No part of America is as heavily mythologized as the South — the history, the accents, the music, and, of course, the food. Maybe that’s why so many Southern restaurants in New York have been so disappointing: They can’t live up to the myth, or to our outsized expectations, often because they devote more energy to providing lots of authentic-seeming Southern trappings than to the food.

But two new restaurants in Brooklyn have gotten it right. The surprise is that they make little claim to being authentically Southern; in fact, they’re both owned by native New Yorkers. Both eateries let the food speak for itself, with impressive results.

Let’s start with the more ambitious of the two, NoNO Kitchen. The fare is Cajun and the restaurant’s name stands for “north of New Orleans.” Chef-owner Greg Tatis was born in Manhattan and raised in Queens, but he’s got a line on his résumé that most genuine Southern cooks lack: a nine-year stint working for chef Paul Prudhomme at the celebrated Big Easy restaurant K-Paul’s. Mr. Tatis has also had a hand in several Southern-themed restaurants here in New York, including Delta Grill in Manhattan and Cooking With Jazz in Queens.

That mix of experience shows in his cooking, which generally stays true to Cajun standards but shows occasional updated flourishes. A typical example: an appetizer of jambalaya wontons ($7), stuffed with a mix of andouille sausage, tasso, and chicken. There’s also an astonishingly good starter of crispy pulled pork ($7), which appears to have been roasted and then flash-sautéed, creating an irresistibly crunchy exterior. Served on a bed of smoked apple chips, it comes off as simultaneously down-home and modern, and it’s miles better than the pulled pork being served at most barbecue joints around town.

Other appetizers show that Mr. Tatis is just as adept at the classics. Oysters Bienville ($10), seldom seen outside of Louisiana, is essentially a Cajun version of baked clams, with an ultra-rich mix of oysters, bacon, vegetables, and breading spooned into oyster shells and then baked. And there are three excellent gumbos, the best of which features smoked duck and, in an ingenious move, crispy pork cracklins ($6 for a cup, $10 for a bowl).

In keeping with New Orleans tradition, entrées are generally festive. Jambalaya ($17) features the same andouille/tasso/chicken combination as the dumplings, but to much spicier (and more filling) effect. Shrimp creole ($19) has snap and bite, thanks to an excellent red sauce. And lately, a crawfish boil special has been available ($18), featuring a pound and a half of the little critters, flown in live from Louisiana. They’re messy and laborious to eat but, as you know if you’ve ever had them, worth every bit of hassle — a rare treat in these parts.

Barbecue used to be rare in New York too, but now it seems like a new ‘cuery is opening every other month. Unfortunately, most of them are very weak. That’s what makes the Smoke Joint such a surprise: It offers solid, smoky barbecue, courtesy of a pair cooks who hail from that renowned smokehouse capital of, um, Brooklyn.

“Southerners didn’t invent barbecue,” one of the two co-owners, Ben Grossman, said the other day. “Cavemen were cooking with wood a long time ago, and there are types of barbecue in French, Spanish, and Asian cuisine. So we can do it, too.”

But it helps to have some experience. Mr. Grossman and co-owner Craig Samuels have both cooked in Picholine and City Hall in Manhattan (Mr. Samuels still serves as executive chef at the latter), and both have also worked in France. If that pedigree sounds a bit upscale for barbecue, don’t worry — their meat passes muster, and then some.

Take the spareribs ($10 for a half-rack, $20 for a full), which are dry-rubbed, slow-smoked, and then finished on the grill. As with all the Smoke Joint’s meat, sauces are served on the side (the brown sugar/chile is particularly good), but the ribs are juicy and flavorful enough to go sauce-free. Smoky but not overpowering, tender but not falling to mush off the bone, this is what barbecued ribs should be.

In a city full of dry, flavorless pulled pork sandwiches, it’s a relief to encounter one that’s juicy ($7), although a bit more smokiness wouldn’t hurt. There’s also a revelation lurking in the appetizer listing: smoked chicken wings ($7), which are good enough to make you forget all about the Buffalo style.

The Smoke Joint has its limitations. The beef offerings generally aren’t as strong as the pork, side dishes are generally ho-hum, and the menu is littered with wince-inducing phrases like “Slap yo’ mama now!” and “holla back, young’un,” which are embarrassing for all concerned.

But Messrs. Grossman and Samuels are constantly tinkering. One recent afternoon, they were taste-testing their own house-made sausages — they’d been unhappy with the ones they’d gotten from a purveyor — and they offered up a sample. Bathed in smoke and crisped up after a quick toss on the grill, it tasted like a winner. But Mr. Samuels wasn’t quite satisfied with it yet.

“We’re still working on it,” he said. “We’ll probably be ready to add it to the menu in a few weeks.” Something to look forward to.

NoNO Kitchen (293 Seventh Ave., Park Slope, 718-369-8348);

The Smoke Joint (87 S. Elliott Pl., Fort Greene; 718-797-1011).