Texas-style barbecue comes to the heart of NC pork barbecue country. What’s its secret?
The brisket invasion continues in the Triangle’s escalating barbecue scene, as a Texas-style newcomer plans a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
Started this year as a barbecue pop up, Dampf Good BBQ announced this month it will join the Craften food hall in Clayton, slated to open next spring.
Dampf Good takes its name from Nick Dampf, an RTP technology salesman who, inspired by months of working and smoking meats at home, is making a career shift into barbecue. Having lived in St. Louis and Dallas, Dampf said his barbecue vision begins with brisket.
“(Brisket) can’t be cooked the same way you cook pork,” Dampf said. “It’s done a lot differently down in Texas. It’s that style of cooking (using offset smokers) that sets brisket apart.”
For nearly the entire history of North Carolina barbecue, pitmasters here have held very little concern for how things are done in Texas. This is pork country, of course, land of shoulders and whole hog and sauces heavy on the vinegar.
But an influx of brisket and beef ribs, even from native North Carolinians, has quickly changed the state’s barbecue landscape. Now all that matters is whether or not it’s good and cooked with wood. While Texas may have lit the fire of today’s barbecue trends, Triangle restaurants like Prime BBQ and Lawrence BBQ have set out to prove geography has little to do with smoking a brisket.
‘I’m hoping people are receptive’
Dampf aims to be the next to bring the tastes of Texas to the Triangle
“I’m hoping people are receptive for real Texas barbecue,” Dampf said. “The biggest difference for us is how we smoke our meat. We’re never going to use propane or electric assist smokers. We’re going to have people there running the fires around the clock. It’s a lot of work but we will never compromise on the style and how we cook.”
Barbecue has been a lifelong love, Dampf said, as has the idea of owning his own business. Dampf said combining the two feels like a dream.
“It’s always the big centerpiece at family gatherings and birthdays,” Dampf said.
Dampf started cooking on a drum style smoker and then switched to offset, the style preferred in Texas, where a fire box sends smoke across the meat in the smoker and out a stovepipe.
After years of smoking meat as a pastime, Dampf sold his first plate of brisket this past June at the State Fairgrounds’ weekend market. From there it’s been a series of popups throughout the Triangle and enough sellouts to make Dampf consider making a go of it.
“When COVID hit and we were at home, I just wanted to be self-employed,” Dampf said. “I want to build a better working environment for myself and family and want to be able to give that to other people. That’s a big drive. It might only be for four or five families who work with us, but I’m really excited to be the boss I always wish I had.”
Dampf moved somewhat quickly from hobby barbecue in his backyard to running a pop up to working on a restaurant. He said he wanted to open up a brick and mortar within the year, something with outdoor space and tables for larger groups to gather.
Then the Craften food hall in Clayton nearly fit that bill.
“They’ve got a very similar idea in mind; it’s a food hall, but a bit different than the typical food hall,” Dampf said. “We really wanted to have a space that focused on family and the outdoors. That’s what barbecue is all about, bringing people together.”
The Craften food hall concept
Craften is the latest food hall concept planned for the Triangle, with locations in Knightdale and Clayton. Instead of the glorified food court model, Craften will run service like a restaurant, with diners choosing dishes from a variety of different menus.
Now he uses a 500-gallon smoker made out of a retired propane tank. For Clayton, Dampf will add two 1,000 gallon smokers.
Dampf said his briskets and beef ribs take about 12 to 15 hours to cook. The rubs are just salt and a heavy amount of black pepper, he said, with pork ribs getting a coating of a few other spices.
“The flavor that customers love is from the smoke,” Dampf said. “People will come up and ask what’s in our rub and the bulk is just salt and pepper. It’s the smoke where you get that sweet flavor.”
The Dampf Good menu will always include brisket and pulled pork shoulders and beef ribs at least once a week. Specials will include pastrami for Reuben sandwiches and a Texas import that plays up North Carolina’s bounty of pork: the pork steak, thick cuts of Boston butt smoked and browned.
“It’s something I’m really excited about,” Dampf said, shouting out Snow’s BBQ in Lexington and its famous pitmaster, Tootsie Tomanetz, as influences. “You don’t see it here, but I like a good pork steak better than a beef steak.”
Look for spare ribs as well and sides including coleslaw, a smoked mac and cheese, brisket baked beans and pasta salad.
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 11:18 AM.
