Monday, June 3, 2013.
Barbecue And Blues.
As noon approached, Mary Ann entered my office with a mix of jobs she needed me to do. These turn me into her secretary, but she doesn't really know how to make a computer do her bidding.
She also had lunch plans for me. Blue Hickory is on her mind--half because her palate is always tuned in to barbecue, and half because she wants to sell an ad in the website. I don't think the place has been open long enough for a review visit. But that guideline of mine may as well be a Madagascan local plumbing code as far as MA is concerned.
Quite a few people have asked me about Blue Hickory, which took over a former Lee's Hamburger shop a few months ago. A great deal of thought went into this place, the most interesting of which is that they display a shelf full of barbecue sauces in all the major styles. They begin with the primitive "Old Timer" vinegar-based sauce from the East Coast, then the mustard-thick "Charleston," variety, followed by more familiar sauces named for Lexington, Kentucky, Kansas City, and Lockhart, Texas.
I tried all of them on a couple of combo platters of nicely-smoked, crusty brisket, sausage (made in house!), and pulled pork. I thought the three tomato-based sauces were better than the vinegar or mustard concoctions, which had a problem in common: they weren't intense enough in their flavors. (I should note that I always liked the vinegar-style barbecue sauce.) Also, the sauces are put out in squeeze bottles, but need to be shaken. There is no way to do that without putting your finger over the opening (yuck!) or splashing sauce all over the place. I also didn't like that the sauces were very cold.
There's a New Orleans aspect to the place. Red beans as a side dish, for one. We got some of those and thought they were good.
Blue Hickory has a blues theme, with that style of music playing and old photographs of several generations of blues musicians lining the walls. I couldn't quite figure out what Django Reinhart--a 1930s French Gypsy guitarist, the partner of Stephane Grappelli--was doing up there.
I think they're doing a reasonably good job with an interesting concept here, but it might be over the heads of the average Northshorinian. Needs more excitement, I'd say.
Blue Hickory Barbecue. Covington: 70380 Hwy 21. 985-871-4216.
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