Brisket, ribs and smoked turkey fill a three-meat combo platter with BBQ chips, greens and baked macaroni on the side at Pyre BBQ in Mandeville. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty)
Chef Jeff Mattia opened Pyre Provisions in Covington.
Brisket, ribs and smoked turkey fill a three-meat combo platter at Pyre BBQ in Mandeville. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty)
Brisket egg rolls are part of the menu at Pyre BBQ in Mandeville. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty)
BBQ chips are thick-cut, well-seasoned potato chips at Pyre BBQ in Mandeville. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty)
The ribs are St. Louis style with a tangy-sweet glaze at Pyre BBQ in Mandeville. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty)
Pyre BBQ is a modern barbecue joint with an outdoor patio and live music on Saturdays in Old Mandeville, by the Mandeville Trailhead. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty)
Brisket, ribs and smoked turkey fill a three-meat combo platter with BBQ chips, greens and baked macaroni on the side at Pyre BBQ in Mandeville. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty)
The aroma of wood smoke and slowly cooking meat surrounds Pyre BBQ in Old Mandeville. The results fill metal trays, lined with butcher paper, with heaps of brisket, ribs and chicken.
It also signals a new start for a north shore chef who seems to have barbecue in his blood.
Jeff Mattia learned his chops in fine dining. When he went off on his own, his idea was to pair that background with his love of barbecue. This led to his first restaurant, Pyre Provisions, just outside of downtown Covington.
It combined elements of a steakhouse and a barbecue joint, and added inspirations from a wide spectrum of flavors, from smoked duck hummus to garlic butter alligator.
Chef Jeff Mattia opened Pyre Provisions in Covington.
It also happened to open just a few months before the pandemic shut everything down and set into motion years of tumult for the restaurant business in particular.
Pyre Provisions closed for good at the end of August. But Mattia has been able to swiftly shift gears.
Pyre BBQ is a modern barbecue joint with an outdoor patio and live music on Saturdays in Old Mandeville, by the Mandeville Trailhead. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty)
He opened the much more casual and straightforward Pyre BBQ late last year, and it’s been gaining steam.
It’s a counter service-style barbecue shop with a few modern touches. The full bar has cocktails, daiquiris and a better wine selection than you’d expect (the presence of any wine being noteworthy at a barbecue spot).
Situated by the Mandeville Trailhead, it’s an intuitive stop on Tammany Trace outings.
Brisket, ribs and smoked turkey fill a three-meat combo platter at Pyre BBQ in Mandeville. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty)
The restaurant has an outdoor patio with an ongoing live music series, held Saturdays from 5 p.m.
Mattia now has plans to double down on the idea, with a second location of Pyre BBQ in the works along La. 21 in Covington.
Mattia was chef de cuisine at celebrity chef Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak location in Connecticut before moving to New Orleans, where he was executive sous chef at Restaurant August and later executive chef at the American Sector. More recently, he’s been chef at Hyatt Regency and the Royal Sonesta New Orleans.
Mattia is also pitmaster for his Hogs for the Cause team Born to Grill, a charity cook-off team formed with fellow military veterans (Mattia served in the Marine Corps). That experience is also cooked into the Pyre concept.
The ribs are St. Louis style with a tangy-sweet glaze at Pyre BBQ in Mandeville. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty)
The menu focuses directly on the bedrock staples of Southern barbecue but also represents a blend of regional styles within that realm. That includes dashes of Louisiana flavor and also some nods to the chef’s earlier restaurant.
The main acts are the combination plates. The brisket is cut to the Texas template, with a robustly salted, craggy surface and a gushing-moist interior.
The St. Louis-style ribs offer a good chew between the lean and fatty parts, which gives the tangy-sweet glaze plenty of purchase as you dig in.
Brisket egg rolls are part of the menu at Pyre BBQ in Mandeville. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty)
The appetizers are fun, and these make good snacks if you’re out for more of a happy hour mode with the live music than a full meal.
The brisket egg rolls taste just like those delicious indulgences you’d get off the counter at a gas station butcher shop somewhere in southeast Texas.
The boudin grilled cheese, with bits of the Cajun rice sausage pressed into the melty interior of the sandwich, is another rendition of this Americana-meets-Acadiana combo.
BBQ chips are thick-cut, well-seasoned potato chips at Pyre BBQ in Mandeville. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty)
A sleeper on the sides list is the “BBQ chips.” These thick-cut, well-seasoned potato chips are substantial enough that you can squirt barbecue sauces over them and eat them just like that.
It’s all much different from Pyre Provisions, with its full-service model and more expansive menu. But a few touches from the old restaurant have made it to this menu, namely the broccoli with the earthy heat of fermented red chiles and a crunch of cashews, and tricolor carrots with a bourbon glaze.
Tue.-Thu. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
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Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@theadvocate.com.
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