Fourteen years in law enforcement told Chris Villeneuve that it was time for him to do something else: in short order, he found himself standing over a barrel-smoker preparing brisket, pork belly and jerk chicken and the accompanying sauces.
To do that, he drew on his passion for cooking and on his family’s food background creating a unique brand called Junior and the Kid BBQ located in Rockland.
“Junior is my grandfather, Gerry Villeneuve. For a short time, he had a restaurant called Homesteaders, a family-style diner, in Ottawa. I kind of followed in his footsteps,” says Villeneuve.
“Our family grew up eating together, having dinner, and Junior was always chef for the family. He really sparked a fire for me for cooking.”
As a youth, Chris was inspired to experiment in the family kitchen and combined ingredients to see what flavours he could create.
Then came barbecue as he embraced live-fire cooking.
“I’m a meat guy. So I always barbecued at home,” he says.
From pop-ups to bricks and mortar
In 2018, Villeneuve started making barbecue sauces, which he eventually sold at farmers’ markets as a sort of weekend side-hustle that served to stoke his passion for food and cooking.
The Junior and the Kid name and the brand started to resonate with customers as he peddled maple-bourbon, chipotle-peach and blueberry sauces: they got enough traction that people started asking him if he could do some private catering and pop-ups.
He then approached the markets about selling hot food like pulled pork sandwiches: while the pandemic crushed a lot of businesses, Villeneuve thrived there using only a single 55-gallon barrel smoker.
Fast forward and Villeneuve took the plunge to open a bricks-and-mortar venue at 733 Rue Industrielle Drive in Rockland, a few doors down from Brauwerk Hoffman microbrasserie.
Junior and the Kid – the takeout iteration – was born in 2,500 sq.-ft. of space that opened a few days before this past Christmas and started having regular hours only on January 8.
“It was just the right time to do it,” Villeneuve says, adding that the time he spent at farmers’ markets and catering had helped him establish a base clientele and some brand recognition.
“I had people from all over Ontario visit our market stand and live-fire events,” he says. “We started looking for new, bigger space than our original commercial kitchen. And this is about six minutes from where I live.”
In the short time they’ve been in the permanent space in Rockland, customers have travelled from Kanata, Richmond, Manotick and Ottawa, even though they drive past a half-dozen barbecue places, according to Villeneuve.
His business card has the tagline “Wood Smoked, Locally Sourced, Elevated Barbecue,” which translates to a menu of about two dozen dishes: chicken sandwiches featuring the blueberry sauce
“Mom’s” mac and cheese, a handful of smoker meats such as brisket, pork belly, “burnt ends,” and blueberry-stout ribs along with salads, pit beans and corn bread.
For dessert, even the pouding chômeur is smoked.
Junior and the Kid style barbecue
Barbecue is varying and diverse, touching down in many geographic regions: Kansas City, Memphis, Texas and South Carolina, each with defining techniques and sauces.
The barbecue at Junior and the Kid is its own style, says Villeneuve with a smile.
“I’d say it’s a mix. Junior and the Kid-style, but the brisket is definitely Texas style that’s just coarse pepper and kosher salt. The pork rub is a bit more of a Carolina style and with no sugar, so it’s keto.”
Villeneuve loves jerk chicken, too, so it takes up a spot on the menu that is perhaps a nod to the original barbecue of the Caribbean.
He prefers pork belly to pulled pork.
For customers with other dietary preferences, there’s a Portobello-mushroom sandwich and the potato salad is lactose free as is the sour cream in their house-made cornbread.
Cheese for the mac and cheese is hand-grated rather than from a bag.
“I wanted to include ingredients that are a little bit different,” he says of his overall menu.
Those ingredients are as local as possible: Lavergne Meat & Deli in Navan, Erablière Montpetit Maple Farm in St. Isidore in The Nation, Brauwerk Hoffman for beer, Chantal’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetables in Ottawa (in season) and Fluid Solar Roasted Coffee in Clayton for sauces and rubs.
Fresh breads are delivered daily, but Villeneuve says they’d eventually like to start baking their own as they expand their menu.
“When we get into doing tacos in the summer, we’ll use our chipotle-peach sauce and use some great soft corn tortillas that are made in Orleans. I want variety. I want to create a menu where everything has a distinct flavour.”
Firing up the local food scene
Much of the flavour of the menu is generated by cords and cords of locally sourced maple burned on “Tilly Mae,” the name of Villeneuve’s 500-gallon smoker that features a Santa Maria live-fire grill that was built by Lewis BBQ Manufacturing of Leduc County, Alberta.
Currently, Junior and the Kid BBQ has two full-time employees, including Villeneuve, and a couple of part-time employees cranking out the menu.
A glance at the in-store blackboard menu may reveal a few dishes crossed off and sold out, but that’s barbecue: there is only so much beef available for burnt ends (always a crowd favourite) and smoking meat takes hours and hours, so once the brisket is gone it’s 18 hours to cook more low-and-slow.
The reception in the early weeks of opening “has been amazing,” according to Villeneuve.
“It’s been very busy. We’ve tracked everything and will use the data we’ve collected to see what’s selling each week and figure out the norm. In barbecue culture, sometimes you sell out.”
With that information in hand, there are plans to grow slowly, he adds.
“I want to teach people how to do this the right way. I have a young daughter and would love to have a woman pitmaster working here one day.”
Villeneuve one day anticipates adding seating and tables in the back of the takeout space that can accommodate families and larger groups in a sort of barbecue dining room.
He also hopes to offer barbecue lessons and create special and ticketed events such as guest-pitmaster dinners and collaborations with their neighbour Brauwerk Hoffman.
“Having our own place has always been the dream,” says Villeneuve. “We’re encouraged by the growing food scene in and around Rockland. We see a great sense of community.”
Food writer Andrew Coppolino lives in Rockland. He is the author of “Farm to Table” and co-author of “Cooking with Shakespeare.” Follow him on Instagram @andrewcoppolino.
