Though it’s not the apotheosis of southern barbecue, it’s about as close as Toronto gets: a breezy corner location on an otherwise dull stretch of Bloor West, finished with barnboard and iron tractor seats as counter stools. Start-up chef Paul Boehmer has moved on; much of the meat is slow-cooked in Atelier Thuet’s combi-ovens, and Marc Thuet himself is sometimes on-site to supervise the spit-roasted suckling pig, its meat tender as chicken, but a tad too lean and dry away from the belly. Aficionados will soon suss out the treats: a fabulous sandwich of moist pulled chicken in sweet, thyme-spiked barbecue sauce, finished with melted gruyère like some Carolina croque monsieur; big, fatty beef ribs with a sticky glaze; pint-sized beans baked with ground pork and molasses. Ribs have distinctive seasonings: bland lamb sweetened with honey and mint; properly chewy pork heavily spiced with a dry rub. Thyme brings a side of rice and beans to life, while sweet, crunchy onion and cumin do the same for an exemplary potato salad. Almost the lone concession to greens, a salad of soft baby leaves and seedlings, studded with toasted pecans, benefits from a chipotle dressing. Barbecued chicken may be the star turn, moist but not greasy, deeply infused with fruitwood smoke. Mississippi mud pie is irresistibly ooey-gooey under its luxe melted marshmallow topping, served with Thuet’s fabulous Wild Turkey bourbon ice cream. Mains $15–$26.