Culver City Has Great New BBQ – Maple Block Meat

Barbecue is classic American comfort food and I look forward to opportunities when I can experience it. I recently learned about Maple Block Meat in Culver City and a friend of mine recently joined me for dinner.

Owners Adam Cole (Ink) and Daniel Weinstock (Spago) teamed up to open Maple Block Meat. Cole had experience working at a boutique butcher. As a result, all of their meat is butchered in-house from whole animals. This provides them ability to serve unique cuts of meat that you may not find elsewhere.

An example of one unique offering is cappo ribs. This was on the specials list that day. Our server explained that cappo ribs are much thicker and meatier and come from a different area of the rib. We decided to order those, along with the brisket and chopped pork shoulder.  

Chopped Pork, Cappo Ribs, Brisket served with two BBQ sauces

Our meat selections had a nice smoked flavor that didn’t overpower the flavor of the meat. Brisket was my favorite of the bunch as it was extremely tender and flavorful. The BBQ sauces that accompanied the meat had a vinegar base and were nicely balanced and not too spicy.

Salt Roasted Golden Beets

To balance out the heavy protein choices, we selected the salt roasted beets also from the special menu and their white cheddar grits. After seeing so many orders of biscuits go by our table, we ordered some as well. To wash it down, we selected two draft beers.

Grits with white cheddar cheese topped with brisket

Plain grits aren’t appealing to me and I think other ingredients need to be added to make them worth eating. Their grits were mixed with white cheddar cheese so that they were creamy like risotto. They were topped with sliced shallots and brisket bits. We both remarked on how delicious this dish was.

Steaming hot biscuits with whipped honey butter

Each bite of the hot biscuit was a fantastic culinary experience. They were flaky on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The ingredients were basic: buttermilk, baking powder, baking soda and flour. I learned the secret was the use of White Lily flour. This flour is milled from red winter wheat and is popular among Southern bakers.

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA.

Since we wanted to have the full experience, we each ordered a draft Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA. It is a full bodied beer with floral notes.  In addition, they feature homemade sodas with unique flavors like ginger and coffee. Their wine selection is rather minimal.

Seeing the special menu that was available for lunch, we saw that we missed out on a Prime Rib Sandwich. What caught our eye was the fact that it was only $13.

This is the type of place that is fun to go to with a group of people. Orders are meant to be shared and the meat dishes are served on a baking pan. Eater LA has this as one of the top Happy Hours in LA and so I’m sure I’ll be back for that experience.

Maple Block Meat, 3973 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, CA 90230
http://www.mapleblockmeat.com/