{"id":459135,"date":"2026-10-07T14:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T14:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/459135\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T14:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T14:24:10","slug":"patrick-hicks-co-chef-of-arlingtons-acclaimed-smoken-ash-bbq-dead-at-60","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/459135\/","title":{"rendered":"Patrick Hicks, co-chef of Arlington\u2019s acclaimed Smoke\u2019N Ash BBQ, dead at 60"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patrick Hicks, the barbecue pitmaster who welcomed his wife’s Ethiopian cooking and mixed the two into an Arlington restaurant<\/a> that gained international awards and fame, died Oct. 6, Smoke’N Ash BBQ announced on social media.<\/p>\n

Hicks, 60, a Waco native, opened a barbecue trailer in 2012. He added Fasicka Hicks’ Ethiopian dishes in 2018, then fused the two to win Michelin Guide recognition and a host of national food awards.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Fasicka and Patrick Hicks were semifinalists for the Best Chef: Texas Award<\/a> in the James Beard Awards, the restaurant industry’s highest honor.<\/p>\n

On May 26, they were honored in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia<\/a>, for the attention they have brought to that cuisine.<\/p>\n

The social media post was signed by Fasicka Hicks and the family. It gave no further details.<\/p>\n

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of our beloved Patrick Hicks \u2014 husband, father, co-owner, pitmaster, and the heart of Smoke’N Ash BBQ,” the post read.<\/p>\n

“Patrick poured his heart into his family, his food, and the community we built together. His love, strength, and legacy will forever be a part of Smoke’N Ash.”<\/p>\n

Smoke’N Ash will remain open, the post said, “to serve our community. … We are deeply grateful for every prayer, message, and expression of love and support.”<\/p>\n

Fasicka and Patrick Hicks began experimenting with serving Ethiopian food almost from the day in 2018 when Smoke’N Ash opened a stand in one of the most generic strip shopping centers on Matlock Road in the suburban sprawl of south Arlington.<\/p>\n

The restaurant has since expanded and moved to 5904 S. Cooper St. at West Sublett Road.<\/p>\n

The combination of traditional Texas barbecue and Ethiopian food brought Texas Monthly<\/a> magazine and then The New York Times<\/a> to try it.<\/p>\n

Writers praised the misir wat lentil stew, Ethiopian spicy beef tibs stew, doro wat chicken stew and Ethiopian-spiced collard greens.<\/p>\n

Smoke’N Ash is also praised for Patrick Hicks’ brisket, pork ribs and rib tips, along with an extensive menu of desserts.<\/p>\n

Services are pending.<\/p>\n

\"Tex-Ethiopian<\/p>\n

Tex-Ethiopian BBQ<\/p>\n

\"Brisket,<\/p>\n

Brisket, ribs, sausage, green beans and okra at Smoke’N Ash BBQ in Arlington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Patrick Hicks, the barbecue pitmaster who welcomed his wife’s Ethiopian cooking and mixed the two into an Arlington…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":["post-459135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}