America’s barbecue capitals primarily consist of North Carolina, Texas, Kansas City and Memphis, but other areas still have contributions to the conversation. In Los Angeles, a city that primarily consists of transplants, Kenneth “Hambone” Hamilton is manning a smoker for Mississippi at Hambone’s BBQ. The affable man that means meaty business debuted his namesake restaurant in Bellflower in April, 2011, featuring ‘cue that adheres to traditions from the southern Mississippi town of Brookhaven, along with some California accents.

For instance, they sure don’t use avocado wood in Mississippi, but Hambone fuels his smoker with that particularly California product to smoke his brisket and tri-tip out back. However, for pork products, Hambone prefers red oak. For my 2 Meat Dinner ($17.25), he buffeted baby back ribs and pork with red oak smoke, resulting in tender hog with considerable bark. The description of the pork as “pulled” was a misnomer, since the meat was clearly sliced, but it did flake at the touch of a fork, and the tangy tomato based sauce was of course welcome.

Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.