Doughnuts and barbecue? It sounds so wrong but tastes so right – KC Star
By Jill Wendholt Silva
October 27, 2017 2:17 PM
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Barbecue: It’s not just for breakfast anymore.
I first stumbled across the smoke-stoked slogan in a Kansas City Barbeque Society cookbook back in the ’90s, and it has stuck with me like a bad earworm. But thanks to the Doughnut Lounge’s DL39, it’s easier than ever to eat barbecue for breakfast — or brunch, lunch or a late afternoon snack.
It took me a few minutes to crack the code (hey, I’m not a morning person). The DL39 is shorthand for a collaboration doughnut: Call it a savory-and-savory partnership between the trendy Westport doughnut emporium that likes to think outside the box and Q39, a new wave barbecue kingdom in the making that’s known for its competition-style brisket and burnt ends.
The DL39 is a play on the posh eggs Benedict, and I’m pretty much a fan of any Benedict.
Picture a savory wheat, rye or glazed doughnut layered with sauteed spinach, tiny cubes of smoky burnt ends, avocado slices and pickled corn salsa topped with two sunny side-up eggs and a strip of bacon. All that breakfast-y goodness is smothered in a DL-housemade barbecue hollandaise.
If the DL39 ($13) sounds like a perfect breakfast nosh, consider this: It’s actually part of the lounge’s savory Nodut “Knife-And-Fork” doughnut line, so it’s available from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
As for nabbing a coveted collaboration with a former competition pitmaster, Doughnut Lounge owner Jake Randall says, “I feel giddy. I feel honored. I know how hard (Q39 owner) Rob (Magee) has worked. I just look up to him. He was the first person to say we believe in you. It was my first experience of community and Kansas City love.”
You can also get Q39 burnt ends on the DL Kansas City Scramble (a hearty amount of food with a sheep’s cheese bechamel, no doughut involved, $13).
The DL39 is only the latest unusual barbecue collaboration: This summer Betty Rae’s teamed up with Joe Kansas City to create a burnt end ice cream.
Skeptical? Not that adventurous? Sounds wrong? Do me a favor and reserve the puke emojis until you’ve tried both. As another famous catchphrase goes, Try it, you’ll like it!
I know I did.