The Sides.

Cast iron. Buttermilk. Stone-ground yellow cornmeal from a Colorado mill. A glaze of honey butter brushed on the second it comes out of the oven. That is the cornbread.

Most BBQ-joint cornbread is a sheet-pan square cut from a hotel pan, baked off in the morning and reheated on the line. Ours is baked to order in twelve-inch cast-iron skillets — preheated until the butter smokes, batter poured in cold so the edges crisp on contact, into a 425F oven for twenty-two minutes. The result is the edge texture you can only get from a hot skillet: a quarter-inch lacquered crust, a steam-tender crumb underneath.

The honey butter is the second half. Local honey from a beekeeper near Black Forest, soft butter, a pinch of salt. Brushed on while the cornbread is still hot enough to absorb it. The honey glaze sets to a glossy lacquer as the skillet cools, and the sweetness lands behind the corn flavor instead of in front of it. That ordering matters — cornmeal first, butter second, honey third — and it is the reason this is the side regulars order even when they say they are not going to.

Served two ways: a small wedge for one (one-eighth of a twelve-inch skillet) or a large wedge to share. The large is the move with the smoked beans on the side — sop the beans up with the cornbread, eat the bread last with the honey lacquer melting onto the plate. That is the bite.

Collards are the side that separates a BBQ joint that cares from one that is going through the motions. Ours simmer with smoked turkey neck for three hours, get a hit of apple cider vinegar at the end, and land on the plate with the pot liquor in the bottom of the cup. That pot liquor — the spiced, smoky, slightly bitter broth the greens cooked in — is the half of the dish.

Why smoked turkey neck instead of pork hock or bacon. Pork is the southern default. We tried both. Smoked turkey neck has cleaner smoke (we smoke our own necks over hickory the same day we smoke the turkey sandwich breast), less rendered fat, and a leaner pot liquor that doesn't dominate the greens. The greens are the dish; the smoke is the seasoning; the meat is the binder. Pork can flip that ratio. Turkey doesn't.

Apple cider vinegar at the end, not at the start. Vinegar early in the cook breaks down the leaves and makes them mushy. Vinegar at the end — two minutes off the heat, stirred in cold — sets the brightness on top of the smoke and the greens hold their bite. A pinch of crushed red pepper goes in with the vinegar. That is the recipe.

Eat them with the pot liquor in the cup and a wedge of cornbread to sop the liquid up. That is the southern way to eat collards and it is the way regulars order them. If you have never had collards with cornbread, this is the order to try it on.

There are two ways to make slaw. The mayo way and the vinegar way. We make the vinegar way. Green and red cabbage, julienned carrot, a dressing built on apple-cider vinegar, a touch of dijon, a measured amount of sugar to balance the vinegar, salt, black pepper. That is the whole recipe. No mayo.

Why no mayo. Mayo slaw is the American default and it has its place — at a picnic, with fried chicken, eaten the same hour it was dressed. On a BBQ sandwich line, mayo slaw fails. It breaks down under the warmth of the pulled pork, it goes watery in the bag for to-go orders, and it makes the bottom of the bun soggy by the time the order is in the car. Vinegar slaw holds. It also brings acid to a plate that is otherwise smoke, fat, and salt — and acid is the thing a barbecue plate needs most.

Cut: cabbage hand-shredded thin, not run through a food processor. The processor crushes the cabbage and releases too much water. A sharp knife and twenty minutes gets us a slaw that stays crisp in the bin for the full service. Carrot julienned for color and a softer sweetness against the vinegar.

On the pulled-pork sandwich the slaw goes ON the pork, not on the side. The temperature contrast between hot pork and cold slaw, the crunch against the shredded meat, the vinegar against the sweet rub — that is the bite the sandwich is built around. As a stand-alone side it is the cleanest order on the menu and the side that goes best with the burnt ends if you want something to reset between cubes.