Two friends who once worked on building sites have turned a lockdown side project into a full-time restaurant. Black Cactus Barbecue in London succeeded by ignoring the usual rules about how smoked meat should taste, and by betting that diners would follow.
From WhatsApp Orders to Weekend Markets
Matt Kears worked in construction and rail while building a coffee business with friends. A brisket roll at the Meatopia festival inspired him to start smoking meat alongside coffee sales. Weeks after he moved into a new Shoreditch location, COVID hit. Kears began vacuum-packing his brisket and selling it through a WhatsApp group of friends from his rugby club.
One of those friends, Josh Alcock, was an electrician in the Netherlands who posted his cooking on Instagram. The pair planned takeaway barbecue rolls, each drawing on a different culture. They spent years at markets and food festivals, prepping in Kears’ parents’ bungalow. Weekday trades and weekend cooking left little free time, and the business still wasn’t profitable. When a London brewery offered a permanent space, both quit their jobs.
Texas Roots, World Flavors
Texas techniques anchor the cooking, but the flavors travel widely. The menu has included Caribbean brisket and a British Sunday roast tray with tri-tip and maple garlic turkey. Another seasonal tray paired French-style tri-tip, Portuguese piri piri turkey and Polish kielbasa. Alcock says each cuisine deserves proper research into its history.
Neither founder trained as a chef, which Kears says frees them to experiment. Not everyone approves. Some reviewers criticize the nontraditional sides, even on the Saturday Texas tray of beans, mac and cheese, and slaw.
Brisket has become something of a buzzword in the UK, Alcock notes. Some diners praise the brisket after eating tri-tip. Set trays gently steer customers toward other cuts, house-made sausage and sides. Brisket may be the hook, but the wider tray is what keeps people coming back.