Smokecraft BBQ, Arlington, Virginia

I enjoy my time relaxing by the Chesapeake Bay and helping to take care of our granddaughters, Ella and Lily, and cultivating a small garden plot. But when the need arises, I put aside my plow, like Cincinnatus, and serve the public good. Thus, when I got the word that Sean Ludwig, he of NYC BBQ, the definitive guide to barbecue in that metropolis, and The Smoke Sheet, the national guide to barbecue places, trends, and events, was in town and wanted to eat some barbecue, I girded my loins, hopped in our car, and met him at Smokecraft BBQ in Arlington. it was good choice for our first stop of the night.

First, Sean. Scroll down for a photo–he’s on the right. Sean comes to barbecue honestly, having grown up in Kansas City. He lives in Jersey City but works remotely for a DC outfit. He was in town to visit the Mother Ship. Sean recently married (first anniversary!), bought a house, and is on the verge of fatherhood. With two very active blogs and lots of associated travel, you can see that Sean is a busy guy. He’s also organized, very energetic, even more affable, and highly skilled. Sort of like I used to be, except for the organization part. He also has a great attention to detail, something I’ve always avoided. Here we are with the Smokecraft pitmaster, Andrew Darnelle, about whom more anon.

Smokecraft is just off Clarendon Boulevard near the Clarendon Metro stop. To give you an idea of the area, Smokecraft shares a block with another restaurant, a coffee shop, and three exercise studios (Gym, Barre, and Yoga). Adjacent blocks are pretty much the same, although there is an auto repair shop that seems to have wandered in when it was just a tricycle shop and never left. Befitting the neighborhood, Smokecraft is roomy and modern, but with a good, relaxed feel.

Sean and I got right down to work. Sean suggested that we get the Whole Lotta’ Cue platter, which includes all of Smokecraft’s meats and four sides, enough to feed a small village for a good three days. See for yourself.

Make that five days. It was enough food that Sean and I actually had to move to a table for four. Starting at the bottom row and working your way up, you see smoked turkey and smoked chicken. Next come jalapeño cheese sausages, collards, and slaw, followed by pork, street corn, and brisket. The top row offers pork belly, smoked cauliflower, and ribs. There were also some corn muffins. We also had before us Smokecraft’s many sauces, my favorites of which were the aptly named Tangy and Spicy sauces. There also were the usual sweet sauces and a pineapple bourbon sauce that sounds atrocious but actually tasted good.

Let’s work our way back through the food. The smoked turkey was good, and the smoked chicken was excellent. The chicken was a huge thigh and leg with a fruit (pineapple bourbon) glaze. I, being sugar-phobic when it comes to meat, could pass on the glaze, but the chicken itself was succulent, juicy, and rich with flavor from the dark meat and the smoke.

The sausage also was very good, meaty and spicy, and the collards were a home run. They had not only meat flavor but some pepper as well — enough to get your attention but not enough to hurt you. Are there any better in the area? If there are, I haven’t had them. And the slaw was good.

The street corn was a good idea, but it was seasoned with a heavy hand, as you can see. The seasoning was good, but it overwhelmed the corn flavor. Next to the corn is the brisket, which had a good beef and smoke flavor, and the lean end was tender and moist.

The Duroc pork belly. Go to Smokecraft and order the pork belly. It was meaty and utterly delicious, with a flavorful ribbon of fat rather than a ribbon of pork dwarfed by fat. The smoked cauliflower wasn’t smoky — when the server came we noted that and he brought us some Brussels sprouts — but it tasted pretty good, and it was a hit the next day. And the ribs were good.

I didn’t mention the pork. Let’s talk about the pork. The server had told us that the pork might have run out, but freshly cooked pork would be ready soon. Fine with us. The Whole Lotta Meat would take us a while, bring it when it’s ready. The message got lost at some point in transmission from person to person, and what we got were the scrapings of the old pork, a lot of nice bark but overdone inside meat. It was not a hit, and it illustrates something I want to talk about. Restaurants face all but insurmountable problems these days.

Andrew Darnell, the genius behind Smokecraft, came by to greet customers after the last batch of meat was out of the smoker, and he stopped by our table. He looked at the virtually untouched pork on our tray, and sent back to get us some fresh.

Now that’s good pork. Real good pork. That’s the reason Andrew’s team finished high in the Jack Daniels Barbecue championship last year. But how with labor force participation so low and restaurants poaching others’ employees do you get a fully trained, well-functioning staff, a staff that makes sure things don’t fall through the cracks?

For that matter, how do you get people comfortable with going out again after two years of isolation, two years spending their work days alone on Zoom, two years or more doing their shopping alone on their computers? How do you overcome supply chain problems and get meat to cook. And if you can get any, the meat prices are soaring. They sure are in my neighborhood. These problems are universal, especially for independent restaurants. It’s worse in Arlington, where rents soared immediately when Amazon announced their new headquarters there with lots of highly paid employees. The rent is up, but it will be two years before any Amazon employees arrive.

These issues are hardly unique to Smokecraft. They’re pervasive. As regular readers know, I have a lot of food-focused travel, to say the least. I hear of the same problems everywhere, and I see them first hand. I experience the decline in service regularly throughout the service industry, hotels and restaurants alike. Servers try to cover too many tables, and many servers are new hires with no experience, and often with little motivation. Experienced, motivated servers and the various kitchen staff are treasures indeed.

Sean and I talked with Andrew about his particular challenges. I truly admire the way Andrew, like some other restauranteurs with whom I talked, can manage to remain so friendly and cheerful amid so much economic turbulence. A local guy from Bethesda, Andrew is working hard and thoughtfully to attract workers and customers. Smokecraft has a good cocktail menu. (At least it looks good. I was the one driving, but I recognized some old friends behind the bar.) They have a good choice of beers, and menu items for the gluten-free and vegetarians are numerous and helpfully flagged on Smokecraft’s expansive menu. There’s something for everyone. And Andrew knows barbecue and is passionate about making the best. He’s won awards and does a remarkable job.

I hope you’ll go to locally owned restaurants in your area. I hope that if you’re in or near Arlington, you’ll go to Smokecraft. It’s a good place, a great place considering the wonders Andrew works within the limits of a Southern Pride smoker as he dreams of things returning to an even keel so he can get one of the big boys. Andrew is devoted to his craft and very good at it. You’ll enjoy your meal at Smokecraft. All you have to do is go. So go. No need to thank me.

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