Hubbard Brings Passion for Barbecue, Wings to West Jefferson

By Joel Frady

After years of working sales, Wilkes County resident Todd Hubbard knew that he wanted a change. Hubbard

had also been catering on the side (he catered the grand opening of Year Round Sports in West Jefferson), and felt that it might be time to take his barbecue to the masses.

"I decided that I was either going to have to hit the road, go back into sales again, two or three states and be gone all the time," he said, or "just take this catering business, which was always kind of a hobby and a freebie thing that I did for the church that I didn't make any money at, just did on the side because I enjoyed it - and turn that into a business."

Despite living in Wilkes, Hubbard said he thought that West Jefferson provided a better market for opening a restaurant.

"I look at Ashe, or West Jefferson, as the next Banner Elk or Blowing Rock," he said. "Being from Wilkes, we have lots of restaurants and everything is moving out."

Hubbard said that he originally set out looking into mobile kitchen equipment to run the business out of, but "the expense of that was really high. So I thought I needed to find a little location and set up a kitchen and cater out of the kitchen."

He found the store's current location, adjacent to Lowe's Foods at 247 Mount Jefferson State Park Road, and thought that he had enough room for a kitchen and a few tables.

"Next thing I know, I'm opening a restaurant," Hubbard laughed.

For Hubbard, When Pigs Fly is about more than just business. He studied the history of barbecue in North Carolina to find his personal style, which he describes as having an eastern-style rub although he doesn't classify his barbecue as either an eastern or western N.C. style.

"I like the vinegar flavor and the spicy flavor," he said of eastern-style N.C. barbecue, but noting that he doesn't like his barbecue as finely minced as eastern-style barbecue is usually prepared.

Hubbard added that he only makes barbecue from pork butts, which he calls "the best cut of meat on the pig for chopped barbecue," and the barbecue is always chopped by hand.

He said that the meat on pork butts "takes the smoke very well, breaks apart very well. It falls apart and is very tender." He added that the course chop leads to a better product, as well, since he wants "to make sure that we pull all of the fat out and we're not giving anything that's garbage to anyone."

Hubbard said that the restaurant will also focus on wings.

"In dealing with people around town, I noticed that people wanted wings," he said. " I was going to have wings, but they were going to be like any other restaurant, be more of a side item."

Hubbard noted that he got the idea to feature barbecue and wings when a friend said he would open a restaurant "When pigs fly."

"I called him back and said 'this is getting ready to take off, this pig's going to fly," Hubbard said. "Then it clicked - When Pigs Fly, barbecue and wings."

The menu also features a variety of side items, from salads and potato salad to fried okra and baked beans. Hubbard said that two of his concerns, however, were fries and hush puppies.

"One of my taboos is fries," he said. "I didn't want bad fries, and everywhere you go you get bad fries."

He added that all the fries at the restaurant are hand-cut, and they offer fries from both potatoes and sweet potatoes."

Hubbard said that he also wanted good hush puppies, so he got a family recipe. The restaurant features both creamy cole slaw and red cole slaw, because "everybody's different."

In the end, Hubbard said that he is excited that When Pigs Fly is finally open and he likes the challenge it presents.

"I'm passionate about food," he said. "I get a joy out of feeding people. When they enjoy it, that means a lot to me. This is real simple to me: if we put out good food, in a good atmosphere, with good service at a fair price - I think we can make it."

When Pigs Fly is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays; from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays; and is closed on Tuesdays.

To find out more about When Pigs Fly, call (336) 846-4747 or click to www.wpfbbq.com.