Brian's "Indy 500"

The HCM staff was going for a ride around Lake Washington when we happened to come across a little road side BBQ down on Rainier Ave, so we pulled over and sampled some of their meat. Five bucks bought me a couple ribs with Brian's home made sauce from Indiana.

1. Gear. It was a rather deluxe charcoal grill. It had a knob for raising and lowering the coals. 1.5 points.

2. Quality of Meat. My ribs were quite good. Not "blow your mind good" like Brock's smoked-for-7-hours ribs, but I did appreciate his special recipe for the sauce - kinda sweet and mild on the heat. Indianapolis style, we were told. And he had a good variety of beef, pork, chicken and links. 2 points.

3. Alcohol. No alcohol, just water and soda. But damn a beer would have been good. 0 points.

4.Side dishes. White bread. Somehow it was perfect. 1 point.

5. Crowd. We didn't really hang out too long, and it wasn't really a party, but Brian's five kids were playing in the lot. I gathered that Brian owned the hair styling place next door and a few of his customers were milling around. 2 points.

6. Music. Just the sound of traffic. 1 point.

7. Setting. Brian was set up next door to his Barber shop business right on Rainier Ave. just South of Fil and Carries place. It was basically an empty lot but it was perfect... 2 point.

8. Dessert. Just the Peanut Butter Clif Bar we carried with us. 0 points.

9. Did we like you? Hell, yeah. He and his buddies seemed nice enough. We talked briefly about how much Evel Kneivel kicked ass. "I don't care if you're black or white or whatever. Everyone likes Evel Kneivel. Evel Kneivel's a bad motherfucker." The concept of karma came up, but again, this wasn't a party, so we didn't really get to socialize as much as we wanted to. 2 points.

And that brings us to 11.5 out of 18, which may not seem like much, but I was very happy with my food and I would encourage any of you to pull over and grab a quick rib for the road, the training food of champions.

Fil and Carrie -- June 7, 2008

Fil and Carrie's party this past weekend featured a surprise guest! Earlier in the week, Carrie had invited Ben to come up from Arizona to her party but she didn't realize Ben was already scheduled to be here for a course. The look on Carrie's face was priceless.

As usual, Fil and Carrie put on a great spread and great fun was had.

1. Check out this gear.
Stainless steel, triple burner, heavy duty knobs. This is a quality grill. 2 points.

2. Quality of Meat. Solid Barbecue fair, with variety. Spicy sausage, beef ribs, a few burgers. This evaluator appreciates good meat but encourages branching out a bit more. 1 point.

3. Alcohol. Beer and wine, and lots of it. The party would have scored 1 point, but The Doctor's first taste of ice wine pushed it over the top. 2 points.

4. Side dishes. Our hosts really shined here. Home made pasta salad with artichoke hearts, spinach salad. Excellent variety of chips. Bravo. 2 points.



5. Crowd. As expected, all the cool cats in Seattle were at Carrie and Fil's, and some unexpected faces. Besides Ben, there was the return of both Sundi and Georgio, several of Carrie's coworkers and all the usual lovely party people. 2 points.



6. Music. Sound system consisted of a laptop and powered speakers, more than ample for the condo. Fil was in control of the sounds but loses a point for letting guests take over later in the evening. Sorry. 1 point.

7. Setting. Now, everyone knows Carrie and Fil have the swankest pad in Rainier Valley. Large balcony, lovely water view. Too bad it was ruined by rain. One may argue the fairness of deducting points for weather, but it's all part of the physical environment of a good barbecue. Those are the breaks in Seattle. Or you could fly all your friends to Maui. 1 point.

8. Dessert. Chocolate cake. Home made coconut cream pie. Our hosts didn't actually bake these, but they still get 2 points for having awesome friends who can throw down a pie.


9. Did we like you? Come on it's Carrie and Fil, our favorite people. They were graceful, relaxed, and fun. One million points.

Ok, adding it up, we get 15 out of 18. That's a hell of a score for a hell of a party. Thanks you two, we had a great time!

Brock & Andrea

Ok, I have to start by saying I missed most of this barbecue after being ambushed by Dutch people at the last minute. I understand this is piss-poor form on my part and we probably should have given Brock and Andrea a bye this week but ultimately we decided that our failure to acknowledge Brock's amazing ribs and Andrea's fabulous garden would do a disservice to the barbecuing community everywhere. This meat sets the standard.

1. Look at this smoker.


We just don't see enough people willing to go beyond the gas grill and when we see it done with such skill as Brock, it fills our hearts with love and reminds us why we got into the barbecue review business. 2 points.

2. Quality of meat.

Slow roasted pork ribs. Sauce made from scratch. I didn't actually get to taste these but I almost prefer to let the flavor of these ribs live on in my mind, in the fantasy I created around the look, smell, and sound of them which provided this reviewer with all he needed to know. 2 points.

3. Alcohol.

Beer. I had some. It was good. 1 point.

4. Side dishes. Um, I had some of Felix's mango chips. He didn't seem to mind. There may have been more later. 0.5 points.

5. Crowd. It was intimate, but smaller gatherings are sometimes the best kind. Smaller gatherings that include the Hardcore Meat team are especially good. 1 point.

6. Music. Felix had Chitty Chitty Bang Bang running. The movie has music but it's a stretch to give any points for this. Sorry.

7. Setting. No one I know has a nicer garden.

I note the new water features, the green grass, the lovingly pruned trees, bird feeders. Lovely. 2 points.

8. Dessert.

Homemade cheesecake?! Damn. 2 points.

9. Did we like you? Oh hell yes, we like Brock and Andrea. I mean, the Hardcore Meat team basically invited ourselves over and we were treated like royalty. These two entertain with ease and make parenting look hip. Our only complaint is that we don't get to see them often enough but we don't have the heart to hold points for that. Score 2.

Total score:12.5. Nice work!

Kim & Darius

RATING

Grill: 2 Very nice, clean grill with first-class tools. And nice corn holders - seriouse ones that you could really hold on to.

Meat: 0 It was bring you own meat.

Alcohol: 1 Beer, wine, the usual suspects.

Side dishes: 1 Can't really remember, but there were sides.

Crowd: 1 Small crowd consisting of a couple friends, the HCM reviewers, and there were partents (which I think is cool).

Music: 1 I didn't hear it, but I was told they had tasty grooves inside.

Setting: 2 Nice back porch area with sunset view of the Sound. Extra points for the view.

Dessert: 1 Olson's mom baked something delicious.

Likeability: 2 Extremely nice people, good hosts.

Overal score: 11 (out of 18) - Thanks again you guys!

Matt & Kathleen

Well, I think I'll finally get around to this, a month after the fact. Matt and Kathleen threw out a fine spread for everyone and it was a party to remember. Let's get down to it.

1. Quality of grilling gear. Stainless steel, propane. A good solid grill that's served its owner well. Yet Matt gets two points here. It was his professional quality tools that pushed it over the top.

2. Quality of meat. Not just good, but a rich variety. I remember some marinated Asian beef that was particularly good. 2 more points.


3. Alcohol. Standard beer, wine. Kathleen made lemon drops. Some smokables. 1 point.

4. Side dishes. I didn't get to partake in enough of this. It looked like there was a good variety. 1 point.



5. Crowd. I love going to parties at Matt and Kathleen's. I always wind up talking to a few people I'd never met and all my favorite people are usually there. 2 points.



6. Music. Kicked ass. Stereo playing loudly in the yard. Although they did play that one Thievery Corporation song. 2 points.

7. Setting. 2 points again here. Nice deck, huge backyard, fire pit and everything.

8. Dessert. I honestly cannot remember. I think there was ice cream, couple of flavors. 1 point.

9. Do we like Matt and Kathleen? Well...they're alright I suppose. I mean they're no Greg and Juanita, but I suppose that's an unfair standard. Hell, let's just give 2 points and be done with it.

That's a fifteen. Way to go, guys!

Greg & Juanita

Greg and Juanita had the honor of hosting this Summer's second BBQ bash. You can always count on the Gregulator to represent...

1. Gear. It's the classic round weber, but he did it up right with the natural wood chips and the stainless steel utensil box. 2 points.
   
2. Quality of Meat. Some ribs soaked in a marinade/sauce were provided. I didn't try them, but they looked good. And the Olsons brought some of my favorite links. 2 points.
   
3. Alcohol. Beer, wine, hard stuff aaaaaaand... A GIANT VAT OF MOJITOS. 2 points.
   
4. Side dishes. Cous cous, tomatoes w/ fresh mozerella & basil, and more... 2 points.
   
5. Crowd. All my fav's + some newbies. 2 points.
   
   
   
6. Music. The only music provided was what Felix (3 yrs old) put on. And that lasted about 15 minutes. 1/2 points.
   
7. Setting. They've done what they can with what they have. Extra points for the shade/rain tarp. 1.5 points.
   
8. Desert. Ice creams. 1 pt.
   
9. Did we like you. Come on, it's Greg and Juanita. 2 points.

15 out of 18. Strong work! Thanks for the Q!

John & Shireesha

John & Shireesha kicked off the first BBQ of the year with the class and hospitality that we are all used to seeing. Plenty of good food for the grill and a variety of side dishes. Extra points were awarded for the outdoor propane heater. J&S also scored well with the judges by serving a season-appropriate desert of fresh strawberrys on short cake with ice cream. Points were missed, however, with no music on the outside, but they did have the tunes pumping inside, so they weren't penalized too hard. It was a medium sized, like-minded, similar aged, cool crowd.
Conversation at this BBQ lead to the birth of this blog, so it is to be hailed as a historic gathering. (No photos were taken)

RATING
Grill: 1 Nothing fancy, but it was gas and it didn't run out.
Meat: 1 Some good Costco links with mango & jalapeno.
Alcohol: 1 Beer, wine, the usual suspects.
Side dishes: 1 Can't really remember, but there were sides.
Crowd: 1 Small to moderate, good group.
Music: 1 Playing inside, but not outside.
Setting: 2 Nice back porch area with propane heat!
Dessert: 1 Nothing homemade, but good strawberries.
Likeability: 2 Nice extra touch by walking me to the door on the way out.

Overal score: 11 (out of 18) - Great BBQ J&S!

Welcome to Summer!

No doubt, everyone loves to barbecue. But, when you think of places that combine an outdoor party and cooking over fire, you usually think of places like Texas and Louisiana, not Seattle. But we have our own take on things here. Yes, there's lots of salmon and heavy craft beer, but there's so much more to it.

You see, when the sun comes out in June and we emerge from our grey-sky induced hibernation, we are ready to get down to business. For the rest of the year, we are socially reserved, we eat raw organic food, we sit in front of computer screens, and fret about the sorry state of politics.

But in summer, we look around and realize we live in the most beautiful place in the world. We hike, we bike, we call in sick to work. We reestablish ties with our friends and neighbors. We throw out our dour emo music, crank up the AC/DC and stand around a smoker of pork ribs while drinking 8 or 10 beers.

The idea for this blog came to us after we realized that the first four sunny weekends of the year, we were lucky enough to be fed meat and gotten good and drunk by our friends at least five times. We began to see, with a little diligence and training, we could keep this up all summer long. And we intend to document every last sausage we grill, every pony keg we empty, every backyard deck we stumble off of, and every potato salad we snarf.

But lest you think us mere drunken party crashers, slackers with nothing better to do than mooch off our friends, here is what we offer: continuous quality improvement.

The entire community benefits by having the bar constantly raised. Hosts will be graded and those grades will be made public. Ratings will be out of a total 18 points and will be given on a 0-2 scale for each of the following elements:

1. Quality of grilling gear. This doesn't mean simply the most expensive stainless steel gas grill from Home Depot is gonna win. Any afficianado knows there are special applications for charcoal and smokers.

2. Quality of meat. Ballpark franks are good. We like Ballpark franks. But flank steak marinated for two days in Teriyaki sauce is also good. Tandoori chicken might also be good. A whole pig with an apple in its mouth might score you a full 2 points.

3. Alcohol. Again, a cooler of Rainier might be just the thing if it suits the particular vibe of the party. But a watermelon full of rum would be a Special Thing.

4. Side dishes. Please, a QFC container of warm pasta salad is a perfectly fine thing to bring over on your way to a last minute get together, but, in our opinion, there exists a big opportunity here to improve upon on past performances.

5. Crowd. Generally, the more the merrier. But if you invite your manically depressed goth friend who's just gonna roll their eyes at us because meat is murder, you're gonna lose points. If you and are at the same barbecue, I expect that you, like me, know the joy of inhaling combusted flesh and you want to be there.

6. Music. I am still surprised by the number of barbecues I go to where the music is absent, or worse, poorly thought out. Be careful. No one thinks Duran Duran is ironic or funny anymore. Everyone is sick of that Thievery Corporation song. You know the one.

7. The setting. Now, I am not saying that my friends who live in tiny apartments with small balconies can't win this thing. What I am saying is that if you have a huge deck with a view of the water and a fire pit, you damn well better be cooking out every night and you damn well better be inviting us over.

8. Dessert. There are so many good options here and I expect this is where the competition will be won and lost. For so many parties, dessert is an afterthought. Everyone's been well fed and drunk by the time the coals burn out so it's hard to mount the effort. But god damn I am impressed by the host that can put together a fresh baked cherry pie or some home made ice cream.

9. Do we like you? Are you cool? Can you entertain with grace and control? Did you have a good time? If you're an asshole, I might still be coming over to steal your alcohol and food, but I'm under no obligation to give you these two points.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Who the hell are these lazy pricks coming over to mooch off me? Let's remind everyone that we held two of the first three parties this year and fun was had by all. If you need help with your set up, your food, or you just want a little pre-barbecue consultation, we are here to help. Matt's got the extra chairs and I bake a mean peach pie.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your barbecues.