Distant Relatives team set up a sausage shop at Mean Eyed Cat. Linx is a play on, ‘We’re in the Mean Eyed Cat,’ as the lynx is an Arctic cat. It’s a link like in a sausage link, but L-I-N-X is also a play on Raekwon The Chef’s album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx,” explains Damien Brockway of his new hot dog venture at 1621 W. Fifth.
You can’t be surprised that the James Beard Award-nominated chef throws out a Wu-Tang reference when explaining the concept behind his new restaurant. After all, his critically acclaimed barbecue truck Distant Relatives, which explores the cuisine of the African diaspora, shares its name with an album from Damian Marley and Nas.
Brockway teamed up with Graham Penninger, who heads up the sausage program at Distant Relatives, after being asked by bar Mean Eyed Cat’s ownership, FBR Management, to take over the space a year ago. The two came up with their hot dog concept after deciding that sliced brisket plates might not exactly be the most convenient bar food to sell and that hot dogs would be easier for people to quickly maneuver with. Brockway notes, “It’s American street food. Oftentimes, you’re having drinks or you pop out to go to another bar and you stop by a hot dog cart. You’re just on the street, the price point is attractive, it’s quick and all-encompassing and it’s kind of like a sandwich but more fun.”
“The glizzy era is upon us,” declares Penninger. The Chicago native dug deep into his hometown’s history for Linx, saying, “The Chicago region has a lot of Italian and Polish influence. You can get Italian meats or Polish sausage on almost any street corner there. Linx also has some unique Creole influence too because Distant Relatives is modern African-American and when the Italians and African-Americans crossed over they made a cuisine which also includes French and some other stuff. Then there’s a Texas spin on everything: the pecan smoke and brisket trim. We’re using chuck roll instead of a bottom round that is normally used on Italian beef.”
Brockway adds, “South Chicago has a primarily African-American population and so taking inspiration from that, we’ll have rib tips and beef hot links, which is a staple from classic barbecue joints out there. The more European influences are clear to see as we have Polish kielbasa and house-made mustard.”
We stopped by the week after the Mean Eyed Cat’s 20th anniversary party to sample a spread that included their Italian beef sandwich, the polish kielbasa with onions and mustard, their Creole chaurice (a Louisiana-style sausage), and hot Italian sausage along with some traditional barbecue sides like coleslaw and potato salad from Penninger as well as barbecue nachos and spiced peanuts. “The only signature items that I have from the trailer are the peanuts,” says Brockway.
You can see the attention to detail in his, Pennington’s, and Linx manager John Henry’s food as the sausages and sides burst with flavor, more akin to what you find at high-end barbecue joints, as opposed to street hot dog vendors. “The beef hot link and chaurice are things you might sometimes see pop up on the trailer as well. There’s a lot of support for this [concept] as there’s a core group of people who watch the sausages at the trailer rotate constantly and are excited to see it become its own thing,” Brockway says.
The comfortable dive bar feel of Mean Eyed Cat, with its many nods to the live music history of the South, certainly makes for a chill, out-of-the-sun atmosphere to get some smoked meats at. And it doesn’t stop here: Brockway and his crew’s future plans include opening a brick and mortar Distant Relatives location along with conducting some future explorations into Caribbean jerk cuisine.
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