Smoked brisket dumplings. Za’atar-rubbed smoked lamb. Clams in a smoked tomato broth. Cured, smoked and glazed ham.
None of these are on the menu just quite yet at Liberty Barbecue. But they could be soon, says Matt Hill, executive chef and partner.
Hill, a native of North Carolina, started talking up the idea of a barbecue restaurant as soon as he joined The Liberty Tavern Restaurant Group (Liberty Tavern, Lyon Hall and Northside Social, with a second location coming to Falls Church).
He spent summers at his grandparents’ farm, and his first memories of barbecue aren’t from a roadside stand but from his uncle’s farm where they feasted on pork shoulder.
Owners Steve and Mark Fedorchak (brothers) and Brian Normile hadn’t opened a new restaurant since 2010, and as Steve says, “We felt like we wanted to grow the company.” That measured response is in drastic contrast to the clip at which chefs now open second, third and fourth spots.
The current menu reads like many barbecue restaurants: brisket, pulled pork, side of beans.
The brisket is moist, but not nearly smoky enough; the pulled pork offers crispy bits, dressed in a housemade North Carolina-style vinegar concoction; and the beans are probably the best thing on the menu. With a restaurant full of smoked meats, leftover chicken bones become the base of a brodo, where the cannellini beans are cooked, then incorporated with peppers, onions, garlic, mustard and the burnt ends of the brisket. It’s tangy, peppery, vinegary, salty, smoky and worth the trip alone. In fact, I can imagine this as a standalone lunch, a more interesting take on chili.
There’s already a hint of moves beyond the basics. “There is room to have some fun with barbecue,” says Steve. And it shows, not only in the varied menu, but in the vibe. The room is long and spacious with modern touches of white brick, wooden fixtures and drop Edison bulbs, plus plenty of communal tables, a bar area with high tops and come warmer weather, outdoor seating.
And no, the flash-fried, aioli-decorated Brussels sprouts aren’t what separate this from other barbecue restaurants. While they are done well here, juicy and crispy, these miniature brassicas now rule restaurants serving everything from Japanese food to, well, barbecue. It’s the char siu pork belly that is the stunner on the list of smoked meats. The Cantonese-style pork flavored with Chinese five-spice displays a lacquered finish for something salty, sweet and spicy, irresistible and unexpected.
The fried chicken, an odd order at a place dedicated to a smoker, is not only to appease those who aren’t fans of slow-cooked meat. A carryover from Liberty Tavern, the pickle-brined fried chicken sports a crispy, crunchy outside with just-right meat, and the accompanying slaw balances both a creaminess with still bitey streamers of cabbage. Apparently, fowl does well in the smoker here, because these are some of the best smoked wings, especially with a drizzle of creamy Alabama white sauce (the spicy chipotle runs a little sweet).
Vegetable sides will change with the season, with Hill already dreaming of asparagus and fava beans for the spring—pushing this barbecue restaurant into the cult of the farm-to-table concept.
Desserts are by the restaurant group’s celebrated pastry chef Bridie McCulla and that block of chocolate you spied in the dessert counter (while probably waiting for a table), is worth getting a doggy bag for dinner’s leftovers. Rich, dense and cloaked in ganache, embrace this Texas sheet cake.
Notes:
Liberty Barbecue
370 W. Broad St., Falls Church
Open daily for lunch and dinner and weekend brunch
Appetizers: $4-$13; Entrees: $8-$55
