Black Diamond BBQ, a northern Vermont food favorite for more than a decade, has opened a brick-and-mortar location at the former Green Top Market at Morristown Corners.
Since its humble beginnings in Jason Pacioni’s Elmore farmhouse kitchen, the catering company with a focus on smoke now offers two dozen seats as well as takeout meats, classic side dishes, inventive specials and a full bar.
The renovated space has a large, semi-open kitchen, a handful of high and low tables, and a casual-chic barnwood and iron ambiance.
Wendy Valliere of Seldom Scene Interiors in Stowe jumped at the chance to help make the space feel like home, said bar manager Brian Krux, and provided unique features like a table with attached stools that swivel out from the legs, and bathroom walls covered in prints of cows and wooden crates.
While Pacioni had a “full-blown kitchen,” Krux said, “here, we’re more centrally located, and we’ve got a real launching point.”
The Morristown Corners spot is a 10-minute drive — about 8 miles — from the center of Stowe, with a surfeit of destination breweries within 30 miles, including Hill Farmstead (26.2 miles), Lost Nation (1.7), Rock Art (0.8) the Alchemist (9.6), von Trapp Brewing (11) and more.
“We’ll try to catch people as they’re cruising through,” Pacioni said.
While the new restaurant will be a focal point for Black Diamond, the catering will continue in earnest.
From small weddings to farmers markets, high-end themed events, corporate lunch drop-offs and huge parties (Black Diamond catered the recent Burton fall bash, food and drink, for 1,700 people), the company does upward of 200 events each year, and plans to continue its traveling operation.
“We’re just doing what we do,” Krux said. “Jason’s been making food at this level for 10 years, and he really knows what he’s doing. He’s really into it.”
Pacioni and Krux grew up together in Syracuse, N.Y., and opened three restaurants. When Pacioni started Black Diamond, Krux followed a few years later, putting in time at Stowe haunts including The Shed, the Lodge at Stowe Mountain Resort, Rimrock’s, the Ale House and Topnotch.
“We know how to build bars, and provide good service,” Krux said.
‘Smoke and char’
In terms of barbecue, Pacioni and Krux draw inspiration from the legendary Dinosaur BBQ, based in Syracuse, with 10 locations and products in large grocery stores.
“I just love (it),” Pacioni said. “That’s what I grew up with. It’s a whole scene there.”
After Pacioni moved to Vermont, “I was eyeing smokers, big cookers, thought I would get into it as a hobby, a couple pig roasts a year to help pay for it,” he said, “and then it just took off.”
Black Diamond’s menu features three “signature” smoked meats — pork, turkey and brisket — served Southern-style, with white bread on the side. A sandwich option on a brioche roll is available for a small charge, but “I wish everybody did it like they do it down South,” Krux said.
Restaurant patrons can order from the menu at the counter, choosing to dine in or take food to-go, with weekly specials of soups, salads, a cheese board with two or three Vermont cheeses, small plates and a few desserts in addition to the main proteins.
To-go meats are available by the pound in sealed cryovac bags, which can be reheated in sauce or simply in hot water in the bag.
“People around here are athletic,” Pacioni said. “For camping, you don’t need to bring a grill or anything, just a camp stove; drop it in boiling water.”
Fan favorites so far include pulled pork and chicken wings, Krux said.
The wings are spice-rubbed, smoked for three hours, cooled, and “brought back to life” in the fryer, Krux said.
“They come out of the fryer ‘plain,’ but with so much flavor,” Krux said. “There’s something about that smoke and char that comes off a wing that is really, really good.”
Everything is made from scratch in-house, including dry rubs and sauces.
Black Diamond’s house barbecue sauce has been made the same way since the start, with 22 ingredients (two of which are secret), Pacioni said.
“It’s our own unique combination — vinegar from North Carolina sauce, the sweetness of a Kansas city sauce, tomato out of a Memphis sauce, we kind of blend it all together,” Pacioni said.
Black Diamond uses apple, maple, sugar maple and black cherry wood to impart flavor through smoking; those woods are milder and sweeter than the oak or mesquite often used in Southern barbecue.
“I like a little more mild flavor,” Pacioni said. “I like the flavor of the meat to show through and not necessarily the smoke.”
The meats mostly come from MacAuley’s Foodservice out of Barre, due to the volume needed, supplemented by local goods including pigs from Troy for roasting, lamb sausages from Bambi Freeman, meat from Snug Valley Farm in Hardwick, veggies from the Farm at Wolcott Pond, mushrooms from Wild Branch Valley Farm in Craftsbury, Mansfield Bakery bread, Jan’s Farmhouse Crisps of Stowe and more.
And it’s not just meat: “We’ve done paella parties, lobster bakes, sushi bars, we have sashimi on the menu tonight,” Pacioni said.
“We’ve got a lot of talent in the kitchen, guys that are creative, and we’ve got the ability to do it, so it just kind of makes sense,” Krux said.”
Staples like barbecue shrimp and mac and cheese made with aged Cabot cheddar are “killing it,” Krux said.
“We’ve been pretty full … we weren’t sure what to expect right out of the gate,” he said, but “so many great people live in this neighborhood.”
Chef and part-owner Brad Goulette has been with Black Diamond since nearly the beginning, and has enjoyed learning the art of barbecue over the years.
“You put all that time, effort into it … when it’s done after 14-16 hours, it’s rewarding,” Goulette said. “We’re making people happy through food.”
Black Diamond is open Thursday through Saturday, 11:30 to 9 p.m., with plans to expand hours “as lifts start turning,” Pacioni said.
Black Diamond BBQ is at 639 Morristown Corners Road.
