Ay, There's The Rub!

Okay, I confess yet again: My people don't think pigs is proper eating, but having transgressed most of the biblical commandments by the third grade, I figger the cosmos is gonna put my dietary habits way down the list when it comes time for my day of reckoning. Stand clear!

Apparently, at least one of my tribesmen fears divine retribution as little as I do. His name is Andrew Fischel and he is the owner and passionate front-man for RUB BBQ, started in New York City in 2005 and recently expanded to the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas. Now we all know there's some high-end eating going on in Sin City, but nowhere will they feed you with less pretension and more quality than at RUB (acronym for Righteous Urban Barbecue).

Half the credit for RUB's authenticity is due to Fischel's recruitment of Kansas City's renowned Baron of BBQ, Paul Kirk, a seven-time world champion and a guy who likely as not smokes his eggs in the morning along with his coffee. One of these days I'll get around to attending one of his Pitmaster Schools. He laughed when I told him I'd smoked some backyard brisket for six hours, only half the slow cooking time required for that sometimes ornery cut.

I recently had the pleasure of introducing my old buddy and co-dependent George Wendt to the NYC location, where our genial host plied us with short ribs, beef ribs, brisket, pastrami and even a whole smoked duck! The coup de grace is the bacon they smoke and cure on the premises, thick, crispy and chewy squares of pure heart-choking goodness. Add cole slaw (mayo- or vinegar-dressed), beans laced with chunks of brisket, onion strings and cornbread and you are ready for a hoedown.

Do well at the slots in LV? For $275 they'll bring you "The Empire" platter, a little of everything on the menu with a bottle of Dom Perignon to wash it down. I've eaten a lot of 'cue in my day -- from Sonny Bryan's in Dallas to Hogly Wogly's in Panorama City (damn good sauce there, by the way, and honorable brisket) -- and I gots to put RUB up there with the best of them. Tell 'em the Kosher Kid sentcha.....