The cookhouse is progressing nicely. The walls are going in and it looks like everything will be complete early next week. Loving the look of the metal and hope the landlords will not force us to paint it red.

After debuting the Cha Cha Hut Mex-I-Can sauce at a Grill Club, several people suggested using it for tacos. The Mex-I-Can is essentially a spicy Mexican BBQ sauce, so it seemed certainly logical. The following day, we sat down in the Cha Cha Hut Test Kitchen and whipped up a plate of Cha Cha Hut Pork Tacos (see photo below).

I figured if it works for pork, it should also work for beef. The photo above shows the Cha Cha Hut Brisket Tacos.

We’re planning on making these weekend specials:
3 tacos (with cheese, lettuce & tomato) $7
add a side of sour cream .75¢

As I was setting up for a recent Cha Cha Hut focus group (topic: portion size & pricing) I decided to make a little video showing the smoke my smoker generates. It should be noted, most of what appears to be smoke is actually steam.

The video is a progression throughout the day starting with the smoker being lit (no smoke/steam) to running at full cook with brisket & ribs (the maximum smoke/steam).

 

Or at least the cook house has been.

Loving the job Leprechaun Construction has been doing. Mike George has been amazingly helpful.

The walls, roof and doors go up next week.

 

Work finally got under way this morning on the cookhouse. Here’s a few shots of the posts being put into place.

The end of last week was quite a busy one.

FRIDAY
We delivered the site plans and permit application to the New York State Department of Health. (That’s a slice of the plan above…) We now have a couple weeks wait while the DOH review the plans.

SATURDAY
It was a trip to New Jersey for research. First off, dropped by Bourbon BBQ in Wyckoff, NJ for lunch and to get some ideas for the Hut. Same concept we are setting up: order here – pick up there, no plates/glasses just paper cups and baskets lined with wax paper. I had the brisket sandwich with a side of beans and slaw. Cherie went with the pulled pork and mac & cheese. Everything was pretty good (a little dry but good). The sides were a little bland, but certainly fine for what they were. Only one house sauce – a nice spicy sweet tomato based one. I picked up a pint of their rib rub because it was packages in a Chinese takeout box. Thinking I might “borrow” that idea for the Cha Cha Hut rubs.

Next up: IKEA. Probably the best – and least expensive – way to get the counters and furniture we need. Of course, going on a Saturday may not have been the wisest choice, but we did find everything we need to furnish the Hut. Once we have the DOH approval on our plan, we’ll be renting a truck and making a return trip to purchase – though we’ll be making that trip on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

SUNDAY
Our landlords are a group of folks who own several properties along Bridge Street. We had not met half of the partners until Sunday and they wanted to discuss our cook house. The meeting went great – much discussion of BBQ and our plans for the space. In the end, they gave us the go ahead to start the build on the cook house. We’re hoping to have the poles in this week and a completed smokehouse around Thanksgiving.

So now it is a waiting game. Waiting for the DOH to give it’s approval to our plan. Waiting for the cook house to be built. Waiting to see if we can find more funding. We’re finishing up the menu (keep tweaking the selection/pricing), shopping around for signage and continuing work on our recipes.