DGS’s brisket. (Photo courtesy of DGS)

Dish of the week: Brisket
Where to get it: Smoke and Barrel, Hill Country Barbecue, The BBQ Joint, DGS, Brooklyn Sandwich Co., Smoked & Stacked, Singer’s Significant Meats, Pho 14, Momofuku CCDC, Honey Pig

Transcending cultural lines and bridging culinary divides, brisket in its many forms appears on plates across hemispheres. A cut from the lower chest of the cow, the brisket area supports most of the animal’s front-half weight. This means it’s more muscular and tougher (and therefore cheaper!) than more haute cuts of beef. It’s why Four Seasons doesn’t serve it next to the porterhouse at its steakhouse, and why you see it on menus just about everywhere else.

Because of its rowdy characteristics —a whole bunch of muscle, fat, connective tissue, and cartilage sewn together—it’s a particular challenge and joy to cook and eat, especially when autumn comes around and we’re looking for heartier fare.

Here are three different takes on the cut from across the District:

Brisket a la barbecue is slow-cooked, saucy goodness, pitting pitmaster against a cut of beef that is stubborn yet rewarding. Smoke and Barrel’s overnight-smoked brisket is some of the top in the city, which you can get dry-rubbed, all saucy, or somewhere in between. We’re a fan of Hill Country Barbecue as well, and its loud and proud Texas-style ‘cue. The BBQ Joint, at Union Market and now on 14th Street as well, goes in a different direction—coaxed into sublime tenderness in a hickory wood-pellet smoker, the meat comes out with much more subtle notes of spice and smoke, but just as moist and rich.

Brisket at The BBQ Joint (Photo Courtesy The BBQ Joint)

It’s also a dish beloved by Ashkenazi Jews, and not only at holiday times. Brisket is a favorite cut for dishes like pot roast, pastrami, and corned beef. As the centerpiece of a festive meal, it’s slow-cooked and crafted with love by grandmothers from Eastern Europe to the Lower East Side. While no grandmas may be present at DGS, the brisket there still stands up to centuries of tradition. You can also steer yourself to Jewish-style brisket out the back of truck (and it’s Kosher, too!) thanks to Brooklyn Sandwich Co., as well as at the new, modern Smoked & Stacked for a heavenly in-house, weeklong-brined option.

Finally, brisket’s also featured submerged in savory broth at your local ramen or pho shop. Pho 14, for example, features chin (well-done brisket) and gau (a fattier slice). Momofuku CCDC even tosses its smoked version in savory buns. Served raw and paper-thin, brisket is a favored slice of meat at Korean BBQ spots like Honey Pig for self-grilling pleasure. In any language though, brisket’s a cut above the rest.

Bonus brisket: Every other Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Singer’s Significant Meats pops up at Bread Furst, marrying the two establishments’ signature ingredients to make what’s possibly the best phrase in the English language: pastrami on rye.