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“Hill Country”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Barbecue	Flatiron	Moderate	Great

e in that relic of a pastime, something called a conversation. You’ll finish your beer and have another. More conversation will flow.

While you’re conversing, you’ll look around. You’ll notice the rough hewn wood flooring, the vintage Cola signs, the stacks of chopped wood heading for the smokers, and the walls hung with big black and white photos of Lockhart’s original barbecue pitmasters. You’ll say something really clever and unique as I did the other night, like, “Wow, this place is awesome.”

 

Kudos for the look of the place goes to designer Garrett Singer who’s used all sorts of reclaimed materials to turn Hill Country into a dusty old rough and tumble joint that makes you feel like a horse named Silver might be tied up outside for your ride home. The place is accented with black iron, limestone, and leather, and built from Southern pine and oak wood, filled with heavy old butcher blocks, farm tables topped with ball jars of silverware, and a retro 1950s ice box as beverage case. Though some in my group thought it bordered on theme park, to me it doesn’t feel staged, it feels authentic and true.

The bulk of the thanks for the authenticity should go to owner Marc Glosserman and his pitmaster Robbie Richter, a barbecue-circuit champ, certified Kansas City Barbecue Society Judge, a fierce Texas Hold ‘Em competitor, and a sweetheart with a huge amount of passion for the art of the ‘cue. Interestingly, Robbie hails not from Texas, but from the Rego Park section of Queens, where he grew up on backyard barbecues. (I am from Rego Park too, and it turns out we actually grew up a few blocks from one another.) His co-chef, Elizabeth Karmel, a North Carolina native and author of Taming of the Flame: Secrets to Hot and Quick Grilling and Low and Slow BBQ, is in charge of sides, a tough position to be in considering the barbecue is some of the best I’ve ever had. It’s sort of like being seated next to Jessica Alba, Angelina, Beyonce, or some other flawless form of human. It’s kind of useless to compete.

But some sides do hold their own. (Hot sides come in three sizes—good eatin ($4.50), heapin helping ($8.50) and feed yer family ($16); cold sides are $3.95, $7.50, and $14.) Deviled Eggs are perfect—sp ... [more, click below]

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Posted: July 2, 2007

Other restaurants in Flatiron :
+ Suenos   + Amuse-- Closed   + Dos Caminos   + Lucy-- Closed   + Gramercy Taver   + Veritas   + Fleur De Sel   + Bolo -- CLosed   + City Bakery   + Shake Shack   + Kalustyan's Cafe   + Devi   + BLT Fish   + Sugarcane   + BLT Prime   + Barca 18-- CLOSED   + Beppe   + Barbounia   + Boqueria   + Eleven Madison   + Lonesome Dove-- CLOSED   + Hill Country   + Olana   + Wildwood   + Primehouse   + Allegretti   + Bar Breton   + Aldea   + SD26 by Bao Ong   + ABC Kitchen   + Ciano   + The NoMad   

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