BUFFALO, N.Y. — If you've been to Clarence Hollow recently, you've probably smelled the barbecue throughout the whole neighborhood. That's thanks to Prometheus, the custom smoker behind This Little Pig, which opened on Main Street earlier this month.
"It just it started off very small and turned into quite the production," Co-Owner Jeff Cooke explained about the impressive piece of equipment. "Now it's a total show piece. We do tons of catering with it."
Unless it's on the road, you can now spot it smoking away behind their new home on Main and Sawmill.
"We do it here but it's totally mobile," Cooke said. "It's got a mobile kitchen. We take it wherever it needs to go. The whole neighborhood has decided they absolutely love it or maybe not so much, but we're trying to be accommodating the best we can and I think we're winning them over slowly."
After six years on Main and Transit, Jeff and Mandy Cooke recently moved their farm-to-table restaurant about ten minutes to the east, into the heart of Clarence Hollow, a place they've always loved visiting.
"It's such a cool area that's coming back," Mandy said. "There's just great old bones to this. It was built in the 1800's, and there's bullet holes and beams from when guys used to sit at the bars and shoot their guns. It's just got such cool bones that we loved it."
The smoker might be the star of the sow, but This Little Pig is a lot more than barbecue. There are vegan and vegetarian options, rotating specials, and jaw dropping desserts like their cherry cobbler pie, which is served with ice cream.
While this Little Pig is settles into this sweet new chapter, the Cookes know it's hardly the end of the story.
"We're open right now, and then in a few weeks there's going to be a patio out here, and there's going to be a big party," Jeff said. "There's going to be a new challenge and we're going to take it head on and trust each other and trust our team and get after it."
This Little Pig is now open at 10651 Main Street for dinner Tuesday through Sunday. They plan to add lunch hours in August. For more information, visit www.thislittlepigeats.com.