Nancy’s Bar-B-Q in Sarasota, Florida – Ribs to Remember
10/28/2023
by Robert Abrams

As I write this, the taste of Nancy Krohngold’s Bar-B-Q is still tingling on my lips.

A simple-seeming dry-rub barbeque that revealed complexity as I ate it, such as the slowly increasing heat of the spice. A flavor that was simultaneously orgasmic and reserved. A crust on top of each rib that gave way to soft gliding portions of meat. A generosity of both the food and the hospitality of the server, and of Nancy herself, who came over to each table to greet and chat with the diners. This paragraph is full of incomplete sentences, and the only way to complete them is if you go to Nancy’s Bar-B-Q and try the food yourself.

I came to Sarasota because my mentor in graduate school, Dr. Joseph Novak, passed away recently. He had settled in the Sarasota area after he retired from Cornell University. His family held a celebration of his life. Joe had a big impact on me, so I felt compelled to attend, even though I live in NYC.

It was my last night in Sarasota, so I was looking for somewhere to have dinner. The manager of my hotel gave me a list of restaurants in the area. For some reason, I had this feeling that I wanted BBQ. Nancy’s Bar-B-Q was on the list, and after looking at a couple of restaurants’ web sites, I drove to Nancy’s.

When I got there, much to my dismay I discovered that the building was gone. I called the restaurant and found out it had moved recently. Got the new address. Drove there. Found parking fairly easily.

I had ordered the combination of ribs, pulled pork and one side (red skin potato salad), plus a craft root beer. The pulled pork was fine, and the potatoes were a good balance to the meat. In retrospect, I might have skipped the pulled pork and added a vegetable. The red meat and the root beer made a good pairing, but Nancy’s Bar-B-Q is a down home kind of place, so I don’t want to overdo the food language; it could have been sparkling water and likely it also would have been a good combination.

They had a live musician playing covers of a variety of songs. No one was dancing, but they could have.

I’m a grass-fed kind of guy. I believe there is a place for meat in the diet and the agricultural system. That also means that we, as in each I, and at least myself, need to honor the cow and the pig and the chicken, and the people who raised them. If nothing else, by remembering that the food on the plate comes from animals. By remembering them, we give them dignity, and through that remembering, give ourselves dignity. (Flame off.)

Speaking of food language, I have never understood what people mean by “Umami”. I know it is related to meat, and it has technical molecular components, but as a definable and measurable component of taste, I haven’t been able to pin it down. Yes, it can be called “savory” except that is kicking the can down the road, in my opinion, because savory is all foods that are not dominated by sweet.

However, having now eaten at Nancy’s Bar-B-Q, I can offer a possible definition of Umami, if a slightly irreverent definition. Great Umami is any dish or meal that makes you say, “Ooh, Mami!”

Nancy’s Bar-B-Q ribs made me say “Ooh, Mami!” The food combined with the warmth of the staff will bring me back to Nancy’s Bar-B-Q the next time I am in Sarasota, Florida. But don’t just take my word for it: go to Nancy’s Bar-B-Q and try it yourself.

—

Nancy’s Bar-B-Q is located at 1525 4th Street, Sarasota, Florida 34236. Their website is https://nancysbarbq.com . Their phone is 941-999-2390.

I have friends who are top notch musicians. A not-comprehensive list would include Gary Negbaur (garynegbaur.com), Ashley Bathgate (ashleybathgate.com) and Frank Olson (frankolson.com).

I, on the other hand, have never been known for my musical abilities. In high school, after earning my acting stripes in a drama at Stagedoor Manor, the performing arts camp in the Catskills, I asked to be cast in a musical. I was given the role of Doc in West Side Story, who sang all of five bars of music, with the rest of the cast, from behind the set. During grade school, I took music lessons for several years to learn how to play the rubber pad. Technically, these were drum lessons, but I had a drum teacher who thought I would never be ready for a real drum. I took saxophone lessons for a year in high school and during my freshman year at Stanford. I liked playing the sax, but it never stuck.

Then the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown arrived, and people started expressing support for essential workers by clapping at 7:00 PM each night for exactly five minutes. Looking around my apartment, I found a wooden musical instrument designed to be struck with a stick, found the stick, and joined in each night from my balcony. After a while, I realized that I wasn’t making enough noise. A guy in the building across the way was setting the standard by playing a slide trombone. (Whether you like Commander William Riker of Star Trek: TNG, or not, both rational and emotional people have to agree that the slide trombone is a super-cool instrument.)

To step up my 7:00 PM Clapping game, I looked through Sam Ash’s website and eBay to find the least expensive horn I could find. That turned out to be the mini hunting horn. When the horn was delivered, I had no idea how to play it. The mouthpiece on this horn is like a trumpet, and not at all like a sax.

After searching the internet, I finally found this page: https://www.foxhuntinglife.com/foxhunting-horse-a-hound/norman-fine/2323-how-to-blow-the-fox-hunting-horn

This paragraph, probably printed in the 1940s, helped me get some sound out of the horn – still not sure what it really means in a technical sense, but it helped nonetheless (Sarah, my 11 year old daughter, figured it out more quickly than I did):
“In The Hunting Horn: What to Blow and How to Blow It—an undated, pocket-sized, twenty-seven-page booklet, first published probably in the 1940s—author L.C.R. Cameron says, “The lips of the performer should be hard, and the front teeth in good order. Hold the tube in the right hand, the bell slightly depressed, and incline it so that the wind does not blow directly into the tube. Almost close the lips, pressing them back against the teeth. Place the mouthpiece firmly against the centre of the almost closed lips and half blow, half spit into the mouthpiece, when a clear note should be produced. It is not necessary to puff out the cheeks, nor to discharge a lot of saliva into the Horn. Once it is found that the note can be obtained it is merely a question of practise to prolong or shorten it, so as to produce the various calls.””

After a month or two of practice five minutes a day, I obtained a reasonable proficiency in the mini hunting horn. Which, of course, meant that I now needed a full sized hunting horn. I need to find an instruction text to learn the traditional hunting horn calls. Maybe also learn how to blow the horn with one hand, while riding a horse. I have, though, been experimenting with contemporary hunting horn technique, which is a fancy way of saying I have been making it up as I go along. I originally thought the hunting horn could only produce one note, but this turns out to be incorrect.

What, you may be asking, does any of this have to do with breakfast or meeting people? Mostly nothing, except that if you are mildly amused before meeting someone new, you are more likely to smile, and if you smile, you are more likely to turn that new person into a friend. I don’t claim to be at the Bang on a Can level, but I am confident you will be mildly amused after watching this video. And the view of Lake Cayuga is beautiful.