Wings, ribs, barbecue for Super Sunday? Order now

SHARON — If you haven’t ordered your Super Bowl party wings and ribs from When Pigs Fly South, it might be almost too late. 

But call anyway. Chef/owner Bennett Chinn most definitely wants to try and accommodate you.

“We’re hoping to order all the supplies by Tuesday or Wednesday,” he said on Thursday, Jan. 22. He looked worried, torn between wanting to give everyone some very tasty vittles for Super Sunday (Feb. 1), but also not wanting to skimp on preparing it all just the way he likes it.

The chicken wings and pork ribs have to be smoked. Peppers have to be smoked, too, for the shop’s signature three-pepper hot sauce. Cabbage needs to be sliced and sauced for cole slaw. 

“We have a few customers who have been getting their Super Bowl food here for the past three or four years, and we get new people every year,” Chinn said. “But sometimes people just walk in and want, you know, 30 wings.”

Of course the shop will be open for business as usual that day, and fans of barbecue and Southern-inspired food can  stop in and get a few orders of their favorite foods. But anyone who wants a bucket of anything should call as soon as possible.

It’s been five years now since Chinn (and his wife, Cory) opened the shop in what for many years was a teeny pizzeria on West Main Street. The barbecue shop started out small and then, a year and a half ago,  expanded substantially and added a cozy dining room and counter seating. 

The menu has expanded, too. In addition to the most popular items on the menu (pulled pork, followed by beef brisket and pork ribs), Chinn has added some Cajun specialties including Po Boy sandwiches, gumbo and jambalaya. He also has some more ethereal menu offerings, a little lighter and more refined than your usual barbecue shack fare, such as the California citrus-marinated chicken sandwich (served on a brioche bun with lemon/mayo and avocado) and the house-smoked turkey Cobb salad. 

While not exactly what you expect to see rubbing shoulders with pork shoulder, those more refined items reflect Chinn’s training at the Culinary Institute of America and the more refined fare that he serves his many catering clients. Last Thursday, during this interview, he was working on a menu for a large party that included lobster and smoked scallop “martinis” served with grapefruit sections, avocado, mâche and a roasted shallot vinaigrette. 

Also on that menu were seared lamb chops with blueberry compote, ravioli made with butternut squash and hazelnuts and poached quail eggs with bearnaise sauce and applewood-smoked bacon.

“We call that bacon and eggs!” he said with a drawl and a grin. 

But back to the Super Bowl. Chinn suggests that anyone in charge of the victuals for a Super Sunday party should plan on serving the food in a buffet format — and should plan to have lots and lots of napkins (“Heck, just get a few rolls of paper towels,” he said), plastic plates and flatware and three kinds of beer (dark, light and medium — “in the same way you’d have several kinds of wine for a multicourse meal,” he said).

To put in an order, call the shop at 860-492-0000. Winter hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. five days a week, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Bring cash; charge cards are not accepted. To see the menu, go to www.hudsonvalleybbq.com.