This week the Shoutout stays close to home and goes to our friends at Hill Country Barbecue Market in NYC, which in my humble (and correct) opinion is the best BBQ joint in the city. They've been doing it, and doing it right, for almost 20 years, which in Manhattan restaurant years is roughly forever.
Here's what caught my eye. Hill Country just reopened on October 1 after closing back on August 5 for a top-to-bottom reboot: new smokers, refreshed kitchen equipment, a spruced-up dining room, and the return of the downstairs Boot Bar, line dancing and all (the New York Times just wrote up the city's line-dancing moment, and Hill Country has been on it for years). I had the privilege of being there for the reopening, and I'm happy to report the brisket has not lost a step.
But the reason this is a Shoutout and not just a nice dinner is the lesson underneath it. Think about what it takes to close a beloved, successful, nearly 20-year-old restaurant on purpose. To go dark for two months, spend real money tearing up the thing that already works, and bet it all on being better. That's not what a complacent operator does. That's conviction, b/c they understand the oldest rule in this business: if you're standing still, you're falling behind.
Longevity in hospitality isn't about staying the same. It's about staying authentic to who you are while refusing to coast on it. Twenty years of smoke and soul, and they still chose to reinvest rather than relax.
And in a nice echo of this week's Top of the Fold, that's experience and instinct doing exactly what they're supposed to do. Two decades of knowing precisely who you are, paired with the guts to keep changing anyway.
So a loud salute to our friend Marc Glosserman, Hill Country's founder and CEO, for building something that lasts and for having the nerve to keep making it better. And a warm welcome to Greg Jamiolkowski, the new executive chef stepping into one of the best smoke programs in the city.
We're proud to call you friends, and we're looking forward to many more good times (and many more plates of brisket) in that room.
If you're in the Flatiron, go. Order too much, save room for nothing, and stick around for a two-step at the Boot Bar.
Here's to the next 20.
