Recently, I caught up with Nick Kleutch, the pitmaster at Sanders BBQ Supply Co. Sanders serves some of Chicago’s best smoked meats, showing that the Midwest measures up to America’s greatest barbecue regions.
We chatted about how the restaurant is going and when Sanders’ second restaurant, planned for Hyde Park, will open. Kleutch is passionate about ribs, brisket, and everything in between. With his heart full and chest puffed out, he told me how much he “really loved barbecue.” Many don’t understand the science behind smoked meat, conflating cooking low and slow with slapping a couple of sausages on a grill. Kleutch also introduced me to his fiance, Madi Heavilin. As the two of us chatted about barbecue, Heavilin’s eyes rolled, as she’s absolutely been subjected to conversation after conversation after conversation between middle-aged men rattling on about barbecue. We all shared a laugh coming to that conclusion.
America is lucky to have a tradition of cooking meats over fire. As I’m writing this, I’m watching another country with a great history — Argentina — escape with a win against Egypt in the FIFA World Cup.
But sometimes, the simplicity of throwing marinated meat on a grill trumps the hours it takes to cook a smoked brisket or pork shoulder. For the past two Fourth of July holidays, I’ve depended on Dearborn Meat Market, the famous butcher that opened in 2007 about 10 miles west of Detroit. This family-run restaurant and butcher is Lebanese owned and sells a variety of raw kabobs for home cooks. You can see the meats through the refrigerated display cases near the narrow entrance. Customers can buy uncanny juicy beef kafta, flavorful chicken tawook, tender beef filet, and soul-satisfying beef ribeye skewers by the piece. Order some hummus, parsley salad, baba ghanoush, and a bag of pita for a full meal. Protip: Order at the store, not online. You’ll get a little discount and it’s charming to wait and see how the business operates. Grab a free mint from the box on the counter while you’re there.
Dearborn’s coffee shops, restaurants, and grocery stores have become renowned across the country;. The James Beard Foundation in 2016 named Al Ameer an America’s Classic. Recently, Dearborn made headlines during the last presidential cycle. Though there are signs near Dearborn Meat Market’s entrance warning customers not to discuss politics, other businesses proudly display their support for candidates such as Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who grew up in suburban Detroit and is running on a platform of Medicare for all, Supreme Court reform, and overturning Citizens United.
Growing up in Chicago, our family cooked on an iconic Smokey Joe, Weber’s tiny 14-inch portable kettle grill. My father, from Bangalore, India, didn’t know anything about barbecue. We’d cook hot dogs or chicken slathered in Open Pit barbecue sauce. Barbecue was exotic, almost a forbidden fruit, which I’ll wage is a reason America is seeing such an explosion of third culture kids adding global flavors to barbecue. Courtney touched upon this in her piece on the ever-changing world of Texas barbecue, chatting with Evan LeRoy of LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue and Paula Forbes of Texas Monthly. I was blown away last month by the brisket biryani served at the James Beard Gala’s afterparty by Buffalo, New York’s own Southern Junction. Korean flavors come alive at Atlanta’s Heirloom Market BBQ. I’m dying to claw into the X-Man, one of the sandwiches at Kansas City, Kansas’s Thai-inspired BuckTui. Chicago sees this in operations like Dhuaan BBQ Company, Umamicue, and K-Tex BBQ. One of Sanders BBQ’s most popular dishes is a slow-roasted oxtail, a nod to soul food in America. I am personally obsessed with Meathead Goldwyn’s Chinese Five-Spice Ribs recipe that blends American barbecue with char siu.
Sure, there’s a time and place for traditional barbecue. But when there’s an epidemic of middle-aged dudes talking about when to wrap their brisket or arguing about which mail-order butcher is best, maybe we need to liven things up a little bit?
If you want all of the smoke, consider a paid subscription.
🐦⬛ Bird Droppings
- Speaking of smoked meats, FBI Director Kash Patel planned to attend Windy City Smokeout held last weekend outside the United Center in Chicago. Alas, Patel did not sample the barbecue or see his girlfriend, country music Alexis Wilkins, perform. Patel was called into the White House as folks haven't been happy with his behavior, according to MS Now. Smokeout is a barbecue and country music festival held annually in Chicago.
- The workers at a Trader Joe’s in Chicago became the chain’s first Illinois location to unionize, ending a two-year battle. The Chicago Sun-Times reports the location is the fifth in the country to join the supermarket chain’s independent union. Trader Joe’s united formed in 2022 with members in Hadley, Massachusetts, Minneapolis, Louisville, Kentucky, and Oakland. Trader Joe’s doesn’t have the greatest reputation with its workers or vendors, as this James Beard Award-winning story from 2024 by friend of Ravenous, Adam Reiner, details.
- Harold’s Chicken Shack has cred all over the country, as the Black-owned chain based in Chicago is known for its crispy birds with cult-favorite mild sauce. The Chicago Tribune has the scoop on a controversy that’s been brewing since January after Harold’s CEO Kristen Pierce-Sherrod died. Five of Pierce-Sherrod’s are laying claim to who should own the chain. It’s a confusing chapter for Harold’s, which was founded in 1950.
