NYC BBQ Weekly: All Hail the New Rib King of NYC
Sruli “Izzy” Eidelman of Izzy's Brooklyn Smokehouse won over the judges at Rib King NYC with his kosher Asian beef back ribs.
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At last week’s Rib King NYC event, hundreds of barbecue fans showed up to try ribs from 10 different pitmasters and chefs, despite torrential rain and strong storms. While there was a variety of ribs, beef won over the judges and crowds more than pork.
The overall winner of the event was Sruli “Izzy” Eidelman of Izzy’s Brooklyn Smokehouse, a previous winner of the Brisket King NYC. Eidelman served kosher Asian beef back ribs, something not seen on the menu at his restaurant. Ironically enough, the Rib King trophy that he won resembled pork ribs, which Eidelman can’t eat because they aren’t kosher.
For People’s Choice, the award went to Gentle Giant Brewing Company’s Matt Worgul and Alex Recchia from Rockland County, New York. They served traditional beef ribs that were juicy and perfectly prepared. The dish clearly connected with the audience because it won by a landslide.
Runner up honors, which were called “Bad to the Bone,” went to Robert Austin Cho of Kimchi Smoke in Westwood, New Jersey. Cho served Chinese-style pork ribs, which were a little different from his best-known Korean-style ribs that he serves at his restaurant. Cho was recently named the People’s Choice at Brisket King NYC 2019, showing he is a force to be reckoned with at any competition.
The award for “Best Traditional” at the event went to Mable’s Smokehouse in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which served St. Louis-style pork ribs that were topped with homemade barbecue sauce. The award for “Most Creative” went to Pig Beach NYC for its Lebanese-style pork spare ribs topped with white sauce that is inspired by the kind you might find at The Halal Guys. The award for “Best Presentation” went to the Rub It Til It Smokes team from New Jersey, which served pork ribs with Al Pastor seasonings with a side of pineapple, pickle, and micro corn muffin.
Other great dishes at the event included traditional St. Louis style ribs from Morgan’s Brooklyn Barbecue and Hill Country Barbecue Market, pork spare ribs with jalapeno and honey BBQ sauce from Cash Only BBQ, and the kosher sticky lamb rib banh mi from Wandering Que’s Ari White.
All in all, it was a great event and one we can’t wait to put on next year in an even bigger way. Thank you to everyone who participated and attended. If you’d like to read more about the highlights and see more photos, read my full wrapup of Rib King NYC 2019 here.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Sean Ludwig
Founder, NYC BBQ
EAT ALL ABOUT IT
Mothership Meat Company in Long Island City landed on Eater NY's list of essential barbecue restaurants. (Photo by Sean Ludwig)
Here are the top BBQ and food stories in the New York area this week:
Eater NY has released a new edition of its list of NYC’s Essential Barbecue Restaurants. The list is made up of the usual suspects (including Hometown Bar-B-Que in Brooklyn and Hill Country in Manhattan) but also adds in the new Mothership Meat Company in Long Island City.
We love a good burger and so does Gothamist’s Scott Lynch. He says that the burger at East Village bar Black Emperor serves one of the best burgers in the city.
Brothers Barbecue, a popular barbecue joint in New Windsor, New York, will soon open a second location off of Rt 17 in Ramsey, New Jersey.
It’s a little bit of a hike from NYC, but if you’re nearby Allentown, Pennsylvania this weekend, the 12th edition of the Allentown Blues, Brews & Barbecue Festival will be taking place. The headliner will be Brandon “Taz” Neiderauer, the 16-year-old guitarist who starred on Broadway in the show “School of Rock.”
In a final piece of weird news this week, Eater NY reports that a Brooklyn Burger King location has been selling Impossible Whoppers online but then sending regular Whoppers instead without notifying customers. Vegetarians who ate the regular Whoppers are justifiably upset. The meatless Impossible Whoppers have not landed at NYC locations yet, but we will likely get them later this year.
IRL BBQ
The NYC Bacon and Beer Classic will celebrate bacon and beer in Brooklyn this weekend.
Here are the top BBQ (and related) food events coming soon to the New York metro area:
June 8: The NYC Bacon and Beer Classic 2019 will take place at the Brooklyn Mirage and will celebrate two of the best things in life: bacon and beer. Over 50 local restaurants will be serving bacon-inspired dishes and local breweries will be pouring over 100 craft beers. Buy tickets here.
June 8: Over in Jersey City, Hamilton Pork (one of Jersey’s best BBQ joints) and Hamilton Inn are hosting its Annual Block Party where there will be lots of food, drinks, and games for families. More info here.
June 8: Gentle Giant Brewing Company, which recently won the People’s Choice award at Rib King NYC 2019, will be hosting a giant Pig Roast Event on Saturday day at its location in Rockland County. More info here.
June 21-23: The Saratoga Balloon and BBQ Festival will take place in, you guessed it, Saratoga, New York. The event will feature BBQ from six national vendors, and there will also be draft beers from New Belgium Brewery, spirits from Black Button Distilling, and more. In addition to BBQ, there will be hot air balloon launches, live entertainment, a kids zone, a festival marketplace, and more. More info here.
July 5-7: Just after the fourth of July, the I Love BBQ and Music Festival 2019 will be revving up in Lake Placid, New York. This is a large event that attracts barbecue enthusiasts from all around the Tri-state area. Not only are there Kansas City Barbeque Society competitions happening on-site, but there are also lots of food and drink vendors for the public to eat and drink well while watching lots of live music. More info here.
July 12-14: The New Jersey State Barbecue Championship will not only be about competition, but will also have live cooking demonstrations and music throughout the weekend. Sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society, the NJ champ will have the opportunity to compete at the American Royal later this year. Details about the weekend here.
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