Honeyfire Barbeque Co.'s Ben Claybaker built HoneyFire on a deep, genuine love of the craft of barbecuing and the belief that great barbecue has the power to bring people together. We sat down with Claybaker to talk about the road to opening day, what makes Honeyfire different, and why Brentwood turned out to be exactly the right place to fire up the pit.
Congratulations on the opening of HoneyFire Barbeque Co. in Brentwood. What makes HoneyFire different from the other BBQ spots in Middle Tennessee?
Some of the things that make HoneyFire different and that people love are the modern atmosphere and the unique twist on barbecue staples and traditions. People seem to really like the modern barbecue space, and to us, it’s just a different way to enjoy barbecue. We don’t ever just want to copy a style because that’s what is expected. Which leads me to the food… I was born in Texas and grew up in Arkansas. My hometown was 15 miles from Louisiana and 40 miles from Texas. Both sides of my family are from the South, mostly East Tennessee, Texas and Arkansas. My family also loves to travel, and the people in this country have so many great, but different barbecue traditions. We love that! So a lot of that is also represented on HoneyFire’s menu, like Alabama White sauce from Decatur, Alabama or brisket like I learned to make in Texas, and pork sandwiches that we all are familiar with here in Tennessee with coleslaw on top. We also love adding a twist to something we all love, like peanut butter in banana pudding or queso in mac and cheese, or a smoked turkey sandwich that’s just like a Thanksgiving dinner.
BBQ is one of those foods that people have very strong opinions about from regional styles, smoke versus sauce, brisket versus ribs. Where does HoneyFire fall in that conversation?
I think I kind of alluded to this, but my family loves Jesus, barbecue, traveling, and this country. We love the variety and the flavors, and so HoneyFire tries to include a lot of them and celebrate the different styles of this country. It’s really fun and leads to a lot of creativity in the kitchen, coming up with recipes, which our whole team participates in. We have a chef and pitmasters in every HoneyFire location, but all of our managers weigh in on what we do and it’s really a team effort. It’s great. Everyone has an opportunity to show their creativity on “tasting Tuesdays” when we all get together to discuss the menu. I look forward to that day every week.
July is National Grilling Month. Do you have anything special planned to celebrate the month that was practically made for a restaurant like yours?
The whole summer is grilling season, and July seems to be even more heightened. We have some special dishes coming up that the HoneyFire team has really put some time and effort into. Items like beef ribs, smoked prime rib, smoked French dip sandwiches, and we may even bring back our smoked bologna sandwich. Stay tuned to our announcements on social media.
Opening a restaurant is one of the hardest things a person can do, and opening a BBQ concept comes with its own particular set of challenges. What did the road to opening day actually look like?
I absolutely love hospitality, serving my family and friends, and I love barbecue. So when the opportunity came up to open a barbecue restaurant, it was almost a no-brainer. Now, I have done my homework. If you spent any time in Nashville, you know there are some great places to have barbecue, and I still frequent a lot of them even today. But the one big surprise I did learn was how friendly and helpful the other barbecue restaurant owners were. I still remember when Pat Martin from Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint was sitting with his son, eating at our first location just a few weeks after being opened. The first thing he said to me was, “Let me know if you need any help or something comes up and you just want to bounce solutions off me.” I was blown away how this genre of restaurants didn’t really consider other barbecue restaurants as competition. Don’t get me wrong, we all are still competitive, however, it’s more like fighting for a starting spot on a baseball team, but you’re still on the same team. Most entrepreneurs are risky by nature, so taking the risk was not the hard part. The challenge for me is not knowing what I don’t know. Not knowing the right questions. Some of it you just have to figure out on your own time and be okay with making mistakes, and believe me, we made some doozies.
What made Brentwood the right home for HoneyFire Barbeque?
Well, for one thing, it’s our community. My wife and I have lived in this area since 2006, and she lived here back in 2002 for a bit. We love Brentwood. We had to be patient. South Nashville is highly sought after and finding a spot has been a nonstop hunt for us. Opportunities don’t always come up and when they do, you must be able to move quickly. We’ve toured so many potential spots over the last eight years of opening our first locations and so many of them just didn’t feel right. This location felt perfect. There are a lot of great dining options, and even a few barbecue places, but HoneyFire is just its own thing. People really enjoy the different atmosphere that’s not your typical barbecue place, and they enjoy the variety of flavors and types of food we have. You could come to HoneyFire every day for two weeks and have a different meal, because barbecue is good on a tortilla, a bun, chips, in cheesy pasta, or in an egg roll. It’s good in so many ways and we love it all! It’s like the people of this country… people are very different on the coasts, and they are very different in the middle, and in the south. So we try to embrace that idea. We love barbecue and we also just love people. Honeyfire.com
Baby Back Egg Rolls
The Egg Roll Mix
Ingredients
Baby Back Ribs (Leftover) 3-5 lbs.
Coleslaw Mix (5 lb. bag-dry) 2 ½ lbs.
Marinated Red Onions (drained) 1” pcs 12 oz.
HoneyFire Dry Rub 2 Tbsp
Directions:
1. Take the pork and ribs and pull the meat until it is all shredded. Discard the pork
and rib bones. Add the meat to a mixing bowl.
2. Add the dry coleslaw mix and HoneyFire Dry Rub to the mixing bowl. Toss to incorporate.
3. Chop the marinated red onions into 1” pieces. Add them to the mixing bowl. Then
add the HoneyFire Dry Rub. Toss to incorporate.
4. If you are not using the egg roll mix right away, put the mix in another container
and cover with a lid. Label, date and refrigerate.
Baby Back Egg Rolls
Ingredients. Total quantity Each egg roll
Egg Roll Wrapper 40 ea. 1 ea.
Egg Wash 8 oz. Brush 2 tsp on each egg roll wrapper
Egg Roll Mix 7 ½ lb. 3 oz.
HoneyFire Original BBQ Sauce 1 cup 1 tbsp
HoneyFire Habanero HoneySauce 1 cup 1 tsp
Corn Starch 4 oz. Enough to cover egg rolls
Directions:
1. Make egg wash by combining egg mix and a little bit of water together.
2. Add some of the corn starch to a clean and dry work surface. Lay the one egg
roll wrapper so the corners form a diamond shape. Brush each side of the top
corner with egg wash.
3. Scoop the egg roll mix (3 oz.) onto the center of each wrapper, forming a cylinder.
4. Squeeze 1 tsp of HoneyFire Original BBQ sauce & 1 tsp of HoneyFire Habanero
Honey Sauce in a line across the top of the filling.
5. Bring the bottom corner tightly up and over the egg roll mix. Fold in both sides
and roll like a burrito. Lightly roll the egg roll into the cornstarch.
6. Line the pan with deli paper and lay the rolls in the pan side by side. Lay deli
paper in between each row of egg rolls.
7. Cover, label, date and refrigerate.
Parmesan Green Beans
Ingredients
Green Beans - standard can (drained) 15 oz.
Garlic Powder 3 Tbsp
Black Pepper 2 Tbsp
Onion Powder 2 Tbsp
Kosher Salt 2 Tbsp
Brisket Trim. 2 cups
Parmesan cheese 1 ½ cups
Directions:
1. Drain green beans thoroughly.
2. Place green beans into large cooking pan
3. Chop the brisket trim into the smallest pieces you can. DO NOT throw out any
fat, this will render down. Add the brisket to the green beans.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients into a mixing bowl. Mix to incorporate.
5. Add the spice mixture to the green beans. Carefully mix the green beans, while
not breaking up the beans.
6. Refrigerate until ready to cook. Cook like you would for making regular green beans.
7. After cooking the green beans, add 1 ½ cups of Parmesan cheese to the pan.
8. Carefully fold in the Parmesan cheese with a spatula, not to break up the green beans.