Construction Coming Along At The Foreman-Wolf Spot In Columbia; New Chef At Greystone?

You can see the bones of a restaurant in the Columbia lakefront space being renovated into a restaurant by Tony Foreman and Cindy Wolf.

Walls have gone up.  You can see what looks like entry area, a bar, maybe a private room or an alcove.  They're just rough construction materials and utility lights, so I can't imagine how the place could open in 2013.  But that was the original plan, and I'm no expert.

Has anyone heard about the current timeline for opening?  Or heard what name or menu they're picked for their Columbia spot?

While we're asking questions, has anyone heard about changes at the Greystone Grill in Ellicott City?  I have heard rumors about Robert Gadsby, the chef who has created terrific food at a casual barbecue place on U.S. 1 in Laurel.  His RG's BBQ Cafe has spectacular ribs, chicken and specials like lamb shank, but his real history has been upscale restaurants.  People -- including me -- jumped the gun earlier this year and thought Gadsby would take off the former Venegas in Fulton.  That didn't happen, but the skill in that barbecue will make me line up wherever he takes over -- even to "Gadsby's Bar American."

Barbecued Lamb & Baked Beans At RG's BBQ Cafe

Lamb shank with mac and baked beans

Go to RG's BBQ Cafe with small expectations and great hope.

I don't want to oversell the small barbecue spot on U.S. 1 in Laurel.  But I went in for takeout, and I came out with two-thirds of a dinner that could sit proudly on any restaurant around town.

Barbecued lamb with sides of baked beans and macaroni and cheese.  I got a long bone with tender, moist meat on one end, surrounded by a pool of the most amazing sauce.  The meat was rich and tender, glazed where the sauce that firmed under the heat.  But it's the sauce that said I was eating from a professional kitchen, even if it was a tiny one.

A smoky tomato sauce that Todd Kliman describes better than I can.  (See below.)  I just know that I stood up half-way through eating the meat to defrost and lightly toast two slices of Wegmans sourdough bread from the freezer.  I used them to just eat sauce.  Then I finished with lamb.

RG's took over the former Bar-B-Que House on the strip of U.S. 1 that runs past thrift shops and low motels on the way into PG County.  But the Bar-B-Que House is 100% Howard County, my friends.

RG is Robert Gadsby, a guy who has been a high-end restaurant chef and who has brought high effort to even counter service and barbecue.  Notice the television on the Food Network, and the Baltimore Sun sections hanging by the door -- orderly and clean, waiting for customers to read while they wait.

The lamb came with a choice of two sides, and they're generous containers that warrant a $14 dinner.  My baked beans were as delicious as the collard greens that I ate on my first visit.  Again, they were tender and full of flavor -- even though they didn't have the nuggets of meat that have always been the key when beans stood out in the past.  These beans were just talent.  Tender, earthy beans cooked with a sauce that I know I couldn't pull off on my own.

Not everything is perfect, but even the drops make me want to go back again.  RG's macaroni and cheese was bland.  Not bad.  Just a chef trying something that didn't work for me.  I pushed half the container away because it just didn't live up to the lamb or beans, but I was already thinking that I'll try the onion rings on my next visit.

If you find crowds when you visit, don't be surprised.  Todd Kliman of the Washingtonian reviewed RG's BBQ Cafe in the current edition.  He praised the food.  He and others have noted inconsistencies -- like Kliman's night when the beans tasted purchased or a night when my friend's table waited 40 minutes for half their orders.  Kliman also has a professional description that captures the sauce that sent me for white bread to sop it up:

The chef produces three variations of his basic formula—mild, spicy, and hot. They elude easy classification. Gadsby has taken the signal characteristics of the various barbecue meccas and blended them into a sauce that tastes all at once of North Carolina (sharp), Texas (smoky), and Memphis/Kansas City (sweet and tomatoey). No one trait dominates. It’s a condiment that could probably make cardboard taste good.

Overall, I recommend people trying out RG's BBQ Cafe.  Gadsby is definitely trying something special, and you can try ribs, pulled pork, pit beef, hot dogs and specials like a bacon-wrapped quail.  There are honest barbecue fights to pick -- does he have a smoker? should ribs really fall off the bone? -- but Gadsby's kitchen makes for something special on U.S. 1.

If Laurel is too far, there is good barbecue around the county.  Kloby's Smokehouse is my local, and the "old and dirty" wings are among my favorite dishes around.  I wish Kloby's sides were as large or unusual as RG's.  At lunch time, you can go even-more-basic than RG's with a roadside barbecue from Dave's near the Savage MARC station.

First Thoughts: RG's BBQ Cafe in Laurel

Spare ribs, collards and corn bread

You have a high-end chef trying to lay low in Laurel -- dishing up barbecue that is very worth the drive to U.S. 1.

You'll know them because it'll be the only hole-in-the-wall dining room that shows the Food Network.

You'll also know them for the food.  Smokey, seared spare ribs, light corn bread, and the best collard greens that I remember eating.

That was my first platter, and it only suggests more good things to find on that menu.  RG's BBQ Cafe is a new restaurant in the U.S. 1 building that used to be the Bar-B-Que House.  It's the same casual spot with counter service and a small dining room.  But it's a new operation.

It's an operation run by Robert Gadsby -- former executive chef at the Biltmore Hotel in LA and a 2007 contestant on Iron Chef America.  I had noticed the new signs, but Gadsby seems to be running a low-key operation with a Groupon, but no new Web site.

He's not going low on the food.  My $14 platter centered on spare ribs -- meaty ribs with a firm bite and smokey flavor.  It was a huge half rack, but the side dishes were the real shock.  Generous portions of special food.  Corn bread with full flavor and the lightest texture.  Collard greens cooked to perfect tenderness and an earthy tone.

If you're honest, you'll admit that the best part of many collard greens is the meat.  I'll dig around good greens to find a burnt end or some other pork.  But RG's greens may be vegetarian.  At least, I didn't see any meat.  I just forked up greens.  It takes real talent to make something that simple taste so delicious.  I ate dinner watching Chopped on the television, and I'm sure that my meal beat everything in the show.

I'm excited to eat more at RG's BBQ Cafe.  This is on my way home, so I'll work through the pulled pork, the baby back ribs, maybe the burger.  There are hot dogs, which I would normally skip but might be special if they're done like the collard greens.

Gadsby is the chef who folks have said may be taking over the Venegas Prime Filet in Fulton.  I need a lookout to watch for a new menu at Venegas.  MoCo wrote a comment last week, saying that folks at Venegas said the new menu could be coming in the next week.  Has anyone seen it?  Tasted it?

RG's BBQ Cafe
9990 N. Washington Street (U.S. 1)

Laurel, MD 20723

(301) 604-2333

NEAR:  RG's BBQ Cafe is the old Bar-B-Que House on U.S. 1 in Laurel.  It's north of Main Street where U.S. 1 has split into separate north-bound and south-bound lanes.  RG's BBQ Cafe is on the south-bound side.