The Fire Table

From Northampton to Texas, BBQ restaurants are hugely popular and huge of portions. And if your picture is on the wall, the choice is easy. RUPERT BATES talks food and furniture with Alex Waller

Lunch was booked at Hickory’s, Northampton and, given my guest, it was always going to be the Smokehouse Platter.

It probably would have been two sharing platters and all the sides if Alex Waller’s business partner, Tom Wood, had been able to join us. Waller + Wood Woodworks does what it says on the timber, two exceptional craftsmen, creating bespoke, heirloom pieces of furniture – the artisan blending with the artist.

The reason for a large food order was because Alex Waller and Tom Wood were teammates for Premiership rugby side Northampton Saints, a prop and a back row forward respectively and both nailed-on club legends at Franklin’s Gardens, with Wood also winning 50 caps for England, while Waller was desperately unlucky not to win full international honours.

Their side, or rather shed, hustle while professional rugby players was working with oak, walnut, elm – any type of hardwood – to fashion tables and chopping boards, with rugby pals invariably after mates’ rates. It is now a burgeoning business with a workshop and showroom in Northampton, including a partnership with Handcrafted by Woodworks, also based in the town, expanding into outdoor kitchens.

Hickory is a hardwood and Waller + Wood Woodworks could surely fashion a bespoke chef’s table for Hickory’s. The Northampton smokehouse even has a picture of Waller and the Northampton Saints celebrating their Premiership title triumph in 2024, sharing the walls with NFL murals and memorabilia.

Waller, hugely into his BBQ cooking and building fire pit tables, and now also hot tubs and saunas, loves to know how everything is made, be it food or furniture – and a tour of the kitchens revealed the huge smokers, belching beauties, with Hickory’s pitmasters working their magic to deliver Texas-style low-and-slow 16-hour Black Angus, well-marbled grain-fed brisket. Pass the Tennessee bourbon gravy.

As well as brisket, our platter housed BBQ-glazed baby back ribs, cowboy buttered smoked chicken, pork, jalapeño and cheese sausages, honey-glazed pork belly and bourbon-glazed smoked wings, pulled pork and pit beans.

There is surely a Rugby v Food challenge to be had here. Bring in the whole of the Northampton Saints squad – slow down Henry Pollock – and challenge them to eat the menu. 

Once the platter is demolished, there are the steaks from the wood-fired grill – try the Cattleman’s Choice if you can’t decide which steak – Louisiana-inspired gumbos, sizzling fajitas, while the Go Big or Go Home burger is three storeys high. 

An alternative contest would be to pit Northampton Saints against a travelling NFL team. ‘Two great games collide.’ I’ll referee, as long as you leave me the bourbon pulled brisket mac and cheese.

Texas Road Trip

Last year saw the latest Hickory’s Texas Road Trip, with 16 of the team exploring the finest barbecues in the Southern States, returning well-fed and full of ideas and inspiration for Hickory’s own Smokehouse menus.

First stop was Loro Asian Smokehouse in Austin, while the following day saw five BBQ joints ticked off, including Stiles Switch and loaded trays of brisket, ribs and burnt ends. 

Lockhart meant a feast at Terry Black’s BBQ, with the highlight the smoked turkey apple slaw and creamed corn, and a trip to Smitty’s Market with its old brick pits and open fires, the BBQ served on peach paper – no knives and forks.

At Black’s Barbecue the team met owner and pitmaster Kent Black, and last stop of the day was Kreuz Market, with smokers and wood everywhere.

A tailgate party with breakfast tacos preceded the American Football game between the Texas Longhorns and the Vanderbilt Commodores, with Hickory’s joining over 100,000 fans at the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

“We absorbed so much culture, authenticity and Southern hospitality. 

A genuine welcome in every place we visited. It was so great to bump into old friends, make new ones and experience the sights, sounds and tastes of Austin and Lockhart,” said Hickory’s marketing manager Jody Crane.