BBQ Project at Hastings Pier
Hastings and St Leonards are quite the happening places right now. The development of The Source Courtyard, the work on the caves near Home Ground Kitchen and of course the rebirth of the Pier, reopening a week after Easter on the 12th April. Helen Groves wandered down to have a chat with Gavin at the BBQ Project about their plans.
The BBQ project started around nine years ago in a converted Citroen van called ‘Joan’ (after Gavin’s grandmother), from which they initially served BBQ style dishes at festivals, parties and private events. Having worked with Music First Events at the Hastings Beer Festival it was a natural progression to join ranks and for the BBQ Project to set up on the Pier.
Work being done on the new BBQ Project restaurant
PICTURE: Josh Pickering (JP Photo)
Gav has twenty years catering experience and is joined by partners, Dom and Lee, chef Stan and team members Caroline, Ashley and Millie. It is very much a family-run business with Gav’s parents still jumping in to help.
Their ethos is freshly cooked food from sustainable and ethical sources. They smoke their own meat which is sourced from local farms including Heritage Hog, salads are from Stonelynk Organics, coffee from Rye Bay Coffee, bread from Judges and they have a local fishing boat which will be bringing them fresh fish daily. Everything will be recyclable or compostable wherever possible.
The menu is exciting and innovative whilst having dishes for all tastes. Choose from options like Crab and Avocado Salad, Low and Slow Brisket Mac and Cheese, Applewood Smoked Sussex Pork Ribs and Homemade Lobster Goujons. There are also options for vegans such as Smoked, Pulled Jackfruit and Popcorn Cauliflower and Southern Fried Mushrooms.
The menu is exciting and innovative whilst having dishes for all tastes
Of course you can’t have good food without a good drink and, as with the food, careful thought has gone into the drinks menu, and most suppliers are either local or UK-based. Beers and ale are sourced from local Brewing Brothers and Franklin Brewery while lager is from Bristol’s Lost and Grounded. Spirits include the award-winning apple gin from the 58 Distillery and vodka from Sapling Spirits – an innovative company that plants a tree for every bottle sold. Wine is from the Bolney Estate in Haywards Heath. And for those who would prefer something without alcohol? There’s Kombucha from Hastings-based Booyah Vitality.
• The BBQ Project is open on the pier from the 12th April, seven days a week from 8am. We wish them every success in their new project and very much look forward to trying them out.
• You can find them on Instagram and Facebook
@thebbqproject and at www.thebbqproject.com
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