Dish

An excerpt from the Going Out Gurus blog (http://www.voices.washingtonpost. com/goingoutgurus):

Hill Country, the big barn of a barbecue joint in New York, is coming to Washington courtesy of its founder, Bethesda native Marc Glosserman. Though the self-service restaurant is still a year away from opening in Penn Quarter (at 410 Seventh St. NW), some of us are already licking our lips in anticipation of a slab or two of the signature dry-rubbed, slow-smoked brisket and ribs.

Like the original in Chelsea, the 250-seat Hill Country in Washington will take its cue (pun intended) from Kreuz Market, the famous barbecue destination in Lockhart, Texas, where the meat is sold at a counter by weight and on butcher paper. With his second location, Glosserman is once again aiming for "faithful replication": the wood for the fire will be Texas post oak, the drinks will include Big Red (cream soda from Waco) and the ice cream for the desserts will be Blue Bell.

The secret to good Texas barbecue? "It's not what you put on," says Glosserman, whose father hails from Lockhart, "but what you leave off." Nix any sauce. His meats are simply seasoned with kosher salt, black pepper and cayenne.

Food won't be the only draw at Hill Country, which is expected to debut in July 2010. Along with baked beans "with burnt ends" and PB&J cupcakes, Glosserman and his team plan to dish up live music, including country, blues and Southern rock.

To which we say: Yee-haw (and pass the paper towels).

-- Tom Sietsema