In Honor of Meat

Sometimes you just need a little red meat.

In the 60’s, when the craving hit my family we’d head to Lawry’s The Prime Rib on La Cienega Blvd. in Beverly Hills. My grandparents lived in Los Angeles and often when we’d visit from San Diego, they would treat our family to dinner at Lawry’s.

It was always a special occasion. The restaurant was expensive, even in those days, and for our family it felt like a big night out. My mom would doll up my sister and me in our best dresses, put my hair in a bun, which I hated, and remind us to be on our best behavior.

My grandparents were loving and wonderful people. As proper grandparents should, they showered their grandkids with presents. They took us on tons of outings --often to Kiddyland (also on La Cienega) and the La Brea Tar Pits. My grandmother baked cookies and made taffy. And they lived in a large house complete with a bar and a slot machine where my sister and I could pretend to be cowboys in an old time saloon.

In exchange for their largess they expected good behavior from us when out in public.

My most vivid memory of one of these meals at Lawry’s was of an elderly couple coming up to our table as we finished our meals. The husband leaned over conspiratorially to my dad and said, “Those are the most well behaved children we have ever seen in a restaurant. You have a lovely family.” My parents and my grandparents beamed with pride.

What the elderly couple didn’t know was that there was a secret behind our etiquette.

Much of the allure of Lawry’s, besides the beauty of a big red slab of prime rib on your plate, were the giant wheeled silver carts the chefs rolled over to your table that contained the standing rib roasts. The rolling doors on the carts would be dramatically opened to reveal the rib roasts and the chefs would carve them up tableside. It was quite an impressive sight befitting the over-the-top splendor of the restaurant.

And every time we went to Lawry’s, as we settled into our booth, my parents would point to one of the carts and remind my sister and I that that was were where they put the naughty children who didn’t behave at dinner. As absurd as that sounds, I believed it one hundred percent. And my parents, enjoying their martinis, never bothered to let me in on the joke.

Speaking of big metal contraptions that encase meaty delights, my new smoker from Weber arrived on Friday. The thing is enormous. It could fit two naughty children inside. It also has me thinking that I need to make some new meat eating friends as it seems fewer and fewer of my current pals are carnivorous.



I christened The Beast on Sunday and smoked up some baby back ribs. Kathy emailed me the next morning and claimed they were the best she’d ever had.



This spice rub is terrific on pork—baby back ribs in particular. Sprinkle both sides of the rib racks with the rub, then grill them over indirect heat on a charcoal grill for about 40 minutes. (These puppies took 4 ½ hours on my new smoker and they were worth every minute!)




Dry Rub

Adapted from Saveur Magazine

MAKES 3 CUPS
1 cup sugar
1⁄4 cup seasoned salt, such as Lawry's
1⁄4 cup garlic salt
1⁄4 cup celery salt
1⁄4 cup onion salt
1⁄2 cup paprika
3 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp. lemon pepper
2 tsp. ground sage
1 tsp. dry mustard
1⁄2 tsp. ground thyme
1⁄2 tsp. cayenne
1. Sift together sugar, seasoned salt, garlic salt, celery salt, onion salt, paprika, chili powder, black pepper, lemon pepper, sage, mustard, thyme, and cayenne into a bowl. Store in a jar. (When using, sprinkle onto, don't rub into, meat.)