On a Friday night, Cove Pontin, owner of HI BBQ, can be found at a smoker, putting coals in and starting up the smoking process for a good barbeque. He leaves it to smoke and cook some brisket and pulled pork overnight, and wakes up at 5 a.m. the next morning to put ribs in. He then throws a handful of applewood chips into the smoker, to help give the meat a little more flavor on top of everything.
“Don’t over-smoke it,” he said. “Get too much wood or too dry, you get an acidic flavor, which I find undesirable. I like my meat to have a nice sweet flavor.”
Pontin's HI BBQ is found in between Kahuku and Turtle Bay, at the end of a gravel road that is just barely past the shrimp farms on Kamehameha Highway. Nestled on Big Rock Ranch, the panoramic view on top shows the windmill farm and overlooks the highway, Turtle Bay golf course, ranches, shrimp farms and wildlife preservations. The people who come to HI BBQ said they enjoy this view and also a plate of either pulled pork, brisket, ribs, or all of it together.
Kate Neville, co-owner with Pontin of HI BBQ from California, asks people when they come what they like and does research to help improve their food. “A lot of people like the view,” she said. “We’ve only had a couple bad reviews about our rice and how it’s not potatoes. But it’s Hawaii. We adapt to the cultural circumstances.”
The HI BBQ started in November 2015 and is open on Saturdays and Sundays. Visitors usually learn about the BBQ by driving past and seeing a sign telling them about the BBQ. Some learn about from Facebook or by word of mouth.
Lilia Fonoimoana from Kahuku said the food was delicious.“It was perfect. It was so soft,” she said.
Pontin first started prepping for opening the BBQ at the beginning of 2015 doing practice cooks and testing recipes on his friends.This practice helped him perfect the recipes, he said, and the smoker he built himself.
“We’re constantly trying to improve,” said Pontin. “There’s no such thing as a perfect BBQ because as soon as it's perfect, you stop trying to make it better...There’s always something a little bit sweeter and juicier and tender.”
Pontin hopes to do just that, experimenting with other ideas during days off, or will try a different sauce or rub during a business day, setting it apart from the rest of the cooking.
Pontin and Neville created the business when Pontin couldn’t find a BBQ place he liked on the island. Neville helped Pontin with side dishes, paperwork, and advertising.
Having traveled and eaten at various barbeques across the country, Pontin said he has taken what he’s learned to this barbeque. One dish is his brisket, inspired by brisket he ate at The Shed in Mississippi.
“I’m trying to currently chase this memory of the world's most perfect brisket,” said Pontin about The Shed. “I’ve got it soft. I’ve got it moist. It’s juicy and it’s got the right flavor components...it may not be identical to his, and I really don’t want it to be. I’m trying to make my own little thing. But as far as the meat’s concerned, I think I’m on par with his.”
Pontin said making barbeque has been a learning process. “BBQ is done when it wants to be done,” said Pontin. “You can’t rush it. It’s just one of those things it’s done...when it feels like it. You just can’t force it to come up to temperature. It’s going to be subpar.”
Pontin said he is content with how the business is going as word spreads about the business. “It’s exactly where I want it to be. I’m selling out every day,” he said. “People love the food and I’m not sacrificing anything for anything else. I’m not sacrificing quality for quantity, really not turning away a lot of people at the end of the day and disappointing them.”
The BBQ will have to keep adapting to the rising demand, and Pontin said he might have to build a second cooker. His first cooker was a learning process, He said. Pontin welded, cut, bought parts, and looked online on how to build it.
The BBQ gets the meat from Longs Meat Market on Sand Island, but they want to use their own meat in the future once they get more cattle from the Big Island.
Visitors can come to HI BBQ and order a plate of 8 ounces of brisket, 12 ounces of ribs, 8 ounces of pulled pork, or 14 ounces of meat on a plate of everything. Sides include regular or spicy coleslaw, beans, and rice.
Pontin and Neville hope to open up more days once they refine their equipment to a higher caliber and hire employees they can trust to run the smoker and cook.