T here is going to be a moment, and maybe just a single millisecond, when Texas chef Miguel Vidal stands in front of the smoker at Austin’s Churchrow Tejas BBQ, and everything before will be the control lost and financial downfall and destruction, and everything after will be dirty gloves and sore feet and greasy skin.
Vidal, who owned and operated one of Texas’ top barbecue spots before an undoing that included $2.7 million of debt, various complaints of bad management and an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, shut down Valentina’s Tex-Mex BBQ in April 2024. Now, 18 months after the end of Valentina’s and steadfast that he’s rebuilding himself for his wife, his children and his friends, Vidal will be back as pitmaster at Churchrow when it opens in the final two weeks of October.
Before the place opens and the crowds line up and the Instagram fills with comments, there is going to be a moment and Vidal knows it…