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The Shaved Duck is Still Flying High

June 29, 2017

The Shaved Duck has the corner on BBQ at Virginia and Pestalozzi

It’s summer and the grills and smokers in the backyards across the country are firing up. But local grill masters have lots of competition from award-winning BBQ joints like Pappy’s, Bogart’s, Vernon’s, the Capitalist Pig, Hendrick’s, Salt and Smoke and The Shaved Duck. St. Louis ranks up there with Memphis, the Carolinas, Kansas City and Austin, when it comes to finger lickin’ barbecue.

Duck into The Shaved Duck for BBQ

I had lunch recently at one of the city’s premier porcine parlors: The Shaved Duck. The name reminded me of a place I ate in Beijing more than thirty years ago. They served duck parts exclusively, from feet to feathers. Well, maybe not the feathers, but nothing much was wasted. It was located near a hospital and called The Sick Duck, which showed a sense of humor even during those bleak times in China.

While this St. Louis BBQ joint at the corner of Virginia and Pestalozzi may have a ducky name, their menu is mainstream American rustic. Though I noticed, that true to their name, they had several duck items on the menu: a duck confit with Mozzarella and a sweet bourbon drizzle. Another was poached in duck fat and served over greens in cider molasses.

The Tower Grove location, that was once a neighborhood grocery store, now serves a more far reaching clientele.

The doorway to good comfort food

Tall Orders, Big Flavor

Our server was unusually enthusiastic about the offerings and suggested we try the smothered fries.

“Smothered in what?” I asked.

She licked her lips and began. “Well, there’s pulled pork, cheese sauce, green onions, peppers, smoked tomatoes and jalapenos. It’s really wonderful! One of our signature dishes.”

We were convinced. For an entree, my friend, Laura, got the Baby Back Ribs, house rubbed and smoked with cherry wood (for color) and glazed. I went with the much-touted meatloaf with root beer glaze, though the Shrimp and Grits was calling my name. As it turned out, the smothered fries could have been a meal by itself. With little hope of cleaning our plates, we agreed to take home any leftovers. We soldiered on, happily engaged in culinary research.

As we watched the place fill up, we felt fortunate to be there for lunch on a weekday rather than a Friday or Saturday, when it’s best to make a reservation. Outside seating is available now, but indoors there’s only 15 tables, holding around 50 diners, plus the bar waiting area.

House-cut frites (the vegetarian option shown here), includes homemade cheese sauce, smoked jalapenos, Brussels sprout leaves, mixed peppers, onions, and smoked tomatoes. (The meat version comes with pulled pork and rib meat atop)

Recalibrate your palate for these wickedly delicious ribs.

Shaved Duck Meatloaf with Root Beer Glaze—classy comfort food.

A comfortable decor, full plates, and happy diners.

The small but efficient bar offers an array of local and national craft beers.

National Recognition Comes Early

Alastair “Ally” Nisbet, owner of the Scottish Arms, refurbished the one-time Tower Grove grocery store back in 2008. Since then he’s gained both area and national acclaim. In 2012 Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives showed up to film the kitchen in action. A couple years late the place was featured in Johnny Friggit’s 100 Best BBQ Restaurants in America and gained top award for their Burnt Ends.

On The Shaved Duck website Nisbet writes, “We cut no corners and we love what we do.” Then he leaves us with with this mission statement: “Good Folk, Fresh BBQ and Honest, Soulful Food.” In keeping with that goal, the kitchen cooks from scratch, even making their own bacon. And they fire their ovens with cherry and hickory woods for just the right color and unique smoky flavor. With so many dishes yet to try, I foresee several more visits in the immediate future.

Guy Fieri during his 2012 filming for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. See clips of show here and here.

The Shaved Duck, 2900 Virginia at the Corner of Virginia and Pestalozzi in Tower Grove. Open: Mon 11a-9p; Tues-Fri 11a-10p; Sat 11a-10p; Closed Sunday. Best to make reservations for Fridays and Saturdays.

Pappy’s Smokehouse Ribs: A Cut Above

March 10, 2017

If you see this sign, you must be standing in line at Pappy’s Smokehouse, where they serve Memphis-style BBQ. In the barbecue pit wars, Zagat ranked Pappy’s among the Ten Best Barbecue Restaurants in America.

Pappy’s Smokehouse has been around St. Louis since 2008. But each time I’ve gone there to eat, there’s been a line down the hall, out the door, and around the corner. I finally gave up. Then this week my friend Laura and I were on a lark. She mentioned not having been to Pappy’s for a spell. When she heard I’d never been there, well, our lunch destination was determined, even though it meant a 20 minute drive.

The Taste of Barbecue

First, let me say, I’m not an authority on barbecue. I think barbecue is a matter of individual taste and geography. Some like Memphis-style, or Texas or Kansas City-style. Each area has a subset of followers like Kansas City has fans of Bryants, Gates, Jack Stack or Joe’s. But the polls tells us that there’s agreement on one thing: Tennessee, Texas and Missouri (in that order) are the titans of American barbecue.

The big board at Pappy’s Smokehouse

Serious lunch time crowd at Pappy’s

Only a Short Line!

It was Wednesday and past the lunch hour, so we drove over to Pappy’s. As luck would have it, there was a parking spot just outside the back door and the line of some 30 people didn’t form until well inside the building.

I viewed the overhead sign that reminded me that I was in an award-winning establishment; the aroma was an even better indicator. A server handed out menus as we neared another sign. The message from Pappy read: “You Should Know What You Want to Order by Now. It’s All Good!” Yep, the place definitely had some experience in crowd management.

Enjoying my platter of pulled pork and baked potato

A half slab of well-smoked ribs

Pulled pork with Pappy’s Smokehouse sauce served on a pillow of white bread

At the register, I selected the pulled pork platter with two sides, though you only get one side dish if you go with the baked potato—and I did. Laura got the half slab of dry-rubbed ribs with potato salad and the tangy, vinegar-based coleslaw.

I gave my name to the checker and sat down in one of the wooden booths. The music was upbeat, but not overly loud. As I looked around, I was surprised that about 90% of the people having lunch were men: blue collar, white collar, no collar guys of all ages. Laura and I concluded that barbecue with all the trimmings might not be the lunch of choice for most women.

As the lunch hour winds down

The award-winning, Memphis-style barbecue comes from slow smoking meats up to 14 hour over sweet apple or cherry wood.

Within minutes, a server showed up with our order. How she knew I was “Jean,” I’ll never know. Maybe they wrote down, “Old woman in lavender fleece,” or it could’ve been the ratio of men to women that made it easy to pick us out.

The pulled pork was undressed—or as they say in the trade, served dry—leaving you the option of choosing from a quartet of house-made sauces. There was Pappy’s Original, tangy with a peppery kick; Jane’s Kansas City-style, sweet and tangy; Holly’s Texas-style hot; and one called Hoodoo that’s muy caliente. I tried the first three and liked them all.

The baked potato was perfectly cooked, though the butter was hard to get out of the tiny, dime-size packets. As is typical in barbecue joints, everything comes in disposable wrappers: salt, pepper, butter, sour cream, sugar. But barbecue aficionados could care less. They’re looking for the bark on that brisket or the pink smoke ring on those ribs.

A Heap of Awards

In the world of competitive barbecue, Pappy’s has “smoked” their rivals in the porcine playoffs. The Travel Channel included Pappy’s in its “101 Tastiest Places to Chow Down in America.” And the Smokehouse basks in reviews from St. Louis to New York. Pappy’s is good and they know it. But that doesn’t mean they rest on their laurels. Servers, and even co-owner Mike Emerson, are out there asking customers if they’re happy with the food. From the looks of faces, fingers, and plates, they are. I know we were.