better_than_porridge

better_than_porridge Food Pop-ups at area bars and venues in NYC. DM for local meal kit orders and pick-up. Local Delivery available. See link to order.

Labor Day weekend plans = EAT GOOD. GET SPICY. REPEAT. 🍤🍔🌭🔥We’re spending the long weekend at Barrow’s Intense @ Industr...
09/05/2026

Labor Day weekend plans = EAT GOOD. GET SPICY. REPEAT. 🍤🍔🌭🔥

We’re spending the long weekend at Barrow’s Intense @ Industry City with the Better Than Porridge food pop-up + Achilles Heat.

Come hungry for New England Style Shrimp Rolls, Hearts of Palm Rolls, Smokehouse Queso Burgers, dogs + sausages, esquites, jumbo hot pretzels and plenty of Achilles Heat. 🌶️ All pair excellent with the Barrow’s Frozen Moscow Mule! 🍹

LONG WEEKEND SCHEDULE
SATURDAY • 2–10PM
SUNDAY • 3–7PM
MONDAY • LABOR DAY • 2–8PM

And we’re not stopping Monday…

🔮 TUESDAY • 5–10PM
Back at Barrow’s with for Spirited Away Psychic + Paranormal Night. Psychic readings, tarot, astrology, aura photography + more, with Better Than Porridge serving up dinner all evening. ✨
*vegan & vegetarian food options

📍 Barrow’s Intense Tasting Room
at
920 Third Ave, courtyard 5/6
Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Come eat, hang out, grab some Achilles Heat and make a long weekend of it. 🔥



Facebook reminded me that in 2020, I was in my Bushwick backyard experimenting with grilled pizza, (pizza steel vs cast...
09/02/2026

Facebook reminded me that in 2020, I was in my Bushwick backyard experimenting with grilled pizza, (pizza steel vs cast iron), tweaking my homemade sourdough crust and growing purple basil for my pizza sauce, all in between client Zoom calls at my corporate job. 😂🍕

Six years later, apparently I’m still tinkering with pizza sauce flavors. Only now, it’s all about that flavorful, smoke-forward heat. 🔥

And suddenly I understand why I’ve been craving a pizza hot sauce…

Who’d have thought those backyard experiments would eventually lead to Il Diavolo Affumicato, Achilles Heat’s new Smoked Spicy Pizza Hot Sauce. 🍅🌶️🔥

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Just spicier. 😂

ACHILLES HEAT x CLARA’S 🔥🍕IT’S PIZZA WING NIGHT!ONE NIGHT ONLY. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PIZZA MEETS WING NIGHT? 🍕🍗🔥Tonight at ...
08/31/2026

ACHILLES HEAT x CLARA’S 🔥🍕
IT’S PIZZA WING NIGHT!

ONE NIGHT ONLY. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PIZZA MEETS WING NIGHT? 🍕🍗🔥

Tonight at Clara’s, we’re premiering Achilles Heat’s NEW Il Diavolo Affumicato Smoked Spicy Pizza Hot Sauce on $1.50 wings.

Think the flavors of a great New York slice, reimagined as hot sauce: ripe tomatoes, caramelized onions, roasted garlic + Italian herbs, fired up with smoked habaneros and Carolina Reapers. Rich, savory, smoky and spicy.

🔥 Want even more heat? Go Apocalypse Now, with rare smoked Apocalypse Reapers, dragon fruit + passion fruit.

Or mix it up with any of Clara’s house sauces.

Stop by the Achilles Heat tasting table from 5–9PM to sample our spiciest smoked hot sauce lineup yet and stock up on these limited batches.

📅 Monday, August 31
📍 Clara’s | 53 Wilson Ave, Bushwick
🚇 Morgan Ave L
⏰ 5–9PM
🍗 $1.50 wings with purchase of alcohol
🌶️ Minimum 3 wings per sauce flavor

Come grab a bottle of Il Diavolo Affumicato before this small batch runs out! 🔥

BROOKLYN… wanna be among the first to taste something BRAND NEW? 🍕🌶️👀We’re giving you a sneak taste of our brand-new smo...
08/29/2026

BROOKLYN… wanna be among the first to taste something BRAND NEW? 🍕🌶️👀

We’re giving you a sneak taste of our brand-new smoked spicy PIZZA hot sauce this weekend, before we officially introduce it. 🔥🍕

And since you’ve been asking for MORE HEAT, we’re bringing our spiciest Achilles Heat lineup yet along with it. ❤️‍🔥

SATURDAY 8/29
📍 Barrow's Intense Ginger Liqueur • Barrow's Intense NY Tasting Room • Industry City
⏰ 1–9PM

SUNDAY 8/30
📍 Barrow's Intense Ginger Liqueur • Barrow's Intense NY Tasting Room • Industry City
⏰ 3–7PM

MONDAY 8/31
📍 Clara’s • Bushwick
⏰ 5–8PM

Come taste:

🍕🔥 BRAND-NEW SMOKED SPICY PIZZA HOT SAUCE — you’ll have to come taste it before we tell you much more. 😉

🌶️ The Merchant’s Brine — smoked spicy pickle + tomatillo
🔥 Savage Carolina Gentleman — Carolina Reaper, roasted garlic + sweet onion
🔥🔥 Apocalypse Now — Apocalypse Reaper + dragon fruit

And if you’re lucky… we’ll have a few bottles of Scarlet Cherry Noir and Brooklyn Bravo Bianco up for grabs at Barrow’s. 🍒🌶️

Unfortunately, no Smoked Chili Crisp this weekend. This one is ALL ABOUT THE HOT SAUCE.

Come hang, grab a drink, be one of the first to taste the new pizza sauce, and find out just how much heat you were actually asking for. 😈🔥

Bushwick, I know a lot of folks have been asking! 🙏 Things have been BUSY, so apologies I haven’t been able to pop up lo...
08/24/2026

Bushwick, I know a lot of folks have been asking! 🙏 Things have been BUSY, so apologies I haven’t been able to pop up locally in a while. But I’ve got a fresh stash and I’m around, so hit me up if ya want to get some sauce!

And yes, I scored a coveted stash of super chilis from my “purveyor on the shore,” so Scarlet Cherry Noir is back. 🍒🌶️ Get it while the gettin’s good, this one is always a limited batch.

DM me for availability and local Bushwick pickup.

🔥🌶️ ONE MORE HAWT SUMMER SUNDAY 🌶️🔥Our friends 🔥 Smoke Sweats 🔥 are throwing their final pop-up of the summer this Sunda...
08/06/2026

🔥🌶️ ONE MORE HAWT SUMMER SUNDAY 🌶️🔥

Our friends 🔥 Smoke Sweats 🔥 are throwing their final pop-up of the summer this Sunday at The Test Brewery, and Achilles Heat® is tagging along for the send-off!

We’ll be popping up alongside them with an Achilles Heat Smoked Chili Crisp + Smoked Hot Sauce tasting, with jars and bottles available to take home.

🌶️ PLUS: We’ll have a limited number of bottles of our NEW spicy pickle hot sauce, The Merchant’s Brine, so come get an early taste before it’s gone! 🥒🔥

After a whole lot of pop-ups, BBQs and a couple of award-winning collaborations together last year, somehow this will be our FIRST and LAST summer Sunday together this season! 😂

Come hungry, taste some HAWT stuff, and help us send Smoke Sweats off to clear azure waters for the summer. 🌊☀️🔥

📍 The Test Brewery
302 Metropolitan Ave, Floor 1
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
📅 Sunday, August 9
⏰ 1 PM till sellout

See you Sunday! ❤️🌶️

Yes… another cucumber salad. Blame the humidity. 😅🥒I still think about the version Chef Dan (Dan) whipped up with Achill...
08/01/2026

Yes… another cucumber salad. Blame the humidity. 😅🥒

I still think about the version Chef Dan (Dan) whipped up with Achilles Heat Smoked Chili Crisp.

Smashed cucumbers tossed with julienned carrots, thinly sliced scallions, fresh cilantro, chopped garlic, a sprinkle of toasted black sesame seeds, a splash of soy sauce, and a generous spoonful of Achilles Heat® Smoked Chili Crisp.

Smoky, savory, refreshing, and ridiculously easy to throw together.

If you’re looking for a side dish to beat the heat, this one’s worth adding to your summer rotation.

Remember when I first got my smoker and it seemed like I was always making ribs, pork belly, chashu, and country bacon?A...
07/25/2026

Remember when I first got my smoker and it seemed like I was always making ribs, pork belly, chashu, and country bacon?

Anyway, I was chatting earlier with my buddy Danilo, and he was telling me about one time when he walked past the kitchen at this restaurant and saw the cooks eating ribs. He kept going on about how good they looked and wondering why they weren’t on the menu.

I explained they were probably the refuse, aka the ribs trimmed off the pork belly they use for carnitas. And how one pork belly makes a ton of carnitas, but the attached rack only has about 13 ribs, so there’s not really enough to make a consistent menu item out of them. So it made perfect sense that the cooks would enjoy them instead.

As I was explaining that that’s where ribs come from on the pig… I could tell from the look on his face that he just wasn’t buying it. 😂 So I grabbed a pen and a napkin and drew this incredibly accurate anatomical masterpiece to prove my point.

For anyone wondering why my art career never took off… scroll to the last slide. 😆

🔥 Three chances to find Achilles Heat this weekend!🥒 We’ve been keeping this one under wraps, but we’re finally ready to...
07/25/2026

🔥 Three chances to find Achilles Heat this weekend!

🥒 We’ve been keeping this one under wraps, but we’re finally ready to share it with you.

Meet The Merchant’s Brine, our newest smoked hot sauce! Inspired by New York City’s historic pickle merchants and the Lower East Side, this smoked spicy pickle, chiles & tomatillo sauce makes its public debut this weekend.

On the tasting lineup:
🏆 Achilles Heat Smoked Chili Crisp (Sauce King NYC Best New Sauce)
🥒 NEW! The Merchant’s Brine
🧄 Brooklyn Bravo Bianco (white truffle, roasted red pepper & smoked Scotch bonnet)
🧅 Oh, Sweet Vidalia! (caramelized Vidalia onions & smoked Scotch bonnet)
👻 Passion of the Ghost (passion fruit & smoked Ghost peppers)

Come taste them all!

📍 Saturday, July 25 | 10 AM - 2 PM
Fulton Stall Market Farmers Market
91 South St. (@ Burling Slip)
New York, NY 10038

📍 Saturday, July 25 | 1 PM - 6 PM
Greg Fernandez & Jem Hunts ✨ present
Wet Hot Summer Vendor Market
🎶 Live music 3 PM - 10 PM
McCarren Parkhouse
855 Lorimer St.
Brooklyn, NY 11222

📍 Sunday, July 26 | 3 PM - 8 PM
Barrow’s Intense Tasting Room Barrow's Intense NY Tasting Room
with Better than Porridge Food Pop-up
86 34th St., Building 4
Industry City
Brooklyn, NY 11232

See you this weekend! 🔥

WATERMELON GAZPACHO 🍉🌿Some recipes have a way of finding you again.The warm summer weather had me craving something cold...
07/20/2026

WATERMELON GAZPACHO 🍉🌿

Some recipes have a way of finding you again.

The warm summer weather had me craving something cold, and then I saw Mt Olympus Farm announce that their first gigantic watermelons of the season had arrived. That was all the inspiration I needed to dig through some old recipes.

I came across this watermelon gazpacho that I originally shared back in 2011.

The recipe was inspired by time I spent living in the Middle East, where I developed a deep appreciation for cooking with fresh herbs, bright citrus, exceptional produce, and simple ingredients.

One of my favorite memories is waking up early to the sound of an older gentleman making his way down our neighborhood street with a wooden cart piled high with enormous, ripe watermelons, calling out, “Avatiyach! Avatiyach! Avatiyach adom u’matok!” “Watermelon! Watermelon! Red and sweet watermelon!”

This recipe has a bit of its own story, too. The first time I made it, I hand-diced every ingredient. Only after he finished watching me labor in the kitchen, did my ex casually mention, “You know… there’s a food processor.” Naturally, I made it a second time to compare. Both versions were delicious, and over the years I’ve continued making both depending on the texture I’m in the mood for.

Whether you prefer it silky and smooth or bright and chunky, it’s hard to beat the combination of sweet watermelon, crisp cucumber, colorful peppers, fresh mint, lime, and good olive oil on a hot summer day. Not pictured, but def one of my favorites, add a handful of crumbled feta to the top for a little briny and saltiness which is a delicious complement to the sweet watermelon.

Scroll through for the original recipe.

🍉 P.S. If you’re anywhere near Richmond, Virginia, I highly recommend stopping by Mt Olympus Farm. Their first harvest of gigantic, incredibly sweet watermelons has officially arrived, and they look absolutely spectacular. Summer is officially watermelon season!

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