Gabriel's Fire -- now open in the former Zagi's Pizza storefront -- delivers barbecue to Ballard

Located in the Sunset Hill storefront so recently occupied by the late and lamented Zagi's Pizza, Gabriel's Fire is that most welcome of local businesses. It's a barbecue joint that delivers to your home.

The restaurant is only a couple of weeks old and its menu is still in flux, but the stuff you can get today betrays the restaurant's grand ambitions.

Gabriel's meats -- beef, pork, chicken and shrimp -- are rubbed with spices, cooked tender and served with your choice of seven, count 'em, seven different sauces: Kansas City Traditional, Carolina-style, XXX ("K.C. jacked up on habaneros"), Chipotle, Jamaican Jerk (green onion with allspice), Thai-style and Teriyaki. It's the United Nations of barbecue sauces.

Your options continue from there. Will you get an entree -- pork ribs, grilled flank steak, grilled tiger prawns, pork shoulder, beef brisket? Or will you go the sandwich route, and get those savory meats on a hoagie? Either way, you get a choice of side dishes -- fresh-cut fries, baked beans, mac 'n' cheese, coleslaw, fresh-baked corn bread and so on. Even in its nascent state, the menu gives you a few things to think about.

I tried the pork sandwich with a side of mac 'n' cheese. The Kansas City sauce was everything I was promised -- sweet, smooth and not too heavy -- and they didn't drown the meat with it, so the smoky taste of the pork really came through. The mac 'n' cheese surprised me: It wasn't heavy at all, and tasted more of sweet butter than anything. (I thought it could have used a bit more salt, but that's easily remedied.)

At present, Gabriel's Fire is only open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. That will probably increase as the word gets around and Ballardites begin to try out everything Gabriel's Fire has to offer. It's going to take quite a few deliveries before I begin to feel like I've gotten a true sense of Gabriel's Fire.

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