Barbecued Chicken Pizza — The Fire That Keeps Burning on Washington Avenue

Father's Day at the restaurant. Year seven without Huy. The first Father's Day where I'm a restaurant owner and my children are my staff and the dining room is full of fathers eating food my mother's recipe created. Tyler gave me a custom smoker thermometer — engraved with "BTB" and the date of the restaurant opening. He'd had it made at HCC's metalworking shop. Beautiful, functional, personal. It hangs on the big offset now, next to the standard gauges, a decorative-functional hybrid that's very Tyler. Emma gave me a new apron — leather, embossed with the Smoke and Fish Sauce logo. Heavy, professional, the kind of apron that says "this is not a hobby." She'd ordered it from a leather worker in Austin. It fits perfectly. I've worn it every service since. Lily gave me the restaurant's first-month financial report. Printed, bound, with charts and graphs and a section titled "Dad's ROI" that calculated my return on investment based on the $8,000 I'd spent on the build-out versus the $26,000 first-month profit. The ROI was, according to Lily's math, "insane." She's sixteen in December. She's doing ROI calculations for Father's Day. Ma came for dinner. She wore a regular dress — not the ao dai, just a nice dress. She sat at her table and ate pho and watched the room and when I came over she said, "Your father would have eaten here every night." I said, "He'd have said the brisket was too expensive." She said, "He'd have said that. Then he'd have eaten two plates." We laughed. Ma and me, laughing about Huy, at a table in a restaurant he never saw. The grief has become a companion, not a wound. I carry it the way I carry my sobriety chip — always present, always part of me, worn smooth by time. Daniel came in again. This is the fourth week. He's becoming a regular. He sits at the bar. He orders pho. He talks to Emma when she has a moment. She's been having more moments lately. I haven't said anything. A father knows when to watch and when to speak and this is a watching moment. The boy eats properly. He tips well. He asks about the food with genuine curiosity. These are the metrics that matter. Happy Father's Day. The fire burns in a restaurant now. The smoke rises from Washington Avenue. The food goes to strangers who become regulars who become part of the story. The story keeps going.

After that service — Ma laughing at the table, Emma and Daniel at the bar, Lily’s ROI charts still sitting on my desk — I wanted to cook something at home that felt like the restaurant but looser, easier, the kind of food you make when the pressure is off and the people around you are just yours. Barbecued chicken pizza is exactly that: smoke in the sauce, char on the crust, something that rewards the same patience we bring to the offset smoker but comes together fast enough for a late Father’s Day night after a full service. Huy never saw the restaurant, but he would have eaten this standing over the counter at midnight, and that’s exactly how I made it.

Barbecued Chicken Pizza

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb pizza dough (store-bought or homemade), at room temperature
• 2/3 cup smoky BBQ sauce, divided
• 2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded smoked gouda or sharp cheddar
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Place a baking sheet or pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 475°F (245°C). Let it heat for at least 15 minutes so the surface is fully hot before the pizza goes in.
2. Toss the chicken. In a bowl, combine the shredded chicken with 1/3 cup of the BBQ sauce, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Toss to coat evenly and set aside.
3. Stretch the dough. On a lightly floured surface, stretch or roll the pizza dough into a 12-inch round or rustic oval about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer to a sheet of parchment paper.
4. Brush the crust. Drizzle or brush olive oil over the surface of the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border for the crust. Season lightly with salt and black pepper.
5. Add sauce and cheese. Spread the remaining 1/3 cup BBQ sauce evenly over the oiled dough. Scatter the mozzarella first, then the smoked gouda or cheddar, distributing both cheeses up to the border.
6. Top the pizza. Arrange the BBQ chicken evenly over the cheese. Scatter the red onion and red bell pepper slices across the top.
7. Bake. Carefully slide the pizza (on the parchment) onto the preheated baking sheet or stone. Bake for 13—15 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling with light brown spots.
8. Finish and slice. Remove from the oven and let rest for 2 minutes. Scatter fresh cilantro over the top, slice into 8 pieces, and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 520 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 54g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 890mg