Chris Terlikar knows a thing or two about meat. With a background in fine dining, a chance encounter in Brooklyn with Hill Country barbeque food in Brooklyn altered his path into the smoky depths of slow cooking. After being guided by pit boss heavyweights in Texas and stints as a pop-up chef at The Beaufort and Grub Van, Chris has planted his feet in Collingwood with a Bluebonnet to call his own.
He may have hand-built his first smoker out of a toolbox, a dishwasher pipe and a shed load of black heat-proof paint, but Chris’s new beast has character, too – it’s made out of a smoke machine from a nightclub at the Crown casino.
Smoking is a delicate art that Chris is so committed to getting absolutely perfect every time, he actually won’t serve a particular meat to his customers until it’s just right. But this painstaking dedication is worth it. There’s a 15-hour (minimum) brisket that practically falls apart before it can reach your gob; tender, juicy, charcoaled sausages that change daily, and ribs that turn even the most refined diner into a bone-gnawing animal.
Chris’s genuine passion for what he does filters down through to the rest of the staff, and at no point do you ever really feel like you’re in a restaurant; you’re just enjoying a barbie in your mate’s backyard – which, by the way, has been decked out in true Southern style.
The courtyard is by far the best seat in the house; perfect to soak up the atmosphere, sunshine and a cold brew. It’s complete with rustic communal tables and a fresh pile of red gum for the smoker that serves as a practical, decorative and tantalising centrepiece.
With a menu that changes daily and a courtyard that feels like home, there really is no limit to how many times one could go unashamedly for two out of three meals in the day. We may just live there.
BY BETTY CROCKERY
187 Johnston St, Collingwood
Open for lunch on Wednesdays and Sundays; lunch and dinner Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
