Spare, back ribs rack up new fancy fans of finger foods

Nation's Restaurant News, August 31, 1998 by Florence Fabricant

Add ribs to the list of once down-market foods that have become acceptable in high-end white-tablecloth settings. Spare ribs and back ribs. Not short ribs, which no longer raise eyebrows, even in operations as refined as Picholine in Manhattan or Lespinasse during the reign of Gray Kunz, who just left.

The difference is that short ribs are not fingerfood, but spare ribs usually are. Spare ribs and back ribs are a staple in Chinese restaurants in every neighborhood. And what would barbecue joints like Brothers and Virgil's in Manhattan and every place you can name in Kansas City, Mo., be without ribs? But they're moving across the spectrum now. Sometimes, when Southern and soul influence the menu, it's understandable that there would be ribs. At the new B. Smith's in Sag Harbor, N.Y., they steal the show more dramatically than at the other B. Smith's operations, in Manhattan and Washington. But at Brannan's Grill in Calistoga, Calif., the all-American menu includes Kansas City barbecued baby back ribs with pink slaw and fries on a menu that also lists Sonoma leg of lamb with thyme, minted spring peas and sweet pearl onions. The Turf Supper Club in San Diego serves well-mannered knife and fork ribs. The pork ribs are boneless and marinated in house-made barbecue sauce. Palmetta Plantation House, a new Caribbean operation in Manhattan that's loaded with atmosphere, offers baby back ribs with mango-pineapple glaze and a green papaya cake, for an inventive, far-from-typical barbecue preparation. Oklahoma-style barbecued spare ribs were one of the appetizers on a recent menu at Zinfandel in Chicago, which rotates its menus monthly along American regional and theme lines. Barbecued baby back ribs with spicy slaw and cranberry cornbread are a brunch and dinner appetizer at Manhattan's Tavern On The Green, a crowd-pleasing holdover from the kitchen of the late Patrick Clark. On the seasonal garden menu at this operation they're a main course, smoked and smothered with honey-barbecue sauce, served with spicy coleslaw, rustic potato salad and corn on the cob. But in the garden it's practically a cookout. At China Grill in Manhattan and Miami, the ribs are lamb and come spiced with plum and sesame as an appetizer. You expect ribs at China Grill. But Sichuan spare ribs are less in keeping with the food at Club Grotto in Louisville, Ky. Davio's in Boston includes grilled glazed country pork ribs among the appetizers on its cafe menu, but not in the main restaurant. Manhattan's Drovers Tap Room is one operation that does its country-style pork ribs as a main course, with baked beans and a Long Shore brown ale glaze. California Cafe in Schaumburg, ill., is another. It uses a Jack Daniels barbecue sauce on the house-smoked baby back ribs served with garlic fries. Slow-smoking and then grilling gives the ribs haunting flavor and renders them more succulent. Similarly, Rancho Tejas in Houston, which specializes in regional Texas cuisine, is another operation that believes in slow-roasting and does its baby back ribs over mesquite before grilling and serving them with fries and frijoles. Tapika in Manhattan gives baby back ribs served as an appetizer a Southwestern twist with a fresh corn tamale and smoked chili barbecue sauce plus sliced tomato and frisee on the plate. The preparation is far simpler at The Laundry in East Hampton, N.Y., where barbecued ribs are one of the few nonseafood appetizers. And barbecued ribs are a natural in the upscale brewery restaurants, like Heartland Brewery in Manhattan and Brew Moon in Boston, where they are served as appetizers.