Celebrated barbecue restaurant opening outpost in Yountville

Adam Perry Lang, a world-famous pitmaster whose barbecue has come to define the
genre, is expanding his culinary footprint from Hollywood to Yountville with a new
eponymous restaurant. Perry Lang’s, which is tentatively slated to open in late
September, will be housed in Yountville’s historic Groezinger Estate House. The
building, constructed by a German-born vintner, dates to 1870 and currently
contains Hotel Villagio and Vintage House. Lang’s barbecue spot is just two blocks
from one of the state’s premiere fine dining destinations, Thomas Keller’s French
Laundry. “The entire town speaks to me,” Lang said. “And I’ve always been a huge
fan of Thomas Keller so being a part of that Yountville community was always this
kind of secret goal of mine.” Lang, inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame in
2013, is one of the most influential chefs in the business. His dry-aging
techniques are praised by industry counterparts, and his cookbooks, “BBQ 25,”
“Charred & Scruffed” and “Serious Barbecue,” are among the genre’s most
popular. Bay Area pitmaster Matt Horn, who is opening a highly-anticipated new
restaurant in the former Brown Sugar Kitchen space in West Oakland, recently said
Lang is one of the best barbecue minds in America. “Him opening something in
Yountville is just huge,” he said. “There’s nobody like Adam in the business.
Nobody.” Perry Lang’s in Yountville will have the spirit of a steakhouse, Lang
said. The menu, which is still being developed and tweaked, will offer the chance
to pair Napa Valley wines with barbecue dishes. Prices are not yet available. But
Lang’s steak can run on the high end. Lang’s restaurant in Hollywood, APL, which
opened last year, has dry-aged rib eyes for $67 and short-rib steaks for $38. The
Yountville space will have a dry-aging facility, Lang said, which will be inside
the building but still visible to restaurant guests behind 8-foot windows. The idea
for the project came together, in part, after Lang took a road trip up the
California coast and dined at numerous restaurants, including at the French
Laundry. That experience, coupled with hosting recent pop-up events in Wine
Country, including one alongside Oakland pit master Matt Horn, helped him fall in
love with Northern California. Lang said he learned Yountville was in a need of a
place that appeals to locals while bridging the gap between high end and affordable
dining. “It was fascinating to see how people view barbecue across the state,” he
said. “To me, barbecue carries a lot of definitions and emotions but it’s still
based on wood, fire and meat. This is another interesting chapter for me. And now I
get to apply all that I’ve learned over the years to a new environment.” Perry
Lang’s. 6481 Washington St., Yountville Justin Phillips is a San Francisco
Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips

Listen: How Galveston wound up with one of Houston’s top craft-barbecue pitmasters

Galveston Island may not be known as a craft barbecue hotbed. But the opening of
Buck's Barbeque Co. – a Central Texas-style barbecue joint from a pitmaster who has
built a considerable fan base in Houston – may change that view. Housed in the
former Farley Girls Café on the east end of the island, Buck's is the culmination
of Jim Buchanan's quest to land his own brick-and-mortar restaurant after years of
pop-ups and running food services out of someone else's kitchen. While Galveston
wasn't Buchanan's first choice for his barbecue endeavor, it has turned out to be a
fortuitous one. "It fell in our laps," he said of the opportunity to take over an
existing restaurant and gradually transition it over to his "elevated" style of
barbecue. In April he got the Farley Girls space and since then he and his wife,
Colleen, have been steadily introducing Buchanan's oak-smoked meats to the café
menu in a town whose barbecue palate has leaned to East Texas style. The customers
who were loyal to the Farley Girls are now become Buck's loyalists. The restaurant
has added more barbecue, which on many days sells out. Buck's has now become home
to a menu where Gulf Coast favorites make nice with creative barbecue. It's a best-
of-both-worlds scenario that Buchanan embraces. He's come a long way from his Pappa
Charlies days and the emotional toll Hurricane Harvey took. Listen as he shares the
Buck's story with the Houston Chronicle's barbecue columnist J.C. Reid and food
editor Greg Morago by using the player on this page, or even better search for "BBQ
State of Mind" on Apple Podcasts and click subscribe. You can find us on iTunes and
Stitcher, too. Greg Morago writes about food for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him
on Facebook or Twitter. Send him news tips at greg.morago@chron.com. Hear him on
our BBQ State of Mind podcast to learn about Houston and Texas barbecue culture.

Time to vote! Who makes the best Bay Area barbecue?

CLICK HERE if you are having trouble viewing these photos on a mobile device Bay
area native or transplant, you swear by your favorite barbecue joint. You take your
family there regularly and your friends when they visit. Sometimes, it’s hard to
pinpoint exactly what makes it so great. Could be the pitmaster’s smoking time, or
maybe it’s the homemade sauce and sides. But one bite of those pork spareribs or
juicy tri-tip and you’re hooked again. A few weeks ago, we asked readers to
nominate their favorite Bay Area barbecue joints, and they responded with
enthusiastic nods to Everett and Jones in Oakland, The Art of BBQ in San Jose,
Slow Hand BBQ in Pleasant Hill, Smoking Pig BBQ in Fremont and 28 more. Now we’re
pitting those 32 smokin’ spots against one another in a bracket-style contest to
see which deserves the title of Best Barbecue — and asking you to be judge, jury
and bib-wearing eater. There are two sets of ballots — they wouldn’t all fit in
one! Be sure to hit the “done” button at the end of the ballot to submit your vote.
First-round voting for closes at noon on Aug. 29. Voting for the Savory Sixteen
begins at 6 a.m. on Aug. 30. For more food and drink coveragefollow us on
Flipboard.