A NEW Crowthorne restaurant has successfully opened its doors to rave reviews.
Triple BBBs Smokehouse opened in the old HSBC bank building on High Street, Crowthorne, just before Christmas last year.
Since then, owner and pitmaster David Jotyar has been serving up a range of Texan-style dishes to hungry locals in a soft launch of the eatery.
“Up until now, we’ve been serving classic beef brisket and pulled pork platters,” he said.
“The full menu comes in this week, I can’t wait.”
For the time being, the restaurant is open evenings only, Wednesdays to Saturdays.
Mr Jotyar is a self-taught Texan barbecue enthusiast. An IT consultant by profession, his passion for the craft of smoking meat has driven him to perfect his own recipes and even build his own smoker in the pursuit of perfection.
“I though I could build a better barbecue and smoke better meat than what I could buy in the shops,” he explained.
“It’s taken me 10 years to learn the technique and it’s been a challenge because there is lots to consider.
“Even the rubs I use on the meat have taken a long time to develop, so I am keeping the recipes a secret.”
Turning his love for the craft into a commercial interest was another challenge. The opening of the restaurant was the end of a three-year process since finding the old bank, acquiring planning, building outbuildings to house the smokers, and fitting out the shop.
He did much of the work himself, including building the bar.
“We had a water tank burst on site last spring over one weekend,” he said. “Repairing the damage set us back three months.”
But the wait was worth it. When Mr Jotyar was finally able to serve customers in his restaurant, it received a visit from a Texan who said that the smoked meat “was as good what he gets at home.”
“I couldn’t have done all of this without my wife Nicky and my two girls supporting me though,” he said.
Nicky currently runs front of house at Triple BBBs.
And Mr Jotyar has many plans for the restaurant’s future, beginning with adding a lunchtime service.
In the longer term, he would like to train future pitmasters and launch a barbecuing course. He even plans to bring his smokers to market and compete at international barbecue competitions.
For more details, visit the restaurant’s social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram, or email: [email protected]
