post-lunch bliss

Today I take back everything I have ever said about crappy lunch places in Napa. Because I just had The Best Lunch Ever. It was so good that I basically gushed about it to every coworker I ran into between my car and my cubicle after I came back from eating. (Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of the lunch because I was completely engrossed in my food.)

Yes, that's right: I am officially in love with BarbersQ, the newly-opened, barbecue-focused restaurant started by three chefs from Mecca in San Francisco. While this isn't a cheap-eats, hole-in-the-wall, paper-plate type of restaurant, it isn't a holier-than-thou, waiter-carries-a-crumber, fine-dining experience either. It sort of falls somewhere in between -- a fairly small restaurant (seats only 64, I think) with clean lines, no white table cloths, extremely friendly service, decent prices and really, really excellent food that is locally sourced (a fact which I absolutely love -- I like knowing my pig had a nice life before I ate it).

And it's not awkward at all to dine there alone, which is a huge plus for me since I eat by myself so often during the week. I just armed myself with a couple of food and travel magazines and sat at the bar. The bartender was attentive without being overbearing, and it genuinely seemed like he was excited to work there and excited about the food that was being served.

He told me the restaurant was founded around the chef's recipe for pulled pork, so of course, that's what I ordered. And I wasn't disappointed. The pulled pork sandwich came with a butter lettuce salad (by the way, I am obsessed with butter lettuce -- it is my favorite lettuce). And I also ordered a side of fries (which I ended up getting boxed up to bring home). The pork was so freaking good -- I didn't even need to put barbecue sauce or anything on it. It tasted like there was a hint of honey in it, and the meat was unbelievably tender.

Unfortunately, no room for dessert this time around. But the bartender did rave about the fried apple pie, which he explained as being like an empanada. (Um, I LOVE empanadas.) He kept telling me I should come back for dessert only, and he'd pour some dessert wines to match.

Honestly, it's all I can do to keep myself from running back there right after work and taking him up on that offer.