The guidos/ettes may have chicken cutlet night, but us beach bums have hot dog night. And nobody’s excluded.

Backyard bliss at a housewarming party in Clinton Hill. What a nice weekend it was.

We celebrated Vetivresse’s birthday last night at Fette Sau. Shamefully, I had never been there before! I wasn’t much of a BBQ fan before meeting Guy, who has schooled me in the way of long-cooked smoked meats. So I am a BBQonvert, if you will. Anyway, there was a lot of dilly dallying, waiting in line and waiting for a table, so we spent plenty of time drinking jars of beer and posing for pictures. When the food came, we were ravenous and it was oh so worth the wait. The brisket and the beans were amazing. I bought a 1/2lb each of jowl and belly bacon that I look forward to putting to good use. Any suggestions?

I give The Vanderbilt so many props that I neglect to mention how much I love Flatbush Farm. Sitting in the back patio is an absolute dream after work: not too crowded, really nice service and refreshing drinks — just the thing after a long day. We usually split a steak, a salad and maybe one more app. This time we went for the Grilled Iceberg Lettuce with homemade Caesar dressing, which is more or less a BBQ salad — so good. We also had the chilled peach soup special, which was reminiscent of spicy baby food, in a good way. And the grassfed steak of the day never fails — this ribeye came with a sweet corn and edamame succotash with lardon and baby red potatoes. Blue Marble profiteroles were the proverbial icing on the cake.

Grilled burgers and market salad on the porch at sunset in NH. 

Girls Grills Girls  One of my housemates and I took to the open flame last night — proving that you don’t have to be a dude to operate a grill. We went to town with chicken breasts tossed in olive oil, balsamic, garlic, basil, parsley, salt and pepper, and veggies (asparagus, squash, scallions and green pepper) in a similar preparation. After my surplus of crisp, cool salads, this hot, flavorful protein-based dinner was a welcome yet healthy reprieve to my summer diet.

When I lived in Williamsburg, it seemed all the new restaurants were opening in Park Slope, and oh how the tables have turned. I finally made my way over to Fatty ‘Cue, Zak Pelaccio’s relatively new Southeast Asian-inspired BBQ joint on the Southside, and it was de-lish. We ordered the bacon app, which I was rightfully informed was a must-try, followed by the brisket served with steamed buns and great sauces. They get chicken from one of my fave poultry purveyors Bobo, which I didn’t get to try, and on Sundays, they serve half a pig’s head, which also I didn’t “get” to try. But I will be back, next time with a huge group so we can order everything on the menu. Who’s with me? 

Pre-Apollo Theatre dinner uptown at Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too

Awayavore   The Hot Sauce and BBQ aisles at H-E-B (Here Everything’s Better) in Austin, TX

BBQ Part Two While I’m at it, I might as well give myself a little credit in the knowing-about-ribs department. On a recent trip to Austin, TX, we took a little detour to Llano, in Texas Hill Country to visit Cooper’s: an old time pit BBQ where you pay by the pound and slather on vinegary homemade sauce and just roll with it. Even Dubya likes it.

I threw a surprise party for Guy at Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem this weekend. There’s nothing like a birthday to encourage gluttony, so we lived in the moment with their Swag Sampler Plate, which comes with fried green tomatoes, wings, deviled eggs and spicy boiled shrimp.

We moved onto the Sweetheart Plate: a full rack of ribs and four homemade sides. We chose mac & cheese, Syracuse salt potatoes, Creole potato salad and simmered greens. It also came with two pieces of honey hush cornbread that we saved no room for.

I found Dinosaur’s smoky, saucy ribs to be delish, but considering I’d probably eaten ribs a half dozen times in my life before meeting Guy, maybe I’m not technically a connoisseur. Luckily, we dined with a handful of Guy’s Texas compadres who also gave the place their seal of approval. That’s legitimizing enough, right?