Dish Buzz: Wildwood

Wildwood

Can NYC do BBQ? Better yet, can they do a slight upscale version at that? I’d read much of Wildwood since their opening back in December 2007, but I dragged my feet to allow some time for the kinks to be worked out before checking it out.

It was restaurant week so Wildwood’s regular menu was only available on the weekends. It all looked good. One friend ordered their grilled chicken sandwich, the highlight seemed to be their homemade salt ‘n’ vinegar chips. Next time, I think I’ll add that to my must-have-sides list.

A friend and I split their pork spare ribs, which the menu describes as “dry dusted with Lou’s Sugar and Spice rub”. I’m not sure who Lou is, but they were very tasty. There was more than enough for two. And the table has multiple options for further dressing up your meat. There are two types of sauces, one a more standard BBQ sauce and the other a more spicy, chipotle sauce. I opted for spicy, which while quite tasty, I’ll own up to my nose twitching and stinging a bit for a couple of hours following.

Ribs & Cornbread - Wildwood

For sides, we opted for the cast iron skillet cornbread, which was just perfect. It came out already glowing with just the right touch of butter. If it wasn’t enough then yes, there was more butter to be slathered on top. They’ve got a wide variety of sides, from sweet potato fries, grilled corn on the cobb, to bacon backed beans and aged cheddar mac & cheese. It was food with a Southern flare done well. I didn’t know if they would pull it off, but they did it nicely.

We capped off the meal with their s’mores fluffernutter fondue — with the usage of “fondue” being a bit of a misnomer. The dish came out served in a pot, containing three s’mores graham cracker sandwiches of sorts. In typical fluffernutter fashion, each sandwich had a thin layer of peanut butter, a thicker layer of marshmallow fluff, and a thin exterior coating of chocolate. Overall though it was quite good and a perfect small bite of dessert to split among friends quite full from lots of great BBQ. I’m looking forward to returning to try more of the menu

Wildwood - 225 Park Avenue South ( @18th Street ) - 212.533.2500 - Reservations Optional