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January 7, 2025
Day in the Life: Pitmaster Matt Barry
How the executive pitmaster at Midwood Smokehouse helps run all six locations of a beloved local concept
by Jacqueline Pennington
Matt Barry’s love of barbecue started young. Growing up in North Carolina, there was barbecue at all kinds of family events. From his father’s company picnics to family reunions and trips to the beach where his uncle would bring a pull-behind trailer smoker, it was an integral part of Barry’s upbringing. While he was studying at N.C. State, he worked part-time at barbecue restaurants and was the designated chef at tailgates, preparing barbecue ribs for his friends. After graduating with a history degree, he realized that he wasn’t sold on the career options in front of him.
“I was in my mid-twenties and I was living in Raleigh,” Barry says. “I was out of school and I was just trying to find myself. I met Frank [Scibelli] through my uncle, who worked for him. I didn’t really think barbecue would be a way that I could make a living and take care of a family. But I met Frank one weekend, cooked some food for him, and I started working for him two weeks later.”
That was almost 14 years ago — when Midwood Smokehouse had just opened its original restaurant — and now Barry is the executive pitmaster for all six locations. “I don’t think the intention was ever to grow to where we are now, but it organically just kind of happened,” he says. “People wanted it and we got bigger and we got busier and we just ran with it.”
As executive pitmaster, Barry spends less time in the pit, instead dedicating his days to checking in on the restaurant’s operations and staff to make sure things are running smoothly. Ensuring consistency across the brand is a key focus for Barry while he also works on developing new menu items and training incoming staff.
Here’s what a day in his life looks like.
5:15 a.m.: Barry is up bright and early in the morning to get his children up and ready for the day. “My daughter has to be at the bus stop at 6:30 and my wife is a school teacher, so everyone’s out of the house pretty early. We get up, get the coffee thing going, and I take that 15 minutes before the kids are awake as a nice peaceful way to get the day started. Then, it’s get everybody ready and get out the door. I kind of pride myself on my wife having the best lunches of any teacher at her school so I try to make sure she’s always got an above average lunch to take with her.”
In the time between his daughter and wife heading out and his son’s drop-off at preschool, he kicks off his work day by going through his inbox.
9 a.m.: “My son goes to school at nine o’clock and from there I go to work. I typically pick a store — we’ve got six stores including the airport — to pop in on, and two of those are out of market. So, if I’m in Charlotte, I’m going to one of the Charlotte stores.”
Barry also makes trips to the Raleigh and Columbia locations throughout the week and when he arrives onsite, he has a ritual to head straight to a particularly important piece of equipment. “I’ll get there and the first thing I do is go and check on the smoker,” he says. “I make sure it’s functioning properly and peek at the meat and make sure they’re all on point, because we’re probably opening in about an hour and a half or so. Then, I check in with whoever the chef is in that building for the day and see what they’ve got going on.”
11 a.m.: “At 11, I do a line check. I walk through and I taste everything on the line. That’s kind of my lunch and the first thing I eat all day. I eat a slice of brisket every day. It’s a cornerstone for me.”
Brisket is one of the things that Midwood Smokehouse is known for and there’s a process in place to make sure each one they serve is up to par. “That’s the one thing I make sure the chefs do at our restaurant,” says Barry. “We should try one slice out of every brisket because, in my opinion, one in eight briskets doesn’t turn out the way you thought it was going to. So, we take the first slice and every brisket is tasted by a chef. Then if we have to, we can use it for burnt ends, but we want to make sure that sliced brisket is perfect.”
1:30 p.m.: After Barry helps out during lunch, he takes some time to get his admin work done. “I’ll typically update emails and any kind of admin stuff I need to follow up on whether it’s interviews or conference calls,” says Barry. “I get my laptop and find a corner in the dining room. That way, I can see everything, like if we get a little busy or a guest interaction with the staff. I like to see that stuff and make sure everything is still going the way it’s supposed to go.”
“It’s my favorite part of the job. I still enjoy going out at lunch and seeing the diversity of the guests we have coming in. I like to think that barbecue is inclusive. Barbecue’s for everybody from all walks of life. I go in [to the dining room] and everyone’s in a place where they’re not at work anymore. They’re not dealing with their stresses, they’re just sitting down and enjoying barbecue with their friends. It still brings me up.”
3:30 p.m.: Once he wraps up his admin work for the day, he gets ready for the transition to dinner and checks in with the staff. “We’ve got a lot of people that have been working in hourly roles for us as prep cooks, dishwashers, line cooks, for 8, 9, 10 years,” says Barry. “I’ve known these people for a long time. I know some of their kids. So, I always like to be there and set that positive vibe for the next shift during the transition. Then, I will typically ask the chef if they need anything for dinner, where they’re at, what their specials are, and what their product levels look like. ”
5 p.m.: Next, Barry observes dinner service and makes sure everything runs smoothly. “Whether I hang out outside, expo for a little bit, hang out around the smoker, or pop into the dining room, I just like to see what’s going on,” he says. “I spend a lot of time at night just kind of watching, observing, and taking notes. I like to see where there’s an opportunity for us to get better.”
7:30 p.m.: Barry collects his notes from the day, heads out of the restaurant, and makes it home to help get the kids in bed and tidy up the house. “We have two dogs and two kids. So, you can imagine, it’s a constant battle just to keep the place organized.”
9:30 p.m.: Once the kids are in bed, Barry winds down with some television and loves to watch his favorite Charlotte sports teams play, if he can. He turns in around 10:30 to rest up before he starts his routine running the restaurants all over again.
One of Barry’s favorite parts of the job is working with something he loves and sharing it with people around him. “When you spend 12-14 hours cooking a piece of meat, it’s selfish not to share it,” he says. “Barbecue is meant to be shared, right? You do it all and then at the end of the process, you’ve got a nine pound brisket. Obviously, you’re not gonna eat by yourself. It’s designed to be shared. It’s designed for everyone.”
