"Led by pitmaster Darien List, this Toronto barbecue operation uses a 7,000-pound indoor smoker—necessary to produce central Texas–style barbecue through Toronto’s freezing winters—and can cook up to 1,800 pounds of meat at once; the team’s day starts around 4 a.m. Their flagship is a classic slow-roasted brisket seasoned with a distinctive white-sugar spice rub rather than the more common brown sugar. The menu also highlights dry-rubbed whole roasted chickens, brown sugar–rubbed and marinated ribs and rib tips, and a much-praised mac and cheese that’s rich with milk and cheese, flavored with garlic and paprika, and finished in the smoker. The operation emphasizes barbecue as a labor of love, with long hours and a focus on time-honored process that brings people together." - Terri Ciccone