the slices themselves. They were sliced too thick and were also butterflied lengthwise and then widthwise. They looked more like midget finger food then beefy Texas brisket. Tourist Tree liked the ribs, however, I thought they were just OK. The meat was not off the bone tender and I thought it was a bit lacking in meatiness. They just didn’t wow me. The port belly was quite tender. It wasn’t overly laden with fat but it could have used a bit more flavor. It was nicely cooked but I didn’t think it was carrying enough BBQ flavor for it to be called BBQ. (Picture: Only a geek would wear a Longhorn shirt to a Texas BBQ place)
I enjoyed the coarse texture of the meat filling in the sausage which also had a nice balance of flavors. But it was served sliced! What! One of the biggest enjoyments of eating BBQ sausage is that excitement when you bite into the crispy skin with all the juice rushing into your mouth. Sliced! Where had all the juice gone? The skin wasn’t even crispy any more!
There was one other problem. All the meats, except the sausage, were lukewarm. They weren’t room temperature cold. They weren’t piping hot. They were just … lukewarm. I have heard of similar experiences from a few people who had dined there before. That was very peculiar. The restaurant was busy during our visit. There would be enough turnover in the kitchen so the meats were not just sitting around. I had a direct view of the kitchen window and could see that every meal was assembled to order and was brought out as soon as it was ready. Couldn’t the chef(s) tell the temperature of the meat when they touched it?
The best came last. The burnt ends were moist, meaty, tender, nicely smoked, carried a good flavor, and were warm. That was the clear winner for the night. All the meats were served dry with no sauce but a bottle was always less than an arm’s length away on the table. I didn’t like the sauce initially. I thought it was too sweet. Somehow, this sweet, tomato-y (with a little mustard?) sauce that had a spicy kick at the end had gained my trust during the meal.
I guess the bar would be the best illustration of this place. It’s pretty. It’s upscale. It had fancy Southern themed cocktails and some nice bottles of whiskey and bourbon but it did not carry a single beer from Texas.
My opinion, without doubt, would have been different if the food were served warmer, hence more flavorful; which leads to the question of whether the kitchen was executing to its full potential. We have been to Marigold’s Kitchen when Chef O’Shea was turning out plate after plate of culinary greatness. I was especially disappointed when I saw Chef O’Shea presiding in the Percy Street Kitchen with the less than technically ideal meal that we were eating, particularly with the side dishes outshining the main course. And what’s the deal with the meat all cut up for us? Do they think that it has to be dumbed-down so much because people in Philly do not know how to handle BBQ in its actual size? We all know how to use knives and forks, and we certainly know how to use our fingers!
Prices aside, this little slice of Texas in Philly has great potential, if it wants to be. However, considering the Hill Country is about 1,700 miles away; this is where I would go for a quick Texas fix. Now if the restaurant would put in as much effort in turning out the food as producing that cool video….
And get on the program! Get some Shiner Bock in the bar!
Posts
