I’ve really been debating the whole point of finding the best pulled pork sandwich in the Napa Valley. On one hand, wine country is hardly synonymous with barbecue, so it always seemed a bit like trying to find the best burrito in Vietnam. And even if I did happen to discover something noteworthy, wouldn’t some puckish Southerner chime in and discredit my opinion, since I live here in Northern California?
But on the other hand, pulled pork is delicious. And the preparation itself guarantees a certain element of success: in order to successfully “pull” the meat from a pork shoulder, this cut must be slow-cooked into submission. The tender pieces of muscle tissue will only begin to shred once all of that tough connective tissue has been rendered into lip-smacking gelatin. For that reason alone, I’m willing to sample every local pulled pork sandwich I can find, haughty Southerners be damned.
Unofficially, my favorite pulled pork sandwich in Napa has always been the one at Bounty Hunter. Even though their beer-can chicken always looks great when it comes out of the kitchen, a pulled pork sandwich is too difficult for me to resist, and so I order it nearly every time. I’ve also enjoyed the pulled pork sandwich over at Red Rock Cafe, although the Dutch crunch roll is a departure from the norm, so it may deserve further scrutiny. Today, however, I decided to take my investigation to BarBersQ, a location that will celebrate its second anniversary next month.
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Priced at a reasonable $12, the pulled pork sandwich at BarBersQ is served alongside a Bibb leaf salad with citrus vinaigrette. Typically, I would prefer a side of potato salad over a green salad, but the Bibb leaves were beautiful and perfectly dressed (I suppose I’m showing my California roots to even let this slide). The sandwich itself features a toasted artisanal bun, and the pulled pork is dressed with a scant portion of coleslaw and a touch of barbecue sauce. The pork was flavorful, though slightly dry today. It definitely benefited from a liberal dousing of additional sauce, my favorite being the house-made spicy vinegar.
The highlight of lunch was the side of macaroni and cheese, which was quite a surprise. Honestly, it’s one the best versions I have ever tasted. The dish featured perfect textures and flavors throughout: the mornay sauce itself was exemplary — smooth and rich, with the flavor of aged white cheddar. Simply put, a side dish of this caliber is enough to convince me that the less-than-perfect pulled pork sandwich may have been an anomaly. I’m conflicted enough to make a repeat visit before passing my final judgment. In the meantime, I’m pretty sure that I’ve stumbled upon Napa’s best macaroni and cheese.
Chef Casey’s Mac and Cheese with Hobbs smoked bacon and English peas. Tuesday in the Martini House Cellar, $12