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“Fatty 'Cue”

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

marts of Rego Park native and former Hill Country pit master Robbie Richter, and the skills of chef Andrew Pressler, to massage his signature Malay and pan-Asian flavors onto the world of traditional American barbecue. The mash up is brilliant.

Aside from the perfume that comes from the tall steel hickory smokers, you'd never guess you were in a barbecue restaurant. The place is blessedly free of the typical hillbilly accoutrements-bric a brac, license plates, ball jars, butcher paper, taxidermy, that sort of thing. Fatty ‘Cue is built like a dark saloon from slabs of rough wood (floors, bar), wrought iron (windows, doors), and pressed tin (floor-to-ceiling on the walls), with soft low lights and the sounds of blues and classic rock piped into all three rooms. Nods to Asia come only from the table settings: chopsticks and those colorful Asian dinner plates often found at dim sum houses. In terms of the crowd, you'll find the usual Williamsburg suspects-scruffy men with overgrown beards in their summer flannel (read: flannel worn in summer), and pretty petite women with bangs dressed in vintage tees, skinny jeans, and Chuck Taylors. They'll be waiting at the bar where cocktails are taken seriously and where watermelon and lime juices are mixed with the likes of chili-smoked tequila to deliriously delicious effect. These sorts of cocktails are worth the trip alone. But since you are there, you might as well eat.

The pit masters work outside under the glow of the Manhattan Bridge--a green BQE sign lit up under the moon--smoking locally and sustainably raised meats until seriously saturated with flavor. The dipping sauces, sweet spicy pastes, and curried soups are nice garnishes, but this is food you can eat naked and still enjoy whole heartedly. Take the Fazio Farm Red Curry Duck ($19), a crispy skinned bird hacked into neat quarters for ease of sharing, served with a little soup cup of red curry sauce. I was peeling the hot sweet-smoky meat from the bone with my fingers for several minutes before I even went in for a dip into that brick red smoked curry. Sure that curry was good (I double dipped), but the duck is so tender and rich with flavor that it is fine on its own. I find that so often barbecue is all about the sauce smothering, but it's just not so at Fatty ‘Cue. Here the meat can take it or leave it.

I had the same experience with the Brandt Farm Beef Brisket ($19), a Robbie Richter signature from his ... [more, click below]

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Posted: June 4, 2010

Other restaurants in Brooklyn :
+ Chickenbone Cafe-- Closed   + Pier 116-- Closed   + Chestnut   + Lunch at Peter Luger's   + 360   + Palo Santo   + The Good Fork   + Porchetta-- Closed Now   + Bocca Lupo   + Flatbush Farm   + DuMont Burger   + Dressler   + Farm on Adderley   + The Grocery   + Saul   + Black Mountain Wine House   + The General Greene   + Char No. 4   + James   + Chestnut   + No. 7   + Vinegar Hill House   + Motorino   + Buttermilk Channel   + Buttermilk Channel   + Vutera   + Watty & Meg    + Prime Meats   + Aqualis Grill   + Jack the Horse Tavern   + Roman's   + Fatty 'Cue   + Thistle Hill Tavern   + Broken English   + Trix, by Dara Pollak   + An Ode to New Orleans in Williamsburg: Maison Premiere, By Dara Pollak   + Brooklyn Wok Shop by Dara Pollak   + Arthur on Smith   + La Vara   + Gran Electrica   + Pok Pok Ny   + Ganso    + Reynard   

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