Our Story

In 2004 we roasted our first whole free-range hog. Marinated the night before in our own mix of herbs and spices, turned slowly over the fire, carved in front of people who had never seen a whole pig cooked in the open.

We were one of the first in London serving hog roast as street food. Word travelled. Before long we were being asked to grill and barbecue for weddings, parties and corporate days, and our fire became a familiar sight at the summer festivals.

Tim grew up in Jamaica and Portugal — places where cooking outdoors isn't a special occasion, it's just how you eat. He settled in London in 1997. In 2004 we took a place at Borough Market, importing and selling fine Portuguese black pig charcuterie, smoked products and preserves, and cooking on community and celebration days.

That's where the Portuguese half of what we do comes from. Bifana rolls. Chicken piri piri. Sardine parties through the summer. Later came Brazilian barbecues — and three years running, the annual cricket day for the chefs and staff of Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck.

The Gipsy Hill Smokehouse opened in March 2016. We smoke beef brisket and spicy pork ribs over ash and Irish peat. We do pulled pork and chicken, burgers, salads and sides — the American and the Portuguese ends of the same fire.

Twenty years on, the part that hasn't changed is the part nobody sees. The marinade going on the night before. The fire lit hours before the first guest arrives. The meat coming off when it's ready, not when it's convenient.

That's the whole thing, really. Tell us about your day and we'll tell you how we'd cook it.