EMILY HSUEH
SHAWVVILLE Feb. 10, 2021
Billy T’s Pizza in Shawville is about to get some smokin’ hot new menu items.
After researching and planning for a year, Bill and Jennifer Telford recently purchased a mobile industrial smoker which will allow them to freshen up the menu at their restaurant. The smoker will remain outdoors but can be moved around on a trailer. It can cook . . .
300 pounds of meat at a time and includes 12 rotisseries inside. According to Bill, it’s the only one of its kind in the Pontiac.
“Smoking food is an up-and-coming thing. We’ve been thinking about it for a year and we had the opportunity to buy one. We researched a bit. People are also seeing what you’re doing differently, so we thought this was a great route to go,” he said. “We’ve been around for 32 years, we’ve got a reputation of serving great food and I’m sure the new program we put around this is going to be a great addition.”
Billy T’s celebrated its 31st anniversary on Feb. 2, and though they had hoped to have a celebration, the current health restrictions made that impossible. Instead, the Telfords have been practicing and perfecting the ways of the smoker in preparation for regular service resuming and for events to pick up.
“We’re trying to get it out there, it’s the type of food where you have to create some volume so we’ve been doing some practicing with it,” Bill said. “I’ve done a bit of smoking at home, amateur smoking. We’ve tried different spices and I think we’ve come up with some good recipes. Now we have a commercial smoker where we can do the volume with minimum labour cost.”
Though they have yet to finalize their new menu, Billy T revealed their plans for classics like pulled pork and brisket sandwiches, poutines and even mac and cheese. A few more items are up in the air and they hope for Pontiacers to come in and experience it for themselves.
Though there is no set date for when the new smoker will be officially up and running for business, the Telfords are aiming for sometime within the next month. In the future, they plan on bringing the smoker to catered events like weddings, graduations and the Shawville Fair.
“Stay tuned, we’re gearing this up. It’s a struggle to do this stuff outside in the cold weather, but as it warms up we’re going to move forward … there’s gonna be stuff to compliment our menu inside, trying to stay fresh and new.”
