Boxer & Clover, a brand-new barbecue concept from Matt Hinckley featuring the responsibly sourced meats he’s known to favor, will be taking over the East End Market space soon to be vacated by Farm & Haus as a six-month popup.

Meanwhile, Hinckley’s new Mid Drive Dive, a partnership with fellow East End Market veteran Jacob Zepf, is careening toward a late-February soft opening in Orlando’s College Park neighborhood. His eponymous Orlando Sentinel Foodie Award-winning market stall, Hinckley’s Fancy Meats, is running full steam. And his son, Emrys, is about to transition into full-blown toddlerhood.

But apparently, he’s still got some free time.

Mid Drive Dive, new concept from two East End Market vets, coming to College Park

 

“We want to see how it feels in the space,” Hinckley told the Orlando Sentinel of the Boxer & Clover six-month trial. “If it’s a good fit for the market and the community, then perhaps we’ll do a proper buildout and stay. If it makes sense to find a larger, brick-and-mortar space, we’ll consider that.”

The menu will feature classics done classically — smoked pulled pork and chicken, beef brisket. baby back ribs — “along with honest side dishes that would be familiar at any barbecue concepts: cowboy beans, collard greens, coleslaw….”

Those seeking the less-common proteins for which Hinckley is known can look to the elk chili (with or without beans) as a menu staple, though he’s not ruling out others as they settle into operation.

“I’ll respond to what the public wants,” says Hinckley, who calls the Q style old-school. “I don’t want to put a regional label on it, but I think people who enjoy these different types of barbecue — Kansas City or Texas or Carolina — will find familiarity on the menu.”

Homemade desserts including cherry and blueberry cobbler, apple crostada, chess and banana cream pies will cool down guests warmed by the fatty comfort of spice-laden ‘que. Notable will be Hinckley’s use of the chimayo pepper in the rub, an heirloom variety that over time has become rare and even endangered.

 

“It’s sort of like the datil pepper in that not a lot of people are using it … but doing so brings attention to the species and will hopefully encourage more farmers to grow it.”

Two smokers — a Cookshack commercial (via which “Fancy” fans have enjoyed Hinckley’s tasso ham and pastrami, among other goodies) and a Shirley Fabrication reverse-flow, into which he’ll pile oak and fruitwoods to flavor the meats — will be the mechanical workhorses that serve the human ones on his staff.

“I am only able to do this because I have an awesome team,” says Hinckley, whose time is now split between one up-and-running operation and two more in various stages of opening. “I have amazing people who have been with me for years who are taking on all kinds of responsibility to make this happen.”

Beef on Weck: A Western New York classic makes inroads around Orlando

He puts Boxer & Clover’s tentative opening at late February or early March, a few steps behind the new College Park eatery. It will serve breakfast right out of the gate, helping to fill the morning void left at East End as Farm & Haus concentrates its energy on its new Park Avenue location.

“I’m sure that a lot of their clientele will follow them,” says Hinckley, a fan of his longtime neighbors’ fare, “but those who don’t will find options at Boxer & Clover and some lighter ones over at Fancy.

After doing a smattering of test runs with the Boxer & Clover fare, he’s looking forward to seeing what the larger Orlando market makes of it, and where it might go in the future.

“Six months seems like a nice way to feel everything out.”

Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group or follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.