Union Woodshop finds way with BBQ

A makeover of the Clarkston Café has brought a terrific down-home barbecue joint to Clarkston's Main Street.

The simple décor, including several long communal tables made from the wood of two local trees, an ash and a maple, and a backdrop of logs set into the walls, reflects the new focus.

The new Union Woodshop derives its name from the proprietor's other Clarkston restaurant, the 13-year-old Clarkston Union, and from the stacks of freshly cut green hickory used in the Southern Pride smoker that provides the pulled pork, baby back ribs and spareribs and beef brisket, and the cherrywood that fuels the pizza oven.

With comfort and affordability being prime in the minds of most restaurant-goers these days, Union Woodshop is right on target. As proprietor Curt Catallo puts it, "We're out to have some fun this time."

The Clarkston Café had two distinct parts, an upscale white tablecloth dining room used only in the evening, and a casual daytime room called Pizza Coco, and it was an awkward coupling.

Now the pizzas from the wood-burning oven in the bar fit nicely with the wood-smoked barbecue, for a much more seamless effect.

Staying on in the kitchen, chef Aaron Cozadd has made the transition from special occasion menu to this much more basic concept, and he seems to be enjoying it just as much as the diners who've flocked to the place since it opened a month ago.

Union Woodshop doesn't just impress with the quality of the dry-rubbed meats -- some of the best pulled pork, ribs and chicken I've tasted in a long time -- but also with carefully prepared side dishes that are anything but also-rans.

Collard greens are made with house-smoked bacon, and they have just the right tart taste. Yukon Gold potato salad has the tang of whole-grain mustard with flashes of red onion and dill, and the colorful coleslaw is a mix of red and green cabbage, carrots and green onions.

Other sides include green bean casserole, hand-cut home fries, black beans and rice, and sweet potatoes mashed with jalapeno peppers and Michigan maple syrup. Sides may be ordered at $3 if they are not included with a particular dish.

A good way to sample a cross-section of the menu is to order Woodshop 101: a quarter-chicken, with choice of white or dark meat, a choice of pulled pork or brisket, and a choice of two bones of spare ribs or two of back ribs, plus two sides from the long list ($18.95). Served on a wooden tray, they arrive with the four house barbecue sauces in a little wooden crate. They take wood seriously here.

You may not need the sauces at all, since the meat -- dry-rubbed with a blend Catallo calls their secret weapon -- stands on its own. But for those who like to create their own flavor profiles, there is Tennessee-style tomato and vinegar, Texas-style tomato and chipotle, Alabama white sauce sparked with horseradish and Chinatown-style hoisin and ginger, all housemade.

There is, of course, much more on the menu, including grilled cedar-planked salmon, steaks and those excellent pizzas, on crust made by pastry chef Will Cole, who also produces the nearly irresistible desserts, including peach cobbler and pecan pie sparked with Jim Beam. He also makes the vanilla ice cream served in a sandwich with chocolate chip cookies.

Drinks are served in Mason jars -- and this might just be a little too cutesy -- but pretty much everything else about Union Woodshop hits the target.