The story below is from our May/June 2022 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Clutch Smoked Meats navigated pandemic problems to come out on top, serving casual and gourmet options daily.
John Park
When the Parry Restaurant Group was deciding on a name for their smoked meats sandwich shop, they pulled inspiration from the historic building in which the restaurant was located. Little did they know, the name, “Clutch,” would end up becoming more than a nifty head nod to its mechanic shop past. It would become a metaphor helping shift the restaurant toward success.
Clutch Smoked Meats began as a gourmet sandwich shop. Its concept was simple: offer upscale twists on the common sandwich utilizing hickory smoked meats. The restaurant opened in June of 2020, three months into the COVID pandemic. From its start, Clutch suffered to find a steady stream of diners. The Parry Group decided to close it for a time, thinking the pandemic was to blame. They reopened in the spring of 2021. But the restaurant still struggled, and the group became concerned Clutch wouldn’t succeed. They didn’t give up, however. Instead, they took some time to let the wheels of imagination churn.
At the center of the churn was JoJo Soprano, a native New York resident, born and raised in the small seaside village of Bellport, Long Island. Soprano is no stranger to shifting gears when either opportunity or necessity requires it. After graduating from Hofstra University with a degree in communications, Soprano spent years immersed in the world of radio and television. After a stint with MTV as a screener for the reality series “The Real World,” Soprano opted for a “grown up” job — director of marketing for a national sunroom company.
But, the media world kept calling Soprano’s name. After several years in marketing, and then a house fire in Long Island, Soprano decided to accept an opportunity to move to Roanoke and work for the K92 Radio station.
Once in Roanoke, Soprano’s journey into the restaurant world was a circuitous one. He went from radio to event management to owning his own entertainment company. Finally, at the urging of his wife to find a “grown up” job (again), Soprano started washing dishes at Tuco’s Taqueria Garaje.
That was six years ago. Now, Soprano is Vice President of Operations for the Parry Restaurant Group. He spends his days visiting the group’s 22 restaurants stretching from Fairfax to Martinsville.
“I came to realize the restaurant world is more profitable,” says Soprano. “It has more avenues for growth than radio.”
When it came to the problem of Clutch, Soprano knew exactly what the restaurant needed. Because of its off-the-beaten-path location, Clutch wasn’t well-positioned to be a lunchtime hotspot. But, its menu was only suited for a lunchtime crowd. In order for Clutch to succeed, it needed to shift its focus from lunchtime sandwiches to three meals a day.
“We make it easy,” says Soprano. “But you can imagine it wasn’t easy to get to that point, going from scrambled eggs and smoked meats to serving Chilean seabass and salmon, those things that are a little more build-oriented.”
Soprano started with breakfast. He and Chef Alex Horn created a breakfast menu that offered all the classics with a signature “Clutch” twist, featuring their smoked meats in several items, like eggs benedict and omelets. They also created a special morning drink menu, to include a mimosa flight, with the idea they could cater to a crowd often forgotten by the rest of the restaurant world, those night-shift workers whose happy hour begins at seven in the morning, rather than four in the afternoon.
After six months with the new breakfast-lunch menu, Clutch rolled out their dinner service, another menu collaboration between Soprano and Horn. This was a much trickier transition, as it required not only a change in food offerings, but in the entire atmosphere. While Soprano didn’t have specific guidelines for how Clutch’s dinner service should be themed, he did have one requirement for the entire dinnertime experience: “fancy.”
“Everything changes,” says Soprano. “The food changes, the music changes, the lighting changes. Even the uniforms change.”
If the Clutch team struggled with the transition, one would never know it. I’ve dined at Clutch for both lunch and dinner. Both experiences were excellent. My date night dining at Clutch especially exceeded my expectations. The lights were dimmed. There were fresh flowers at every table. The dinner menu featured those classic higher-end items one would expect to find at an upscale dining establishment with nice overlap from the lunchtime menu for those who’d prefer a more casual affair.
My dinner at Clutch started with two appetizers: deviled eggs and pimento cheese with homemade chips. Both were delicious. The deviled eggs appetizer is one of Clutch’s unique menu items, and one that changes flavors on a regular basis. Their pimento cheese is easily my new favorite in town. For dinner, my husband and I each went for our personal favorites: St. Louis-style ribs for me, and Chilean seabass for him. Both dinners were generously portioned. My ribs were smoked to perfect tenderness; they nearly fell off the bone to the touch. The roasted potato fingerlings and caramelized apples complemented one another and the dish as a whole. Similarly, my husband’s seabass dish was a lovely combination of textures and flavors, served with asparagus and cheese grits as its sides.
My most recent visit to Clutch was with two of my sons – both grown and living away from home. We had a great time trying Clutch’s smoked wings and debating whether we liked the apple butter bourbon or buffalo flavor better. When our sandwiches came out, we had to take a moment before eating to behold the wonderful abundance of the food in front of us. My freebird chicken sandwich was stuffed with pimento cheese, a large homemade pickle slab, bacon and the most gorgeous piece of fried chicken I think I’ve ever seen. Both my sons’ sandwiches presented similarly. The smoked brisket overflowed with chunks of brisket meat layered with a pickle, house barbeque sauce and pimento cheese, and served on a jalapeno cheese bun. The pulled pork sandwich was topped with Clutch’s homemade, apple-fennel slaw and also served with the jalapeno cheese bun. All our sandwiches came with homemade chips. I added a side of Clutch’s Brussels sprouts which, along with Clutch’s pimento cheese, is my other new favorite in town.
Soprano says ever since Clutch shifted gears from gourmet sandwich shop to full dining experience, business has soared. It just goes to show how much story is contained in something as simple as a name.
120 Luck Avenue SW, Suite 200
Roanoke, VA 24011
(540) 655-4080
eat@clutchroanoke.com
HOURS
Breakfast & Lunch: Mon-Sat: 7am-2:30pm; Sun: 7am-7pm
Light Menu (Starters & Drinks only): Wed-Sat: 2:30-4:30pm
Dinner: Wed-Sat: 4:30-9pm
The story above is from our May/June 2022. For more stories, subscribe today or view our FREE digital edition. Thank you for supporting local journalism!