Ask The Chef: Howie Kleinberg
You'll remember him from Top Chef's Season 3, where he wowed the judges with his pork dishes and earned a nickname that will grace the awning of his soon-to-open barbecue restaurant in North Miami. We caught up with Kleinberg to talk about the restaurant, the economy and his new-found affinity for bulldogs.
MP: So, Bulldog BBQ. When are you planning to open?
Howie: We’re about a month away from opening. We’re finalizing our build out and getting details taken care of. It’s smooth sailing from here as far as I can see. We’ve been working on it full time for five or six months. Until you go through the process, you never know what kind of bumps you’re going to run into. We’re happy with where we are.
MP: Why a barbecue restaurant?
Howie: I did a lot of soul searching after the show. A lot of people were saying, ‘you need to go to New York, you need to go to Europe.’ And I said I want to do honest simple food and get back to what excites me about cooking: feeding people. And I think the trend I’m seeing is a lot of chefs are going into more comfort foods, especially with the economy the way it is.
There’s never been great barbecue or any real barbecue to speak of in this area. I used to spend summers in the Carolinas with my family, and when we came home, we could never find barbecue. One day, my partners and I were sitting around having a conversation about the restaurant, and it kind of sparked.
MP: Tell me about the menu. Which region most influences the ‘cue?
Howie: Mostly based in the Carolinas, but we’re going to have a Texas-style brisket. We’re not going to tie ourselves down. A little bit of the best parts of all the different types of barbecue. In this area, you’ll get a lot of Jewish clientele, and a lot of people aren’t going to want pork. And as a chef, I never want to be pigeonholed into doing one style of cuisine. So it will be mostly Carolinas but will borrow from some other regions.
MP: What's the smoker setup like?
Howie: We'll be doing hickory wood smoking. It's a small space, so we've got cabinet smokers. I think a lot of barbecue places tend to oversmoke; they'll leave the meat in there eight to ten hours and then you end up tasting a piece of charcoal. I'm not going to be a slave to any recipe. My brisket is a cross between Jewish brisket and Texas brisket. We’re going to get that smoke and that flavor, but just adjust it to our taste. Every chef and every person has their own thoughts on food, and this is just one of mine.
MP: Is the menu mostly set, or are you still working on it?
Howie: The menu is 99 percent done. We’re going to have great sides. One of the things we want to do is offer great salads, some good sandwiches. You can’t eat barbecue over and over again, especially not in South Florida where everyone’s watching their weight. It’s not just barbecue; it’s a cuisine that’s going to give me an opportunity to be creative. I know what this neighborhood wants, and they want a place where they have options.
We’re going to have Southern grits, skirt steak, a hot dog, a hamburger, and a couple of interesting sandwiches. We’re going to do a wedge salad, a Southern-style steak Caesar salad, cornmeal-crusted oysters, and our version of chicken wings. We’re not going to be the Cheesecake Factory and have a page of salads, but we’ll have three or four options.
MP: Are you apprehensive at all about opening a restaurant in this economic climate?
Howie: You always have to be a little apprehensive, but I think the concept is right for the economy. The economy is bad, but I still eat out and I see plenty of other people eating out. They’re going to eat out less, but the onus is on the chef to provide value on the dollar.
MP: You’ve really embraced the bulldog nickname. Did anyone ever call you that prior to Top Chef?
Howie: It was the first time, and I really kind of liked it. I’m a dog lover, and what I know about bulldogs is that they’re loyal and tenacious and they have a lot of fight in them, and that they are a little misunderstood. I actually have adopted a bulldog recently, and there are so many characteristics that we share. Sara [Mair] really hit the nail on the head. So when I decided on a barbecue place, the name just kind of all fell into place.
