Food Belmont 1

By Jeff Maisey

Belmont House of Smoke is on a roll – a barbeque roll at that.

Last fall, the Norfolk Ghent restaurant participated in Festevents’ Ribtober Festival in Town Point Park and won first place. Then in May, Belmont House of Smoke was crowned Grand Champion at the Chesapeake Jubilee’s 2014 BBQ Cook-Off, which is officially sanctioned by the Kansas City BBQ Society and also serves as the Virginia State BBQ Championship. Belmont edged out Wolf’s Revenge BBQ of Richmond and handily defeated 30 other entries.

Dave Filipowski and Richard Katz opened what was then called the New Belmont in 2001. The restaurant served semi high-end, contemporary American bistro cuisine. When the economy crashed Filipowski and Katz reinvented the business with a focus on BBQ in 2009 and renamed it Belmont House of Smoke after purchasing a smoker in Kansas City. The rebranding has been a tremendous success.

Since Belmont has shifted focus, Filipowski has developed a passion for the art of producing world-class BBQ and gone to great lengths to educate himself on the process and techniques used for the various, distinctive styles of regional favorites like Kansas City, Memphis, Texas, St. Louis and North Carolina.  He has traveled to events such as Memphis in May and visited classic BBQ hotbeds like Opie’s in Spicewood, Texas and Black’s Barbeque in Lockhart, Texas.

Belmont House of Smoke specializes in a classic Western Carolina style for its pork BBQ sandwich. Western Carolina BBQ has more of a tomato/ketchup base, where Eastern Carolina BBQ in vinegar based.  Belmont’s ribs are straight-up Memphis – smoked, dry-rubbed with spices and sauced at the finish. Their beef brisket is signature Texas in style with copious salt and pepper with chili powder, and a long and slow process in the smoker, using hickory, oak and pecan. The brisket is Filipowski’s personal favorite.

“It’s different and unique for the East Coast,” he said. “Not that I don’t love the pork and everything else, but if I had to pick one the brisket is the premier product. It’s the one that is the hardest to do. It is the one that has the most mystery and lore about it. Guys in Texas talk about picking up a brisket and can tell whether it’s going to be tender before they cook it. There are more stories about brisket than any other type of barbeque.”

Beef brisket has become a hot commodity since the days when it was primarily consumed by cowboys, ranchers and farmhands. Filipowski and pit-master Trevor Amick endlessly work on improving their product.

Increasingly, Belmont House of Smoke has been taking its show on the road, serving BBQ at outdoor festivals like Harborfest and at local craft brewery events. Being active and visible in the community is important to both Filipowski and Katz.

“We want to do everything we can to support the local breweries,” said Filipowski, “and support our neighbors.”

Belmont House of Smoke’s menu for outdoor events is designed for mass production to accommodate the potential mass of hungry attendees. Popular items include their pulled pork sandwich, sliced beef brisket sandwich, pork rinds and a big bucket of fries.

In addition to Belmont House of Smoke, Katz and Filipowski own and operate Cogan’s Pizza and Colley Cantina – both popular, iconic Ghent mainstay restaurants. Cogan’s and the Cantina are also now participating at outdoor events.

Back at the “ranch,” Belmont House of Smoke has an extensive menu that includes salads, burgers and chicken wings. Barbeque, however, is the obvious feature and the highlight dishes are the St. Louis Rib Platters that include Memphis-style dry rib and Kansas City-style wet rib hickory smoked for hours and hours; the Rib Samplers combines tender sliced brisket and the burnt ends brisket; Beer Can Chicken is a popular BBQ platter. A variety of BBQ sandwiches are available as well as entries that include Cajun Catfish, Rib-eye Magnolia, Fish & Chips, and a BBQ stuffed baked potato.

Patrons can dine in style on the first floor or experience a more casual atmosphere on the second floor high-tables, bar and raised outdoor patio. If you love BBQ you’ll be glad you came.

“I enjoy the competitions,” said Filipowski, “but I’m doing it more to learn and try to bring real, competition grade BBQ to the restaurant. We’re pretty serious about it.”