Arrogant Swine

Tyson Ho’s route to a full-fledged restaurant wasn’t a typical one. Raised in Flushing and schooled in Texas, the pit master honed his grill skills alongside barbecue boss Ed Mitchell in North Carolina before returning to his native New York with a hankering for hog. “I took my first bite of North Carolina barbecue and I was hooked,” Ho says. After hosting a series of well-received pig-picking bashes, Ho brings whole swine to the table at his BBQ-and-beer hall in Bushwick, a rugged warehouse emblazoned with graffitied pig murals and charred wood. Here, he commits to the Carolinas’ distinct techniques, roasting entire swine over embers and dressing the meat in a simple vinegar-pepper sauce. “We’re aiming to become a church of pork,” he says. Refusing to stray from tradition, Ho won’t put ubiquitous brisket or overly sauced pulled pork on the menu. Instead, find fire-pit–cooked chopped hog and—to merge the North and South Carolinas with their Eastern and Western subsets—two slaws: a mustard-and-apple Eastern variety and the red-wine-vinegar–tomato Lexington version. There’ll also be house-made smoked sausages, sweet-potato waffles with bourbon syrup, and build-your-own charcuterie boards (salami, country ham) to spotlight craft curers in West Virginia, Kentucky and even Bosnia.