Matheus De Araujo was born in Southwest Brazil and split his childhood between attending school in the city and spending holidays and vacations helping out on his family’s farm. He moved to Boston when he was 17. His culinary career has spanned both Boston and New York, with his past experience including nine years working for The Cheesecake Factory plus Max Brenner, Breads Bakery, Yard House, Stephanie’s on Newbury, and most recently Boston Nightlife Ventures before joining our team.
As our Director of BBQ Operations, Matheus oversees the day-to-day kitchen operations for all of our locations. A typical day starts with Matheus checking our smokers and monitoring their temperatures: when the meats are ready to come out, one of the first things he looks for is the bark, a delicious crust that forms and caramelizes as the spice rubs on our meats spend more time in the smoker. He can also be found floating between our locations and working closely with our kitchen teams to ensure our operations are consistent. When developing new recipes, Matheus collaborates with Andy and strives to utilize as many local and seasonal ingredients as possible while also considering what will pair the best with our BBQ.
A little more about Matheus:
Favorite thing about BBQ: The daily challenge of smoking the meats, plus the smell of the meats as they’re pulled out of the smokers. It’s almost like making bread – the meat will tell you when it’s ready and you can’t rush the process.
Favorite thing about working for the Smoke Shop: The sense of community and teamwork between our team members across all of our restaurants.
Where you can find him on a day off: If he’s not working, you can find Matheus spending any free time with his wife and two sons, whether they’re taking day trips and exploring new places, practicing soccer with his oldest son, or building Legos with his youngest.
Another fun fact: Before joining the Smoke Shop team, Matheus often experimented with BBQ in his own backyard and he enjoys exploring its challenging nature on a larger scale in his role.
