Monday, November 2, 2009

Fette Sau: Worth taking the G Train for

It's inevitable that eventually my deep love for the G train would become a topic of conversation on a blog about food and restaurants. Well, maybe not. But I talk about it all the time, so I decided to incorporate it here.

I. Love. The G Train.

I do. I really do. I can't help it. Never, ever has it disappointed me the way it disappoints so many others. Last time I took the G, it graciously waited for me to walk to the center of the platform at a normal pace, and the moment I arrived and turned to face the track the G came speeding (well, crawling) into the station. No one else has the relationship with the G that I have. The G is everyone else's bad boyfriend who finally shapes up for the love of his life. I'm a lucky girl.

That said, I don't mind taking the G train, and that's good news for when I want to leave me home in Queens to meet my Brooklyn friends (like K and C, for example) without taking a long, roundabout trip through Manhattan. This was precisely the case last Friday night, when I met my friends J and A for barbecue at Fette Sau (which translates as "Fat Sow" from whatever language that is...probably German). According to one of my coworkers, this place is relatively famous, but I'd never heard of it before J suggested it. He had never been their either, but one of HIS coworkers vouched for its deliciousness, so we decided to give it a shot.

Fette Sau is located on Metropolitan Avenue, quite close to Lodge (one of my favorite Brooklyn restaurants, as K and mwr know), so I knew approximately where I was heading. It also makes me pretty proud when I can navigate around Brooklyn, considering I have a pretty good mastery of Queens and Manhattan already. Brooklyn is my final frontier, and understanding that I needed to get from the G at Union and Metropolitan to Fette Sau by passing Marcy and Havemeyer made me pretty proud. Baby steps.

There's a neon sign outside of the gate announcing that you've arrived at Fette Sau, and immediately inside are some outdoor wooden picnic tables. They were mostly empty, despite Friday being unseasonably warm. The inside, also littered with picnic tables, was packed. I also noticed that one wall was adorned with illustrated depictions of meat, which was a nice (if weird) touch. We joined the short line and waited to order.

Fette Sau has a unique setup, in that you stand in line deli-style and order your meat by the pound. You're provided with buns and several types of sauce, and side orders of potato salad, baked beans and the like are available.

We decided to split a half pound of brisket and get a pork sausage each, plus a side of potato salad and a side of baked beans to share. J and I perused the list of whiskey options as well, which the place is apparently famous for. They had several tasting menus, in which you could pay anywhere from $11 to $30-something and get three different types of whiskey in one-ounce portions. We ultimately decided not to do this, but I'd definitely be up for trying it next time.

We headed outside to sit, and as we were exiting I heard a man in line explaining to his friend that he had NEVER seen the place so empty, and by this point the inside crowd had already begun to spill over to the outside picnic tables. I had a sneaking suspicion we might be sharing our picnic table with a few strangers after all, but if what the man said was true we were getting off easy.

Four types of sauces and a roll of paper towels adorned each table, so we chose an empty one and sat down. Although the brisket was delicous and the sausages were delectable, I still felt hungry afterward. Note to self: next time, I need more meat! (That's what she said...)

The potato salad didn't really do it for me, but the baked beans were good and had chunks of beef in them, which I had never experienced before (and was told it was weird that I hadn't). I could have definitely gone for whiskey to wash it all down though, and the sauces were tangy and hot and wonderful. We were eventually joined by other people at our table, but it wasn't so crowded that we were forced to make friends with them. Phew!

Overall, the food was yummy and the place boasted a nice, rustic vibe. I'm not usually a big BBQ person, but I definitely enjoyed this. Brooklynite meatlovers, I urge you to check it out. You might want to go on off hours though, if the rumors about it typically being ultra-crowded are true!


And now, a really ambiguous photographic representation, courtesy of my phone:


12 comments:

CaseyMustPie said...

fette sau is great!

eLs said...

I WILL GO WITH YOU.

k said...

remember when you didn't know how to take the G train? the G train remembers that.

love you boo.

eLs said...

At that point in my life, the G train was just a friend I hadn't yet met. It would never fault me for that, especially considering that I now smother it with love.

mwr said...

I wouldn't be so sure about that. The G train is a jealous train. Need proof: excepts from the MTA bible

Exodus 20: 5-6 for I the G TRAIN thy Train am a jealous Train, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that do not ride me me; {6} And showing mercy unto thousands of them that ride me, and keep me company, and pay my fare.

or Exodus 34:14 For thou shalt ride no other trains: for the
G Train, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous Train

Or Deuteronomy 6:15 (For the G train thy train is a jealous train among you) lest the anger of the G train thy train be kindled against
thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

eLs said...

Hmm...I bet the Corinthians section of the MTA Bible would tell a very different story. What's that one verse that unoriginal people use at their weddings?

k said...

hahahahhahahaha holy shit

mwr said...

You mean: 13 4-8
The G Train suffereth long, and is kind;
The G Train envieth not;
The G Train vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 The G Train never faileth:

Maybe your right. I've never been able to reconcile the G Train of the old MTA testament and the G Train of the new MTA testament. Our public transit system holds so many divine and wonderful mysteries!

mwr said...

Sometimes I read the Song of Solomon and I get so jealous that the G Train has been around so long and has so many former lovers, but it just has so much love to give that I can't begrudge it!

7:10-12
I belong to my G Train,
and its desire is for me.

Come, my G Train, let us go to PS1,
let us spend the night in Queens.

Let us go early to the Flatbush
to see if the the homeless are up yet, if their brown bags are empty,
and if the pomegranates are in bloom
there I will give you my Metrocard.

CaseyMustPie said...

omg

eLs said...

Hahaha oh my I just saw all of this...it is really important.

eLs said...

1 Corinthians 13

The G train is patient, the G train is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. The G train does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

IN YOUR FACE.