Chef Jordan Anthony-Brown is firing The Aperture back up, but this time it is all about smoked meat and the midday crowd. Starting Thursday, the Walnut Hills spot reopens as The Aperture: Barbecue Edition with a soft launch and limited lunch service, a short-term pivot after the restaurant paused full operations at the end of 2025.
What is opening and when
The Aperture: Barbecue Edition will hold soft openings from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., or until sellout, on Thursday and Friday, then shift into regular hours of 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Wednesday through Friday, the following week, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Anthony-Brown has framed the move as a limited, weekday-only pivot rather than a full return of the evening menu.
The menu and where to order
The pop-up menu leans hard into smoked and charred dishes, including pastrami beef ribs, lamb smash burgers, lemon-pepper chicken wings, nduja collard greens and brown-butter cornbread, and orders can be placed online, according to The Aperture. It is less a straight Texas-pit setup and more a creative, chef-driven take on live-fire cooking that reflects Anthony-Brown’s background.
Why it is temporary and who is in the space now
Anthony-Brown temporarily closed The Aperture on Dec. 31, 2025, saying he needed time to regroup, and the dining room has since been home to Etxe, a Basque steakhouse residency. Etxe co-owner Heather Ashley has said the pop-in will stick around through fall 2026, according to FOX19. That arrangement helps explain why the barbecue edition is limited to lunch hours and short runs instead of a full-service reopening.
Local acclaim and what is at stake
The Aperture opened with national buzz, landing on several best-of lists, and Anthony-Brown was named a 2025 James Beard semifinalist. CityBeat praised the restaurant’s live-fire cooking, and The Aperture highlights the James Beard nod and national recognition in its press materials. All of that attention raises the stakes for any kind of comeback, even a lunch-only one.
What to expect if you go
Diners should be ready for quick sellouts during the soft-opening days and a focused, ticketed lunch experience. The Aperture team has been clear that service will run only "until sellout" and is steering customers to its online ordering system to check what is still available. If the barbecue edition catches on, it could give Anthony-Brown a lower-risk runway to test a new direction before deciding on a broader return.
