In Memphis, barbecue means pork ribs and pork shoulder sandwiches.

In fact, when most residents of Bluff City say barbecue, they mean a pulled pork sandwich with cole slaw. That’s not slaw on the side either, bunkie. The slaw goes on the sandwich.

Though just about any meat can be used, traditional Memphis barbecue is usually smoked pork served in one of two forms — spareribs or baby back ribs, or pulled. True Memphis smokers (those who smoke pork) don’t rely on seasoning alone to ensure a great barbecue. They use only the best meat and let the slow smoking process enhance its natural flavor. This results in tender, tasty pork, even without traditional rubs and sauces.

Memphis is probably best known for its dry barbecue. Most frequently used on ribs, the dry style is highly flavorful and is less messy to eat than wet.

In the dry process, the ribs are coated with a rub made from ingredients such as garlic, paprika, onions, cumin and other spices. They are then cooked in a smoker until they are fall-off-the-bone tender. Typically, dry ribs are served with a sauce on the side.

Although it doesn’t claim to be a Memphis-styled barbecue house, Napa’s new eatery, BarBersQ in Bel Aire Plaza, closely follows the dictates for east of the Mississippi/Memphis “Q.”

Since the upcoming Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of the summer barbecue season, we turned to BarBersQ executive chef Stephen Barber for some advice on our menu for the first outdoor backyard bash of the season.

We didn’t ask Barber to part with his treasure trove of barbecue recipes. We can tell you that he seasons his baby back ribs with a dry rub made from peppers, chiles and herbs grown and ground at the Napa farm of restaurant managing partner Gene Tartaglia. And the baby backs are slowly smoked over cherry wood in the large ovens that cover one wall of the restaurant’s gleaming kitchen. The large pork shoulders — which are used for the restaurant’s number one seller, the pulled pork sandwich — spend about 18 hours in the kitchen smoker.

Barber agreed with our assessment that his menu is decidedly Memphian, yet it has a California accent. For example, he puts barbecue sauce on his pulled pork sandwich — a no-no in a majority of Memphis barbecue houses.

“I don’t want to be tied to a particular style because that’s limiting,” Barber said during a break in service over the weekend. He intends to follow the Memphis barbecue dictates for the most part, but add his own touches when he feels they enhance the dining experience.

The chef has provided Register readers with a recipe for a dry rub, another for barbecued chicken that can be either grilled or smoked, one for barbecued oysters with chile mignonette, plus a fourth for mini lamb burgers that are ideal for appetizers at your next party with family and friends.

How they got here

A native of western Kentucky, Barber abandoned college classrooms for the exciting world of cuisine. Unhappy with studies at Murray State, Barber hooked up with friends at Ole Miss and it was there, in Oxford, Miss., that he embarked on a course that shaped his future.

Barber got a job at City Grocery and, recognizing the young man’s potential, the owner took Barber under his wing.

A vanguard of new Southern cuisine, City Grocery is a white tablecloth restaurant set in a one-time grocery. It is here that Barber received the valuable basics for his newfound culinary career.

He eventually headed off to Miami and wound up at Norman’s, the widely acclaimed restaurant owned by Norman Van Aken, considered to be South Florida’s most gifted chef.

That led to Barber working with actress Cameron Diaz when she opened an upscale sushi bar and restaurant, Bambu, in Miami’s trendy South Beach. Barber was Bambu’s opening chef.

He first met his current partner, Gene Tartaglia, while at Bambu. Tartaglia came in to dine several times and struck up a conversation with Barber while doing research for a project in the area.

Tartaglia owned and operated the popular San Francisco restaurant, Mecca, at the time. When the chef at Mecca relocated to Hawaii, Tartaglia invited Barber to man the stoves at Mecca.

After running Mecca for a decade, Tartaglia decided to sell the business and open another restaurant closer to his home in Napa. He invited Barber to be part of that project.

“When I first arrived at Mecca, I told Gene that one day I’d like to open a barbecue joint. This is what that ‘barbecue joint’ turned into.”

As an aside, Barber notes that the barbecued ribs were the top selling dish at Mecca while he was there.

Getting the barbecue restaurant open in Bel Aire Plaza took a lot longer than the principals imagined. During that two year stretch, Barber said he offered a helping hand to a number of local chefs.

BarBersQ is open for lunch and dinner daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The restaurant has recently opened its 30-seat patio for dining. Managerial duties are shared by Ryan Eidson, who also worked at Mecca with Tartaglia and Barber, and Napa’s Pat Jeffries.

A To Go menu was just added to the lineup and, somewhere down the line, the restaurant will add delivery to the dine-out options.

For additional information about the menu, call 224-6600. The restaurant will begin taking reservations May 30.