Meet Our Mid-Valley: Trebriel Larry of Briel's BBQ is passionate about food, community

This is part of a weekly series introducing readers to individuals who are passionate about our Mid-Valley community.

The subtle scent of smoke and meat cuts through the air on a rainy afternoon, smoke billowing from a stack. It's been drizzling for the last six hours as Trebriel "Briel" Larry has been cooking at his smoker for an event. He lifts one of the smoker's doors to mop the brisket and pork loin inside, getting a face full of smoke.

"The best part of barbecue is the process, I love the process," Larry said.

"People think I'm crazy that for a pop-up I'm up for 36 hours from beginning to cook to the end of service ... but you have to be crazy to do it, and if you don't have the pride, passion and perseverance you can't do it."

Trying something new and starting barbecue business

Larry runs Briel's BBQ, a pop-up and catering business primarily around Independence and Salem. Larry describes his barbecue as western Texas style, with South Carolina flavors. He uses white oak on an offset cooker. Apart from the meats, side dishes are his mom's recipes.

Larry hadn't intended to go into barbecuing at all, but started in 2020 when he looked up how to smoke a brisket.

The search initially came up because Larry wanted to try doing something different beyond operating group homes for disabled adults and children out of Monmouth. It led Larry down a rabbit hole of looking into getting a smoker from Amazon, which he was able to scrounge up from old Amazon gift cards, and then began cooking.

He learned how to get things to work and wood splits sizing, which led him to get a larger smoker in 2021. What he was cooking was for pushing plates for friends, family and the folks in group homes.

Beginning to branch out his cooking into a business really kicked off in spring 2022, when he got to cater the soft and grand opening of Tall Man Brewing in Lebanon. He had small catering gigs that summer but it was growing too big to stay just a hobby. So he decided to pause operating the group homes to see if he could kick off his business.

Gaining experience, learning from others

Fortunately for Larry, it did. He did various pop-ups and catering gigs through Independence and other towns in the Mid-Valley. He networked along the way and got hired at Epilogue Kitchen in May 2023, learning the ropes of working in a restaurant.

Larry had no restaurant experience prior to beginning his barbecue venture, so trying and learning about others' barbecue practice has helped him.

Larry mentioned a trip to Texas he took in 2023 for a barbecue class. After it was finished, he went to a barbecue truck and ended up chatting and eating with the folks in line. From strangers to friends in just a few hours and being able to foster that positive environment with a food truck or brick and mortar is Larry's ultimate goal. Barbecue holds a special place in Larry's heart because he has fond memories of family gatherings around it.

For 2024, Larry is working to get a food truck. Running pop-ups is difficult because of the specific regulations in each county. He said with a food truck, he could hopefully find a spot and carve out a "third space," a space that's not home or work that people can convene at.

"There's a lot of good barbecue spots in Oregon, especially up north in Portland," Larry said. "Independence is where I want to land and stay ... the folks are so welcoming and I see us on the rise and where I want to be."

Even though Independence may seem "far" to some folks in Salem, Larry said if you have good food, people will come out. And barbecue is one of those cuisines that it if it's good, people will wait, he said.

"I never thought I'd be in the food industry," Larry said. "I just loved to cook and having people eat my food. I just wanted to make the leap, so I did."

To get info on Briel's BBQ next pop-up, check out the Facebook and Instagram page, @briels_bbq.

Em Chan covers food and dining at the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at echan@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @catchuptoemily.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Meet Our Mid-Valley: Briel's BBQ aims to create community with food