Smoke: Questions about a Concept

[Scott--DFW]

Though it may be too early to "review" Smoke, is it too early to pose some questions?

Why did all of the press releases describing Smoke refer to it as a "concept"? Is the goal for this to be the first location of a chain?

When the scantron order card has A, B, and C columns for Sandwich, Half-pound, and Pound, respectively, which box does one check to order ribs (only available in half rack and full rack)?

When only one scantron card is provided per table, how are customers supposed to indicate their orders if more than one wants the same thing (e.g., a brisket sandwich)? Hand-write a "x2" next to the filled-in box?

Is there a committee in the kitchen to interpret strikeouts, impartially filled-in boxes, and hanging chads? What's the point of the Broward County ordering model, when the scantron cards only include about half of the available menu items? Does the value of the gimmick outweigh the potential for confusion, downtime in explaining how to order, and inevitable botched orders?

Why are none of the "out of the garden" (i.e., salads) or "on the stove" (i.e., soup) selections: (a) small enough to be an appetizer or (b) easily sharable by more than one customer?

Can barbecue be artisanal when made with a Bewley smoker with an electronic thermostat/autopilot? Is artisanal barbecue even the goal?

Why does a Dallas barbecue restaurant with locavore leanings serve so many non-Texas styles of barbecue (and so little that's distinctively Texan)?

Is there any American barbecue tradition involving "coffee curing" of brisket? If not, why do it? Is it because the coffee is locally grown, thus supporting local farmers?

If I were served brisket from the flat twice, could I assume that Smoke doesn't use whole briskets (including the fattier point/deckle that many connoisseurs prefer)?

Is anyone at Smoke aware that saucing brisket before serving it will be construed, by many customers in Texas, as a lack of confidence on the part of the kitchen? Is the brisket intended to be dry, roast beefy, and virtually devoid of smoke flavor?

Why doesn't the menu specify that the "dry rubbed pork spare ribs" are St. Louis cut (i.e., with the skirt meat and rib tips removed, making for less meat, less cartilage to release gelatin, and less flavor)? Does the kitchen intend for the meat to slide off the bone like a brown block of meat jello? Why serve dry-rubbed ribs drizzled in sauce? Does the kitchen not want the ribs to have a meaningfully smoky taste?

In his travels, did Chef Byres find a single barbecue joint in North Carolina that served either "pulled whole hog barbecue" (rather than chopped, to integrate the leaner and fattier cuts) or whole hog barbecue (rather than shoulder-only) doused in a tomato, vinegar, and chile sauce? If the pulled pork were tough and dry in two visits, would it be fair to assume that's the way the kitchen intends to serve it?

Does anyone in the kitchen believe that the "andouille hot links" are sufficiently like either French or Cajun andouille in taste or texture to justify using the name?

Four barbecue sauces? Tomatillo and guajillo barbecue sauce? Mustard and horseradish barbecue sauce? Is it realistic to expect customers to pour a thin, vinegar-based sauce out of an open-ended beer bottle without making a mess?

Can customers get honest-to-God plates upon request (something bigger than the bread plates with the cute pig graphics), rather than having to eat out of paper-lined, wire-mesh baskets? (Since no bread is served, what's the point of the bread plates?)

Is jicama a traditional inclusion in slaw? Is this local jicama? Is corn a traditional inclusion in barbecue beans? Does corn add anything (other than color) to beans that are already heavily sweetened?

When the dessert options consist of five pies and the customer is required to choose one of four sauces (in many cases without having tasted either the pie or any of the sauces), is the kitchen sure that all customers will choose wisely? Does the kitchen think that all of the sauces are equally suitable for each pie (e.g., "mezcal and key lime pie" with "super crazy dark chocolate ganache")? In a seven dollar slice of chocolate pie, can the kitchen really only afford Abuelita? Does the kitchen intend pie crusts to be more than a quarter inch thick (and only partially cooked in places)? Does the kitchen think apple pie is better at room temperature than warmed?

Is $36 a lot of money to pay for six St. Louis cut ribs, two small side dishes, a slice of pie, plus tax and tip (no drinks)?

Scott

PS Did I mention that I kind of liked the hominy casserole, despite its shamelessly pandering fatty/salty/sweet/spicy profile (i.e., its Badovinosity)?

PPS Did anyone else notice that, in addition to writing his weekly restaurant review, Dave Faries also has a 4,600-word profile on the folks behind Bolsa and Smoke?

[Kirk]

Though it may be too early to "review" Smoke, is it too early to pose some questions?

Not too early to pose those questions.

Wonder if they've considered adding "Mirrors" to the name.

P.S. Sure, Faries actually wrote an article AND a review this week (not to mention blog postings). But did he eat tacos, too?

[air]

A lot of these questions make me nervous. I'm not a fan of NC style BBQ and it appeared to me that it would have more presence at Smoke. Nontheless I was stoked at the possibility that we'd get some non-mediocre BBQ nearby.

Your comments about the ribs and pulled pork are bad enough and sounds like the electronic thermostat is the cherry on top.

[luniz]

Is $36 a lot of money to pay for six St. Louis cut ribs, two small side dishes, a slice of pie, plus tax and tip (no drinks)?

not to the people that fill up Jasper's.

Did anyone else notice that, in addition to writing his weekly restaurant review, Dave Faries also has a 4,600-word profile on the folks behind Bolsa and Smoke?

I'd missed that actually.

[BK]

Sounds like a Frankenstein monster, to me. And that's a lot of money for that list of food.

[primi_timpano]

Thanks for the warning. I've never encountered a scantron card. It seems a sushi style order ticket would be much more manageable. Looks like the concept is high prices, mediocre quality. More like M Group than Bolsa.

[Scott--DFW]

I'm not a fan of NC style BBQ and it appeared to me that it would have more presence at Smoke.

That's not really a concern, because the "Pulled Whole Hog, NC Style" is only one of the seven meat offerings (on the barbecue portion of the menu) and isn't really representative of barbecue in either eastern or western North Carolina.

The format is very much "Jack of all 'cue, master of none." There are hints of Texas (i.e., brisket), Mephis (i.e., dry rub ribs, St. Louis cut, pulled pork), North Carolina (i.e., whole hog), South Carolina (i.e., mustard-based sauce), and Louisiana (i.e., andouille), though in most cases with significant and (in my estimation) unfortunate departures from the respective traditions. I don't know whether that scattershot approach reflects a chef's hubris (i.e., "Not only can I cook every regional style of barbecue in America with no prior experience, but I can improve on each") or marketing calculations (i.e., "We have to have something for everyone; and let's jazz things up to justify prices that are double the going rate--coffee rubs, paprika and fennel seeds, lemon/sage brines..."). Either way, it continues the crippling trend that Dallas has been locked in ever since the local rise of "fusion" (including Southwestern)--restaurants that sacrifice depth for breadth, that demonstrate little understanding or mastery of the traditions they toss into the hopper, and that have no sense of authentic identity.

It really is too early to come to any solid conclusions about Smoke's ability to properly cook barbecue. Though these early visits weren't promising, what they're doing now may be better than their pre-opening tests, and what they're doing in a couple of months may be better than what they're doing now. One can hope. Also, I haven't tried any of their non-barbecue main dishes (though that's probably what I'll be ordering whenever I find myself there again). For all I know, they're a heck of a lot better than the barbecue. But let's not kid ourselves. The restaurant's name is "Smoke." Over half the entree options are barbecue. That makes it a barbecue joint. And, in a city as starved for great barbecue as Dallas, everyone's hope is that these talented chefs and their locavore principles will give us the kind of barbecue for which many of us make road trips. If they delivered on that promise, we wouldn't flinch at $16/lb. chicken or sausage, $18/lb. brisket or turkey, or a $24 rack of St. Louis cut ribs. They're not there yet.

Scott

[Scott--DFW]

Is $36 a lot of money to pay for six St. Louis cut ribs, two small side dishes, a slice of pie, plus tax and tip (no drinks)?

not to the people that fill up Jasper's.

True. The comparison that came to my mind was Rathbun's Blue Plate Kitchen. People who love Blue Plate Kitchen will probably also love Smoke. People who find Blue Plate Kitchen dissatisfying (for reasons of taste, execution, and/or value) may find similar causes for complaint at Smoke.

Scott

[Scott--DFW]

D's Todd Johnson likes Smoke, but has some complaints about the $16 burger. Money quote:

For $16, it was an orgy of competing tastes and textures my mouth couldn't appreciate. Nor do I appreciate this burger trend of piling everything between two buns, charging almost $20 for it, and declaring it 'gourmet.' No. Gourmet is a burger where I can actually taste and savor the beef.

Preach on, Brother Johnson.

Scott

[tgubbins]

[adding awesome "Badovinosity" to lexicon]

[DonnieC]

"Jack of all 'cue, master of none."

Isn't that what we would all say about the Red, Hot & Blues chain? So it's been done, why bother redoing it locally?
And sadly, to Scott's point, Red Hot's is always jammed. We bring this drivel upon ourselves by not saying no.
We vote yes with our dollars, ...well they do. The variety factor does seem to carry the day over quality around here.
Maybe it's a midwestern malady. Are there any destination restaurants in the midwest excluding the Chicago area?
And although there is good 'Q in KC, and a lot of it, it's not on the Lockhardt level. More like the old Sonny Bryan's level when he was alive.

[Scott--DFW]

The premier food blog in Dallas, Full Custom Gospel BBQ, posted its initial take on Smoke today.

Last weekend, the Law Reviewers issued their opinion on Pegasus News.

So far, most of the discussion of Smoke relates to the barbecue. That's understandable (even important, given local interests and the way the restaurant has been promoted), but shouldn't obscure the fact that the restaurant has a broader menu. In dinner visits, waiters didn't even present the scantron card unless requested, as though to push people away from the barbecue and towards the more elaborate (and higher priced) entrees.

Scott

[Worzel_Gummidge]

The premier food blog in Dallas, Full Custom Gospel BBQ, posted its initial take on Smoke today.
Scott

He got off better than me. His pulled pork tasted of something. Mine was shape and texture but utterly bland. Linda Lovelace wouldn't have touched it.

[DonnieC]

Can anyone identify with the review of Smoke over on the Observer?
I think I must have gotten "smoke" in my eyes and stumbled into a different barf trap.

Non-sequitors reign, to wit:
"Chef Byres is well-schooled in the subtle art of balance. He came to Smoke from the kitchen of Stephan Pyles"
"upscale BBQ" = pulled pork

Accompanied by purple prose:
"The gorgeous pulled pork, rustic sausages, sophisticated layering of flavors in some of the seafood dishes"

The only thing he almost didn't like was one freakin' biscuit.
I think Faries must have dropped a tab in the parking lot.

[Kirk]

In other words, it is what you expect it to be, but so very different.

I think this pretty much confirms your suspicions. In fact, I think that was a verse that almost made it into Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit," but was discarded as too trite.