Pepper, Salt, Outdoor Movie Nights: Hogan Yards Has You Covered
It was movie night at Hogan Yards, complete with camp chairs sprawled across the turf lawn as eager spectators counted down to the eight o'clock screening of Twilight, when I sat down with John and Heather Chianis to get the origin story behind the hottest new establishment in town. They are couple behind Pepper & Salt BBQ. In addition to being the resident pitmasters, they're overseeing events and programming for all of Hogan Yards.
So, first off, why pepper before salt, and not the other way around?
John's answer?
"Honestly, we wanted to be different than salt and pepper. But the real reason is simpler: we use a ton of pepper. Like a TON. On any label, the first ingredient is whatever you use most, and on our brisket, that's pepper, by a mile."
They taught themselves Central Texas barbecue in a Houston backyard, trading a pellet grill for a proper stick burner once the hobby got serious. Following the birth of their first child, they moved to Vero Beach chasing a slower, more family-friendly pace of life, and the Old Dixie Highway stand opened in 2022.
Since then it's grown into a small local empire: Tossed, the salad spot on Royal Palm Pointe, is theirs too, ironically the polar opposite of Texas barbecue. And if that wasn't enough, they're planning yet another establishment, this time mediterranean, in the space that used to be the Crab Stop, also on Royal Palm Pointe. All this while raising their children, each one growing up a St. Edward's Pirate.
