Northern Barbecue™: The Trademark Style of BBQ Chef Mike Belobradic
"You’ve heard of Southern Barbecue. Well, this is Northern Barbecue." - Chef Mike Belobradic
At The Smokehouse, barbecue is more than a method of cooking: it is a point of view.
BBQ, as I see it, is a story told through hardwood smoke, open flame, and flavours drawn from every corner of the world. Northern Barbecue™ is my trademark style, a phrase I coined to describe the evolution of my craft and my identity as a BBQ Chef.
Northern Barbecue™ is not a trend, and it is not a fusion for the sake of novelty.
It is not about cold, snow, or winter cooking.
Northern Barbecue™ is a philosophy: the blending of traditional Southern barbecue foundations with global grilling and live-fire traditions, shaped through a distinctly Canadian perspective that reflects Canada’s role as a welcoming home for cultures, tastes, and techniques from around the world.
From Classical Training to Live Fire
My barbecue journey didn’t start in a formal kitchen. While my earliest (and only) restaurant job was as a pizza maker at Mother’s Pizza in my teens (and it did inform me about the basics of pizza making, my BBQ journey was built old school—learning by doing. After a few years of self-learning, trial and error, I honed my barbecue skills with guidance from mentors in North Carolina and Texas. Culinary school came next, giving me formal chef training. But it was those early, hands-on experiences with fire, smoke, and live cooking that truly shaped my style and passion for barbecue.
Southern barbecue became my cornerstone. The patience of low-and-slow smoking. The joy that comes from any level of mastery over wood, heat, and timing. The deep understanding that barbecue is as much about restraint as it is about flavour. It’s a little ironic for me as I am not a patient person, yet true barbecue (no electric, no gas, no pellets) requires patience, focus and a lot of passion. These lessons stay with me every time I light a fire.
Over the years at The Smokehouse: Smoke Fire Grill (my backyard BBQ oasis), curiosity took hold. I became intrigued (and maybe genuinely obsessed) with how other cultures around the world approach cooking over live fire. Not gas or electric grills with knobs and buttons, but real flame. Real hardwood. Real smoke.
That curiosity became the foundation of something new: Northern Barbecue™.
Vertical charcoal cooker for Shawarma and Tacos al Pastor.
What Is Northern Barbecue™?
Northern Barbecue™ is my trademark live-fire cooking style rooted in a Canadian perspective on global barbecue traditions (rooted in Southern traditions). It is not a concept focused on cold-weather or winter grilling.
At its heart, Northern Barbecue™ is defined by three principles:
Live Fire Only – Every dish is cooked with hardwood heat, open flame, or glowing lump charcoal embers. This is barbecue and grilling in its purest form.
Global Influence – Flavors, techniques, and inspiration are drawn from cultures around the world.
Southern Foundation – The discipline and respect for smoke, timing, and temperature learned in the American South remain the backbone of everything I create.
The result is not Southern barbecue. It is not international street food. It is something uniquely its own. That is Northern Barbecue™.
A Reflection of Canada on the Grill
Canada’s story is one of diversity, welcoming, and shared traditions. Northern Barbecue™ reflects that same spirit.
Each year in my backyard kitchen, known simply as The Smokehouse, I choose a different region of the world to study, explore, and honor through live-fire cooking. I do not just recreate dishes. I learn the techniques, the cultural context, and the role that fire plays in that region’s food traditions.
Over the years, this journey has led me to the BBQ traditions of many places, including:
Brazilian Churrasco
Peruvian barbecue
Middle Eastern shawarma
Japanese live-fire grilling
Hawaiian pit-style cooking
Croatian open-flame traditions
Moroccan fire-roasted flavors
Mexican wood-fired and coal-based grilling
And many many more.
Each influence leaves a mark and each style adds a new layer. Together, they combine to form the evolving identity of Northern Barbecue™.
Japanese Konro grill for Yakitori and more.
The Secret Sauce of Northern Barbecue™
Northern Barbecue™ is not only about where the inspiration comes from. It is also about how each dish becomes uniquely my own.
Every recipe, rub, and cooking method is what goes into what I call the "secret sauce" of Northern Barbecue™: subtle, intentional adaptations that respect tradition while introducing a distinctly Northern twist. Authenticity is non-negotiable for me. I do not approximate regional cooking. I pursue it relentlessly. I also ensure that it is doable in a Canadian outdoor kitchen. Striking that balance is also a key ingredient of Northern Barbecue™.
That pursuit often means searching high and low for the right tools to do justice to each tradition. When I committed to Middle Eastern shawarma, I tracked down a hand-crafted, stainless steel vertical charcoal grill built by hand by a metal worker in the U.S. For Japanese live-fire cooking, I invested in large Konro cookers designed for precision heat and binchotan-style charcoal. For Brazilian Churrasco, my long grill swords (which I found in California) and open-flame setup have become a signature of the Smokehouse itself. When visiting Hawaii, I always search for Kiawe wood that I can bring home to make authentic Huli Huli Chicken.
These details matter. They are the difference between imitation and intention.
Northern Barbecue™ is where authenticity meets evolution. Traditional techniques are honoured, and then refined through my own Northern perspective and formalized into a recognizable, branded style.
The Smokehouse: Where the Style Lives
The physical heart of Northern Barbecue™ is my backyard kitchen. It is anchored by a full-scale brick oven that weighs over 8,000 pounds and serves as both a literal and symbolic foundation of my craft.
Here, smoke drifts across long counters lined with a smoker, a wood-fired grill, and a live-flame cooking station. It is a space designed for exploration, experimentation, and respect for fire as a cooking partner, not just a heat source.
Of course, Northern Barbecue™ also extends to pizza (the roots of my cooking past). The brick oven becomes another canvas, where global flavors meet live-fire technique, creating pizza variations and regional styles that carry the same philosophy as the barbecue coming off the smokers and grills. And pizza isn’t the only thing that comes out of the brick oven, not by a long shot.
The Northern Barbecue™ Method
Northern Barbecue™ is not improvised. It follows a clear, repeatable framework that defines how every dish is conceived, prepared, and finished at The Smokehouse, whether smoke, fire or grill.
The Northern Barbecue™ Method by Chef Mike Belobradic is built on five pillars:
Honor the Origin
Every dish cooked begins with deep research into the regional tradition. Techniques, cuts, seasonings, and fire management are studied to understand how the dish is meant to be prepared in its place of origin.Match the Fire to the Food
The cooker is never an afterthought. From Konro grills for Japanese barbecue, to vertical charcoal rotisseries for shawarma, and open-flame rigs for Churrasco, the equipment is selected to reflect authentic heat, airflow, and fuel.Respect the Smoke
Southern barbecue fundamentals guide wood choice, temperature control, and timing, ensuring balance between smoke influence and natural flavor.Apply the Northern Twist
This is the signature step. Subtle, intentional adaptations are layered in, creating a refined expression that reflects my own perspective and Canada’s multicultural culinary landscape.Formalize the Finish
Every successful technique becomes part of a growing, documented style system that defines what Northern Barbecue™ means across menus, events, and experiences.
This method transforms global fire-cooking traditions into a cohesive, recognizable culinary identity.
Spanish paella over hardwood heat.
More Than a Style. A Signature.
Northern Barbecue™ is not a menu category. It is not a marketing phrase. It is my unique and original signature style as a BBQ Chef.
It represents years of training, travel, study, and hands-on cooking over thousands of fires. It reflects my belief that barbecue is a living craft, one that grows stronger when it welcomes new ideas while honouring its roots.
When you experience Northern Barbecue™, you are tasting Southern tradition, global influence, and Canadian identity in every bite.
Owning the Flame
I coined the phrase Northern Barbecue™ to define something that didn’t previously exist: a distinct, recognizable style that blends the soul of Southern BBQ with the flavors and fire traditions of the world.
It is my trademark.
It is my hook.
It is my passion.
Northern Barbecue™ is the culinary identity behind everything I do at The Smokehouse and beyond.
Everyone has heard of Southern Barbecue.
This is Northern Barbecue™.
Chef Mike Belobradic is a formally-trained chef and the creator of Northern Barbecue™, a live-fire cooking style that blends Southern barbecue foundations with global grilling traditions. Through The Smokehouse: Smoke Fire Grill, he explores the world’s fire-based cuisines, one season, one region, and one flame at a time.
For expert commentary on Canadian barbecue and hardwood smoking, contact Chef Mike Belobradic at SmokeFireGrill.ca