No amount of research prepared me for the “pistol” that is “Head Fire Maker, champion pitmaster, author, barbecue judge, teacher, barbecue eating expert, and PRIME Barbecue (https://www.prime-bbq.com/) Owner Christopher Prieto”.
I’d read up, watched interviews, and listened as he described his technique, but I learned so much about the man, his family, his journey, and his philosophy (as it relates to barbeque) on a recent Hard Hat Tour of his new PRIME Barbecue restaurant in Knightdale (near Raleigh), NC.
Starting outdoors and moving inside, we took in the covered seating area. There’s room for lots of additional seating, including counter seating for people that want to watch the pit room action, provides plenty of shade, and a view of the park. This space can also be used for private events. The counter to the left can be set up as a bar with a big screen TV (coming soon) on the wall.
That view of the park mentioned previously is no accident. PRIME is situated perfectly on the edge of 76 acre Knightdale Station Park, with views of soccer fields, an amphitheater, expansive playground, trails, and more. The wall of windows make watching what’s going on in the park easy while you eat inside, also. Prieto’s plans include a small “grass” area in front of the outdoor patio for relaxing on blankets.
Prieto comes from a big family (approximately 30 first cousins) of Puerto Rican decent. He talked about his life growing up, explaining his grandfather had a painting of a large bull on his wall, and about how he pulled Christopher aside as a child, telling him that he, Christopher, was that bull. That’s why you’ll see a large mural of a bull painted on an inside wall by well known Raleigh-based mural artist, Lisa Gaither.
He also cracked me up when he talked about his mom bathing him weekly in cologne (joking), and about the critical importance of an exactly straight part in his hair. That brought back great memories of children my kids grew up with and their parents.
Family played a big part in the creation of PRIME Barbeque, the building was engineered by Christopher’s cousin Beto, and some of the food (sides) were tweaked by his brother, Chef Nelson Prieto.
So many reasons are behind the design detail of this smoke-and-fire-centric structure. High ceilings and the hand forged, circular lights are meant to be thought provoking. The wall detail that looks like a tin ceiling (pictured toward the back below) is a nod to the ceiling Prieto always imagined installing, as he built PRIME Barbecue in his head over the years.
When you’re ready to order, follow the orange floor tile to one end of the building, around the back of the wall/condiment area, and you’ll arrive at the “cutting area”.
By the way, those are temporary tables and chairs set up for the media event. What I expect will be gorgeous custom tables, as well as doors, are being built by Raleigh-based Arrowhead Studios.
“A Texas native, Prieto originally developed Prime Barbecue to inspire, educate and demonstrate the processes, techniques and traditions behind the art of smoking. Since then, he has been featured on Food Network’s Chopped Grill Masters, Man Fire Food, Destination America’s BBQ Pitmasters, Fox & Friends, My Carolina Today, Zagat’s BBQ Documentary, “The Cradle of ‘Cue” and the 700 Club. Prieto’s passion for the craft has forged a nationally recognized cookbook with Southern Living, “Ultimate Book of BBQ”, a barbecue school, “Ultimate School of BBQ”, and a therapeutic tool to help organizations such as Wounded Warrior Project.”
You’ll have time to read over the menu while you’re in line. If not, it’ll be under the lights on the tiled wall behind the counter.
Lest you forget where you are when you step into the restroom, this custom floor tile should do the trick.
The kitchen is impressive. The pantry is bigger than most. The pit room is most impressive of all! Having been in my share of black, smokey, windowless (or they just felt that way because they were covered with black smoke) pit rooms, this completely wonderful space definitely caught my attention.
Two 1300 lb and a 700 lb “Barbecue Pits” live in the pit room, along with a huge double grill. There’s a door on the back wall that leads out to firebox access. Speaking of fire, they’ll be using Oak and Pecan wood for big cuts of meat, Cherry for smaller cuts, and Sugar Maple for turkey.
Remember those counter seats outside? This is the room you’ll be looking in to, where all the action takes place.
The Pit Room is really well ventilated with series of screened windows and openings on both outside walls.
Christopher has worked closely with the Wounded Warrior Project for years. Clearly, it’s near and dear to his heart. A Chef’s Table will be in the pit room, specifically for veterans and their families. Not that having five children has anything to do with it, but Christopher is installing a private TV by the Chef’s Table for kids, so they can watch cartoons or whatever is okay with their parents.
The Food
High quality pork and beef are sourced locally and from a respected Missouri farm.
All sausage is hand-piped in house. It’s a four day process that involves resting, curing, cooling, and cooking. And it’s delicious! Ribs? Scrumptious! Brisket? At the risk of hyperbole, the best I’ve had! Really. Sides? Couldn’t get enough of the Sweet Potato Salad (bottom right container). Beans and Slaw? Here’s where I admit to preferring sweet baked beans, with or without pieces of bacon, and sweet-ish (more mayo/less vinegar) slaw. Give ’em a try when you go and decide for yourself.
If you’re a pickle lover, you’ll be happy with the house made pickles and pickled onions.
For dessert, we had Peach Cobbler with vanilla Blue Bell Ice Cream. Can’t go wrong with that combo. If you’re not familiar with Blue Bell, it’s that or nothing when it comes to ice cream for some folks. One of my nephews actually had Blue Bell shipped to his home when he lived where it wasn’t available in the stores.
Of Note
Prieto has wanted to have a barbecue restaurant since he was a young child. He immersed himself in the BBQ world as much and often as he possibly could. He imagined his restaurant – what it would look like, what would be on the menu, even the name. In fact, his dad bought the rights to that name when Christopher was still a child.
It didn’t quite fit what he’s doing here and now as an adult, but he didn’t want the dream to die. So at the side of the building, next to the patio area, will be a children’s play area, including – drum roll – a play BBQ restaurant called “Good Times BBQ”! Y’all. Can it get any better?
On a serious note, look for a tall flag pole (installed soon) out front, flying a large American flag. It was given to Christopher by a soldier who, unfortunately, didn’t make it home.
One More Thing
Throughout the Hard Hat tour, I could hear & see Christopher’s passion for what he’s doing. More than once, as he was talking about this or that feature of the building or process, he’d say, “It’s really rad!” Brought a smile to my face every time.
So, next time you’re in the Knightdale, NC area and you’re hungry, go to PRIME Barbeque. It’s really rad!
Epicurean Notes:
- PRIME Barbecue is scheduled to open mid-April. They’ll be serving up delicious BBQ five days a week for five hours a day.
- Mini Blue Bell Ice Cream cups will be available for children.
- All soda served at PRIME is “real soda”. Meaning they’re made with real ingredients like sugar, as opposed to aspartame or other artificial sweeteners.
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