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Blue Plate Special : A Dinner with Jacques Renault at Lockhart Barbecue

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Jacques Renault, tell us your background.

Well, my father is a first generation San Franciscan and my mother is from Milwaukee. Both had pretty different upbringings. My mom actually lived in San Francisco for a while, too. It was one of her many stopovers. She did a lot of traveling and lived throughout Europe for a couple of years. But my parents met in Chicago. They've been to a lot of places.

Do you speak French?

I was actually all over the place with languages. Growing up with my father, yeah, we definitely spoke more French in the house but my mother didn't speak a foreign language. So when he passed away early in my childhood, we didn't really use it anymore. I basically lost much of it. In high school, I actually chose Spanish as my foreign credit. So yes and no, I can understand both [Spanish and French] but I don't really speak it.

(pictured) Jacques Renault

What brought you to the disco scene?

I grew up playing classical music and listened to punk rock. I really didn't discover deejaying until around 1996-97, which really attracted me because it was something I could do on my own. From there, I started checking out different genres, from drum and bass, to northern soul, to dance hall, like totally random stuff, right? Then I just got hooked. It was amazing [Laughs]. I noticed like-minded people heavily into punk rock became disco nerds. It's funny, you know?

And that was the "ah-ha" moment?

Yeah, that's around the time when I first started. I eventually got a job as a buyer at Gramophone Records, this great Chicago-based record shop. There, I discovered disco. All these customers were trading and reselling used classics. It was so easy to just pick them up and start listening to: Metro Area, Danny Wayne, you know ... the few New York labels that were actually doing disco. Really, "Chicago House" was disco house in a sense. It was great just listening to all those original albums. All the records were cheap too -- not even $3.

Is that how started your collection?

Yeah. I wasn't buying records on eBay or anything like that. To me, it's about where you were, the environment you were in, and where you found stuff. After that, I moved to New York and got more serious about it. From getting out there and meeting new people, deejaying just kind of took off.

(pictured) Renault dives into the chicken

What is your favorite restaurant?

I live right by the Williamsburg Bridge [in Brooklyn]. Marlow & Sons is where I frequent. I joke about this with my friends because there are many up-and-coming restaurants in Williamsburg and Manhattan. There are always places to try but a guaranteed great meal will always be at a local diner.

With Marlow, I can't count how many great things I like about it. For instance, I'll go to Marlow for a smooth cup of Stumptown French Press coffee, grab some fresh baked goods, or just to hang out. Actually, in terms of coffee, we're [Brooklyn] now importing Blue Bottle which is also tasty. Personally my favorite is Four Barrel from San Francisco. Anyway, Marlow is my destination for anything related to food. Like for Thanksgiving, I just bought my sister a pecan pie made with rye whiskey. It's incredible. When I moved to Brooklyn, Marlow was the first place where I ate a sit-down meal. My girlfriend at the time actually started working there as well. I highly recommend it when you guys roll into town.

Creating a familiar environment in a new city.

Exactly. I mean, I met so many people there too. I had the pleasure of bumping into Stephen Tanner, a well-respected Brooklyn-based chef. His food is amazing, man. He ultimately went on to head other concepts around the city [such as Pies 'n' Thighs, Egg] I followed this guy over the years. He currently has this bar called The Commodore. It's a local hangout with great food ... the best fried chicken you'll ever have.

What do you think about Texas barbecue? How do you like Lockhart?

It's so delicious man. Everything here is really tender. It totally hits the spot right now. I'll need a Budweiser to go with this.

Tim McLaughlin, Lockhart Smokehouse Pit Master and Co-Owner

(pictured) Jacques Renault and Lockhart's Chef Tim McLaughlin

Tim, what's your culinary background?

My background was from the fine-dining world. I used to work as an instructor at Le Cordon Bleu and many of the guys that work here were my students.

Lockhart is part of the whole Central Texas barbecue scene. We wanted to bring it to Dallas. They asked me to lead it and I said, "Yeah, that sounds great." So I went down there, trained for three months, and here we are.

(pictured) Stuffed deviled eggs

How is it different from fine dining?

Tim: Well, it's a breath of fresh air to be honest with you. We can just focus on seven or eight quality ingredients instead of all these moving parts. We can hone in on the meat and a few sides. It's an opportunity to master and refine the most important parts of the meal.

(pictured) Lean Beef Brisket

Have you incorporated any Le Cordon approaches to barbecue dishes?

Tim: Well, we have our Mac and Cheese made with Bechamel Sauce, which is a traditional French recipe. But it's more about cooking techniques than an array of ingredients or flavors. If you want a restaurant to be a success, with the whole farm-to-table movement we're seeing now, make what people are interested in ... simple ingredients with a quality and focused technique.

The difference between us and others who cook Central Texas barbecue is the use of Texas Post Oak wood. It's not mesquite and not hickory, just real strong and real smoky. All the meat is Angus too.

(pictured) Jacques and Tim talk barbecue

What's your favorite cut?

Jacques: I really liked the fatty brisket. So good.

Tim: Yeah, I agree. The lean is good too but we tend to call the lean cut the "vegetarian cut". The fatty brisket is just where it's at. The pork chop and chicken is also pretty tasty. We cook from the outside in so that all the moisture and juiciness stays within the meat.