When Vincent Hunt left his chef job to launch his Baton Rouge barbecue restaurant Salt Pepper Oak, which is set to open this spring, he didn’t know he would become an accidental TikTok star, getting about 2 million to 3 million views per month.
Hunt is preparing to parlay that social success into a brick-and-mortar location for Salt Pepper Oak at 6721 Exchequer Dr. The restaurant will feature live-fire barbecue, a scratch kitchen, house-made cocktails, and a quick-service counter that’s the signature format for Texas barbecue shops.
Hunt recently told What Now New Orleans that the key to growing his Salt Pepper Oak brand has been engagement with Barbecue TikTok.
“What we learned about the social media following for the barbecue is: People might love you or hate you, but they’re all going to talk about you,” he laughed. “So if you can get somebody to come on and tell you you’re doing your ribs wrong, that’s engagement. Once I realized that, I was set up to the point where I could trim a brisket, read comments, and interact with people at the same time. That’s truly the way to grow on social media.”
When it opens this spring, Salt Pepper Oak will offer eight different smoked meats, including pork belly, burnt ends, chicken wings, and sliced-to-order turkey. It will also feature non-barbecue dishes that incorporate the use of smoke, such as fried chicken that has been pre-smoked before being battered and fried. Hunt said the restaurant’s location in an industrial part of Baton Rouge means he’ll eventually have breakfast hours for nearby workers. The beverage program will include easy-to-drink beers, a frozen drink, house-made cocktails on tap, and coffee to go with breakfast service.
With the doors of Salt Pepper Oak set to open in the next couple of months, Hunt talked about how his many years of restaurant experience and a desire to start his own business led to its creation.
“You know, when you get a little older in life, you kind of realize what’s important,” he mused. “Having the ability to do what I want to do started weighing a lot more into my thought process.”
