I asked Bobby Hajek if he’d made a deal with the devil to be able to cook pork ribs so good…he allowed that he’d done a lot of dealing with the devil back in the day. Today, the truth is his barbecue is heavenly. Before long his road-side barbecue stand just south of La Grange will be bustling with patrons elbowing each other to get to the head of the line before his 5-star ‘cue runs out.
Bobby opened his barbecue stand a couple of years ago to no fanfare whatsoever. His clientele is mostly locals who know of his rep simply from front yard cookouts, or his wife, Nancy’s annual end-of-school parties on the Colorado River for her and her fellow school teachers. That’s how I got introduced to his skills as a master pitmeister. When my wife, Angelique was a teacher’s aide, we got invited to the late-May mosquito fests. Bobby’s barbecue always took center stage. There was the obligatory brisket, always succulent, moist and tender. Sausage & chicken were always perfect. It’s sometimes difficult to do chicken and sausage and have the skin and casing stay moist. His does.
And then there are his ribs. Oh, God. I decided this blog would be about just about anything—except religion. I figured I’d draw the line there. But when I decided to blog about Bobby Hajek’s barbecued pork ribs, a choir of angels descended upon me and I had a vision where they all had pork juice clear up to their angelic elbows. Now that’s a religious experience eating Bobby Hajek’s ribs. I’m not talking baby back ribs, no, his choice is the larger, more cumbersome spare ribs. You know, the ones with the cartilage still intact. They’re a little trickier to eat, but man, is it worth it. The smokiness is just perfect, the meat really does fall off the bones, and melt in your mouth. I could go on and on…
This Saturday was the first day for Bobby’s new dining room. Nancy said he doesn’t really want anybody to know about it yet, cause they’re still working out the “kinks” and I told her it would be on my new blog, but nobody knows about my new blog yet, so their secret is still safe. But I suspect the secret is bound to get out about his dining room soon enough. All I can say is, arrive early and “’cue up”.
Bobby opened his barbecue stand a couple of years ago to no fanfare whatsoever. His clientele is mostly locals who know of his rep simply from front yard cookouts, or his wife, Nancy’s annual end-of-school parties on the Colorado River for her and her fellow school teachers. That’s how I got introduced to his skills as a master pitmeister. When my wife, Angelique was a teacher’s aide, we got invited to the late-May mosquito fests. Bobby’s barbecue always took center stage. There was the obligatory brisket, always succulent, moist and tender. Sausage & chicken were always perfect. It’s sometimes difficult to do chicken and sausage and have the skin and casing stay moist. His does.
And then there are his ribs. Oh, God. I decided this blog would be about just about anything—except religion. I figured I’d draw the line there. But when I decided to blog about Bobby Hajek’s barbecued pork ribs, a choir of angels descended upon me and I had a vision where they all had pork juice clear up to their angelic elbows. Now that’s a religious experience eating Bobby Hajek’s ribs. I’m not talking baby back ribs, no, his choice is the larger, more cumbersome spare ribs. You know, the ones with the cartilage still intact. They’re a little trickier to eat, but man, is it worth it. The smokiness is just perfect, the meat really does fall off the bones, and melt in your mouth. I could go on and on…
This Saturday was the first day for Bobby’s new dining room. Nancy said he doesn’t really want anybody to know about it yet, cause they’re still working out the “kinks” and I told her it would be on my new blog, but nobody knows about my new blog yet, so their secret is still safe. But I suspect the secret is bound to get out about his dining room soon enough. All I can say is, arrive early and “’cue up”.
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