Move over St. Louis, Texas and North Carolina — Milwaukee's about to land on the barbecue map.
At least that's the hope of chef Aaron Patin, who on Friday is debuting something called the Milwaukee rib. The dish is the star attraction at his just-opened Iron Grate BBQ on Milwaukee's south side — which for some Chicago barbecue lovers is closer than Chicago's South Side. There, Patin shares a couple of things with Hawthorne Coffee Roasters: an open space converted from an old cowboy bar, and a common goal of creating a taste that's unique to the city.
So what the heck is a Milwaukee rib?
"It's a special cut of spare rib with the belly still attached to it," Patin explained in his dining room last week. "My biggest complaint with ribs was there was never enough meat. You're always eating the meat between the bones. To achieve the cut of ribs — St. Louis or spare ribs — you have to take it off the meat. But I thought, 'Why not leave the meat attached to the rib to make it more meaty?'"
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