What's this all about, anyway?
"My relationship with open-fire cooking has taken many forms over the years: professionally, with wood ovens and La Caja China boxes in Miami, jikos and spit-cooking in East Africa, wood stoves and grills in Alaska. But also playfully, with the hangi pits of New Zealand, while camping and roadtripping throughout the US National Parks, and perhaps most importantly - in my own backyard.
I like the process of waking up early, making some French press coffee, and starting a fire. It's a break from all the formulas, the recipes, the measurements, the timers and alarms, the exacting standards of the professional kitchen. With experience, you can learn to control a fire, but it still feels a lot more "alive" than gas or an induction burner.
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I believe good barbecue is pure and simple. Our ancestors have been at it for a very long time. It supersedes all other forms of cooking. And when I'm out there poking at coals, I feel connected to that past.
I'm not labeling this barbecue. I'm sure others will do that for me. I don't see it as Texas barbecue, or North Carolina barbecue, or anywhere else for that matter. I buy good meat from legit farms. I rub it with raw natural sea salt, pepper, garlic and chili. Then I smoke it for a long time over lump charcoal, oak and fruit wood. Somehow the final product seems greater than the sum of those parts."
- Matt Hinckley, chef/owner
Who are we?
Matt Hinckley
Chef owner and operator
Matt has been involved in the hospitality industry for almost 3 decades. He spent years cooking internationally in places like East Africa, New Zealand and The Caribbean. He has worked in James Beard and Michelin-starred restaurants in Miami and NYC. He is an owner and operator at Hinckley's Fancy Meats and Mid Drive Dive.
Pete Morales
Head chef and coal jockey
Pete Morales is a seasoned professional chef who worked in several critically-acclaimed restaurants before joining the team at Hinckley's Fancy Meats, where he has been smoking pastrami, bacon, sausages and hams for about 4 years now.
Chef Pete has turned his focus to all things bbq and is responsible for a lot of our product development, recipe testing and execution.
Chef Pete is the owner of Cowamel, a gourmet dulce de leche company based here in Orlando, FL. You can find it in his online shop, in our shop and in some of our pies.
Matt Heafy
Operating partner & musician
Matthew Kiichi Heafy is the Grammy-nominated frontman of the 25-year strong international touring act, Trivium, boasting millions of albums sold and countless shows played.
Heafy and his wife have each had individual food blogs, a combined food blog; and both travel the world in search of the greatest food on earth. Trivium as a band is known for their love of eating the best food on tour.
