Patrick Fogarty visited twenty-one New York BBQ joints, the top hotdog hotspots and forty two craft beer and cocktail bars to sample their wares and learn their tricks before opening the Bronx Bar and Cue in Teignmouth. He and his wife, Dee Livingstone, already own another restaurant, The Lofty Turtle, in London but he has returned to his roots in Devon to create this little piece of BBQ and Smoke heaven in the seaside town.
Patrick is a trained Goldsmith, who worked for the Danish crown jewellers, Georg Jensen, and he now brings the same perfection and craftsmanship to his food. As we sat and ate the ‘Cue for Two”, he described the incredible processes that go into the brisket, which was just one of a cornucopia of BBQ specials laid out on a platter in front of us. Now, I think I’ve got this right. Firstly, the brisket is left overnight in a special rub, the next day it is injected with spices and a super reduced ‘jus’ made at the restaurant (a meat stock reduction that usually takes 2 days to produce) to keep it moist, then it’s cold smoked to lock in the smoky flavor, then basted with ‘mop’ sauce before another five hours in the smoker, and finally wrapped in baking parchment and cooked a low 100 degrees for 13 hours. Wow! I can attest that it tastes wonderful, melts in the mouth and zings with flavor that quietly turns to smokiness that lingers on the tongue. This is the result of real care and attention and it’s delicious. From rubs- bastes -mother sauces- to slaws, beans and pickles and back to meat cooked long and slow with loads of smoke everything is prepared fresh at the Bronx to authentic BBQ recipes that have been rigorously tasted and tested. Even the buns are made to a special part-brioche mix by a local baker under the direction of Patrick.
‘Cue for Two” a great communal dining experience.
Fogarty grew up in Teignmouth and moved to London to study jewellery design at Central Saint Martins school of Art, while studying he paid his way by working as a cocktail bartender in Mayfair and Soho graduating to manage some of London’s best nightclubs and private members clubs. He helped rebrand and re-launch the Smollensky’s restaurant group in London and worked as a drinks consultant on beer and spirits brands. before opening his first venture with his wife Dee in East Sheen. Back in Teignmouth he has turned his hand to interior designer too, and has created the entire decor of the Bronx restaurant himself from putting the floors in to upholstering the seating and choosing light bulbs that give a nostalgic retro glow. It’s cool and funky.
The Bronx Bar & ‘Cue takes its inspiration from New York’s latest (and London’s emerging) trend that returns to an era of good honest, not to mention flavoursome, home cooked American fare where drinks and food are served with modern-day finesse in a decidedly old-school environment. The bar, which should definitely be mentioned here, looked perfect, with all those little super-bar touches such as stocking interesting aromatic bitters and unusual hand selected spirits. Alas, I came at lunchtime and missed out on his famous cocktail making skills. Next time.
Patrick Fogarty
Meet Patrick at the Powderham Food Festival on October 4th where he will be demonstrating in the ‘Theatre of Fire ‘n Smoke” and holding a Q&A session with the audience. Don’t miss it or the brisket, or the ribs.
The Menu – October 2014 – Always innovating, watch out for smoked chicken liver and interesting takes on traditional fare this Christmas.
They show old movies on this wall in the evening and soon will open another room upstairs for parties and live music.
BRONX Bar & Cue, 10 Regent St, Teignmouth, TQ14 8SJ tel 01626 777909 info@thebronx.co.uk
You wash ’em, cut ’em up and
SCRAT ’em. We don’t have an apple-scratter yet so we utilised our garden shredder which is more usually used to shred up hawthorn hedge cuttings. Uncle Peter is doing the scrunching in this photo and wrote us a wonderful letter thanking us for his ‘enslavement’ afterwards.
Devonium & Kitchenalia 