BY ARDIE A. DAVIS
Special to The Star
Mother’s Day, the busiest day of the year in Chow Town restaurants, is over but mothers and their loved ones still have to eat.
Just in time for post-Mother’s Day/pre-Father’s Day pick-me-ups, Chef Rob Magee has rolled out a knock-your-socks-off medley of new Q39 culinary gems. Here’s the lineup, with descriptions and tasting notes:
Burnt End Appetizer with classic barbeque sauce and house-made cornbread
Q39 raises the bar with this Chow Town favorite: these barked, tender, juicy smoked beef brisket morsels lightly sauced will jump-start your appetite.
Smoked Fried Chicken with chipotle barbeque sauce, apple coleslaw and baked beans
Fried chicken is almost as dear to Chow Town hearts as our barbeque. This one is smoked to juicy tenderness, battered, fried and finished with squiggles of chipotle barbeque sauce: Wow.
BBQ Salmon Fillet with chipotle barbeque glaze, jalapeno cilantro slaw and seasoned vegetables
As a fan of smoked, grilled or fried catfish, I seldom pay attention to salmon. Q39’s salmon fillet, lightly smoked to flaky tenderness, with a crusty chipotle barbeque glaze grabbed my attention. I’ll be back for this robust, healthy fillet served with fantastic jalapeno cilantro slaw and lightly sautéed seasoned vegetables.
Mr. Burns: sliced burnt ends, chipotle barbeque sauce, pepper jack cheese and crisp Q straws in a bun
Mr. Burns struts out a fusion of tender, smoky barked beef burnt ends with mildly fiery cheese and onion straws in a toasted bun. Will Mrs. Burns debut on Mother’s Day 2016? I can’t wait.
Ball Park Pork: pulled pork, white cheddar fondue, yellow mustard, sliced pickles in a pretzel bun
Ballpark hot dogs can take a back seat to Ball Park Pork. Chow Towners have already made this new fun bun an instant favorite. I’m not saying that the KC Royals should drop the Z-Man as a good luck totem. I am saying that they should add Ball Park Pork to their totem arsenal. The baseball gods are fickle. We need pinch hitters. Ball Park Pork fuses a medley of Chow Town Royals fan favorites into a knock-it-out-of-the-park mouthful of home run power hitting. Go Royals.
Fudge Brownies with vanilla ice cream, caramel and chocolate sauces and pecans
Given a choice between barbeque or dessert, I always choose barbeque. That is, unless Rob Magee made the dessert. Rob’s topping of vanilla ice cream, caramel, chocolate and pecans on a fudge brownie lends credence to the adage, “Life is short. Eat dessert first.” Best to eat barbeque first, but save room for a Q39 fudge brownie.
Hard Root Beer Float
This marriage of beer and ice cream is a perfect ending to a barbeque feast, but only if you like stout hard root beer combined with rich vanilla ice cream. If so, I recommend pairing it with Mr. Burns for a robust feast.
Chipotle BBQ Sauce, a star in several new menu items, is my current Q39 favorite sauce. The artful blend of sweet and sour with a gentle chipotle whop is a metaphor for love in a long-term relationship: mostly sweet, a touch of sour and a gentle spicy whop finish to remind you that love can hurt.
Kudos to the Q39 team and Rob Magee, a Chow Town culinary genius.
Ardie Davis founded a sauce contest on his backyard patio in 1984 that became the American Royal International Barbecue Sauce, Rub & Baste contest. He is a charter member of the Kansas City Barbeque Society and an inductee into the KCBS Hall of Flame. He has been interviewed on food shows and writes for barbeque-related publications. His most recent release is America’s Best BBQ (Revised Edition), with chef Paul Kirk.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/chow-town/article21008805.html#storylink=cpy
