Blue Smoke

[Ruby]

Based on what you're saying, one possible explanation would be that somebody messed up your order. As I understand it there is no way a half-rack of St. Louis ribs could be three ribs. you'd have every right to be outraged. That sort of idiotic mistake does happen at new restaurants, but it would still very surprising to me if it was the case at Blue Smoke.

In terms of the style of the ribs, Blue Smoke is making something completely different from what you'd get at Dallas BBQ or the typical Harlem soul food place where the ribs are not barbecued at all (if it says BBQ on the menu it's a figure of speech and not a reference to actual wood smoking); at that species of restaurant they are typically oven baked in a sweet sauce. Many people, when experiencing the less moist, minimal-sauce, wood-smoked barbecue styles find them dry and unappealing by comparison to the sweet, sticky, falling-off-the-bone baked ribs they're used to. However, I think if one takes the time to acquire the taste and look for depth of flavor as opposed to the one-dimensional fat-sugar punch of baked ribs, the payoff is great.

Steven, if I was given a quarter portion, then I'm certain it was an honest mistake but I still think more sides should be included with the price of ribs. The freebie cole slaw was an afterthought. The sides we did order jacked up the prices more and turned me off Blue Smoke. As the old saying goes, "I'll pay more for more but I won't pay more for less."

I've had ribs that were not always in that gloppy sweet sauce you describe. I've had ribs in homes of Black Southern families and I make them myself. I just never thought of ribs being glorified or intellectualized.

It will be interesting to see how Blue Smoke evolves with time. I'm sure it will be good but I'm going to wait it out. If the jazz club booked really good jazz or torch singers that would certainly add to the attraction of one stop dining/entertainment.

[Ruby]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I've had ribs in hundreds of Chinese restaurants. Don't know how I forgot that.

[mogsob]

If Mr. Meyer has indeed brought St. Louis BBQ to NYC it would be quite the bargain, considering the price of airfare to St. Louis (or Memphis, for the best BBQ in the world).  For reasons best explained by others, there has NEVER been decent BBQ in NYC (Pearson's Texas roots disqualify it from serious merit in my eyes) and thus I have waited for Blue Smoek to open for what seems like an eternity.

While I wish Mr. Meyer had been born in Memphis, St. Louis (apologies to the earlier poster) ain't all that bad and is a sight better than NY.

[Fat Guy]

Well, again, as a couple of us have said, these regional labels are useful in describing styles of barbecue but they are not in and of themselves indications of quality or lack thereof. "Is it or isn't it good?" is far more important to me than Texas roots or not Texas roots. I happen to think Blue Smoke is better than Pearson's, but I think Blue Smoke and Pearson's are both better than most barbecue places in the Barbecue Belt. What a lot of people seem to forget about the traditional barbecue regions of America is that most of the barbecue there sucks. In the entire state of North Carolina, for example, how many truly great barbecue restaurants are there? I can state with confidence that the number is less than ten, and I know highly informed people who would say less than five. How about in Kansas City? What are there, two or three really good places there? Memphis probably has the largest number of good barbecue joints, and even there the number isn't all that impressive. Most barbecue places, even there, don't actually smoke anything. Moreover, pretty much every barbecue place in America long ago abandoned strict adherence to regional styles. You can get chicken, ribs (often in more than one style), brisket, and pulled or chopped or sliced pork shoulder most everywhere.

Sorry, I digress. Back to the point: Why on Earth would you say Texas barbecue isn't serious?

[lullyloo]

Why doesn't Texas bbq deserve "serious merit" Mogsob?  Maybe you're envisioning some stereotypical fare old Cookie served up from the chuckwagon glopped up with some dark supermarket sauce full of imitation smoke flavor.  Jane and Michael Stern did a mouth-watering article about a whole slew of old bbq joints in Texas some months ago in Gourmet (anyone remember the issue?), and their regional specialties include, besides brisket, a whole array of sausages.  I've been dying to do a tour of these places.  In fact, some of the best barbecue I've eaten in a long while was a week ago in the Dallas airport where I had an hour between flights.  I was perusing the food court and almost walked right past a bbq counter (in an airport?! thought I my nose in the air) when lo and behold, I spied a fresh hunk of bbq'd brisket on the cutting board still steaming and oozing juices.  The man behind the counter sliced some up for me and slapped it on a bun, sauce was my choice.  It tasted as delicious as it looked and believe me a bbq pork/beef sandwich ain't as easy to pull off as it seems.  Had my fair share of dried out, tasteless ones.  Fat Guy is right.  Either it's good or it isn't, and he is also correct in his analysis of bbq joints across the bbq belt.  Most are mediocre at best.  It's the same syndrome as a lot of restaurants in the midwest.  Most consumers don't/can't? distinguish between excellent food and crap.  Or maybe I should say most people (if the town in southern illinois where I grew up is any indication) don't care about food.  Most anywhere around this country, you say bbq and people say delicious - no matter what they're served but especially if it's saucy.  Just look how packed Dallas BBQ's in this city always are.  But I've digressed, too.  

What has your experience with Texas bbq been that you don't consider it serious?

[Ron Johnson]

The number of barbeque restaurants in Memphis isn't all that impressive?  Most barbeque places there don't smoke anything?  Where is this information from?

I lived in Memphis for six years and worked the entire time in the restaurant business.  While I was in fine dining, I got to know many barbeque people and even cooked two years at the Memphis in May Barbeque contest.  My girlfriend worked at the Rendezvous.  I got to know an awful lot about barbeque.

There are tons of barbeque restaurants in Memphis, and all of them smoke their meat.  In Memphis style cooking the term barbeque is synonymous with smoking.  All meat that is barbequed is smoked. If it isn't then it is called grilled.  Whether it is ribs, shoulder, loin, or any other part, Memphis barbeque means a low heat source away from the meat and a chimney that draws the smoke over the meat to cook it.  This is called hot smoking.  There is also cold smoking, but both types are smoking nonetheless.  One criteria for judging Barbeque in Memphis is the "smoke ring" that forms around the outside of the meat.  No smoke ring, no good barbeque.

[Fat Guy]

Ron, read what I wrote again. Regarding the number of barbecue restaurants in Memphis, what I said was, "Memphis probably has the largest number of good barbecue joints, and even there the number isn't all that impressive." Let's hear your list of world-class barbecue restaurants in Memphis.

As for the issue of smoking, although one would think the term barbecue implies it, the reality is that the practice of smoking meat over real hardwood coals is now the exception rather than the rule in every state in the barbecue belt. Most places are now using gas or electric ovens, with wood chips added as a means of injecting smokey flavor. Do you consider that smoked, or baked? Corky's would be one very high profile example of a Memphis place that does it that way.

[vengroff]

Why is there so much bad barbecue out there?  

I think it's because a lot of places put more emphasis on quantity than quality.  It's a winning business strategy for many a Q-joint.  A pile of dried out ribs falling off both ends of a big oval platter just does a lot more for some people than a nice plate of tender slow-smoked brisket.  This is especially true if they come in at the same price point.

Even the places that pride themselves on their meat, secret homemade rubs, and wood selection end up having to compete at least partially on quantity.

My experience comes mostly from Texas.  Things may be different elsewhere, but this thread leads me to think not.

[Fat Guy]

I think that's true of the restaurant business in general, unfortunately.

[vengroff]

I think that's true of the restaurant business in general, unfortunately.

I agree, but it's an especially big problem with barbeque.

Imagine a radio ad, "Come on down to Chez Henri every Thursday for our all-you-can-eat fete d'escargot!  Slurp down an endless supply of monster snails with our own special sauce--your choice of mild, medium, or super garlic explosion!"

Now imagine a barbeque ad that doesn't sound something like that.

[Ron Johnson]

Fat Guy:

That is in fact how Corky's makes their 'cue, but why isn't that smoking?  Who cares what the heat source is, if it gets pieces of wood hot enough to smoke and this smoke cooks the meat as evidenced by the smoke ring around the outside of the meat, then yes, that is smoking, not baking.  

Interestingly, Alton Brown, on an episode of Good Eats, made smoked salmon with a hot plate and a pan of sawdust.  Smoking does not doesn't mean you have to use hardwood or charwood as your heat source.  In fact lots os smoking is done with a charcoal heat source and then wood chips added to create smoke.

As for my list of world-class barbeque restaurants in Memphis, I can think of only two that I did not consider better than any other I have had outside of Memphis, the remainder that I do think are that quality are, as best I can remember and in order of preference:

Cozy Corner:  hands down best cue in Memphis

Interstate

Bar-B-Que Shop: next to my last apartment, ate there weekly

Rendezvous: touristy but great lamb ribs and pork ribs

John Wills

Neely's

Leonard's

Greely's

Crosstown Neighborhood Association

Carl's Bar-b-que Shop

Gridley's

Top's:  multiple locations

Little Pigs

Corky's:  too crowded

Barbeque does not imply smoking, it is what it means.  If you are not cooking with low heat and lots of smoke, then you are not barbequeing, at least not in Memphis.  This is true no matter what the heat source.  Now if you tell me that these places are just injecting the meat with liquid smoke and placing them in a low oven then that is another issue.  However, even Corky's is using hardwood chips to creat smoke that smokes the 'cue.  You can't fake the smoke ring in the meat, and no Memphian would eat 'cue without it.

If you can find time during your cross-country trip to stop in Memphis, I highly recommend the Cozy Corner.  They make great pulled-pork sandwiches (my favorite kind of 'cue) and an unbelievable hot sauce condiment.  If you go, let me know and I will give you directions.

[mogsob]

Just had to re-read my post before replying.  I did not say that Texas does not have serious BBQ -- it does.  But great Texas BBQ is based on beef, while I always prefer pork for BBQ.  Thus, I never try to compare Pearson's to my other favorite BBQ joints, because it falls short every time.

Steven, I think you sell the south short.  There are quite a fair number of decent, if not great, pits all across the south (even in North Carolina).  But if Blue Smoke is anthing close to the real deal (food-wise, I for one can do without the plastic menus), I will be a regular.

[btobin]

I read that article also.  Interesting for me to see that Danny Meyer wanted to bring the barbeque from his childhood in St. Louis to NYC.  Well, that may explain why the barbeque sucks. I lived in St. Louis for 4 years and Memphis, TN for 6.  There is no such thing as St. Louis barbeque anymore than there is Columbus, Ohio barbeque.  Memphis is a barbeque town.

It seems to me like he is trying to emulate Memphis style from the consultant that he hired.  The guy is from Illinois, but apparently won the Memphis in May Barbeque Contest twice.  I have cooked in that contest for a team that finished a very respectable 7th, and to win is quite an accomplishment.  He must know what he is doing, but he should have told Danny to leave the St. Louis aspect out of it.

Danny is no dummy thought, barbeque is a  cash cow.  You buy the cheapest cuts of meat and cook them in mass quantities.  I know a restaurant in Memphis that makes a 1200% profit on a slab of ribs.  Of course he buys them by the truckload from a huge farm in Arkansas.

>There is no such thing as St. Louis barbeque anymore

> than there is Columbus, Ohio barbeque.

Actually Columbus has had pretty good barbecue from time to time.  Pat Crook's, after he moved out of the trailer but before he went back to being an electrician full time, had a very nice pork shoulder, and currently City Barbecue serves a decent if somewhat gentrified brisket-- better than I had in Dallas.  

> Memphis is a barbeque town.

Agreed.  To tell the truth, though, I had better dry-rub in Little Rock.

[Fat Guy]

Ron, I agree that the heat source is irrelevant -- or at least a secondary concern -- but the smoke source isn't. It's similar to winemaking. With cheap Australian wines, instead of aging the wines in barrels, they sometimes put them in stainless tanks, stir in a bunch of wood chips, and then filter them out. Same thing as aging in barrels, right? Wood is wood, right? Well, I think the proof is in the pudding and it's no coincidence that wine made with wood chips -- and barbecue smoked over wood chips -- does not on the whole taste as good as barbecue smoked over real coals from real logs. I think part of the reason is that the wood chips produce a more concentrated, chemical-smelling smoke because they combust so furiously -- or they have to be soaked, which also creates a denser, smellier smoke. Sometimes less is more. Then again, I liked Corky's fine and would be happy to have it in New York. I have no religious objection to replacing an artisanal process with a scientific process -- if it works. But in the case of barbecue I remain unconvinced that the shortcuts are effective. There is as far as I know no law governing what is and is not barbecue, and therefore you can sell anything you want and call it barbecue. You'll be less likely to succeed in Memphis than in New York if you use that strategy, but amazingly even in North Carolina there is tons of barbecue for sale that has never seen smoke.

[Rail Paul]

Fat Guy -

The Sterns have archived many of their reviews and food visits at RoadFood. I searched Texas & BBQ and located  17 places, including

Angelo's in Fort Worth

Black's in Lockhart

several places in Elgin and Luling

Tommy's in Paris

comments, suggestions, and website links are provided.

RoadFood is an interesting site, with multiple search links for food types, states, map link, etc.

Paul

[robert brown]

With three-week old reservations in hand, I, my wife and two friends had dinner (as opposed to “dined”) at Blue Smoke this past Saturday. The restaurants got off to a good start by having our reservation in their computer and seating us in “real waiting time” of the ten minutes  they said that they would.

Blue Smoke is among the least attractive restaurants I have been to in quite some time. It is as dark as it is noisy, probably reinforcing the notion that dimly-lit, dark eating places are synonymous with bare-bones food, which, after all, is what ribs are. In the front room is a long bar that was understaffed especially when one of the chores of the bartenders is serving food and clearing off the “couverts” of the occasional diner taking a meal in what are very cramped dining conditions. For some inexplicable reason, one of the walls in the front room is decorated with framed larger-than-life photographs of some of the restaurant’s offerings, and hideous chandeliers meant to suggest a stagecoach wheel, are made of these fashionable industrial lights that are oblong bulbs encased in open metal fixtures. The back room, where we sat, was someone nicer with its exposed brick and very large glass vases filled with long-stem fauna.

Our waiter took our drink order in a manner that precluded ordering any food, (“Let me take your drink order and then I’ll come back for your food orders”), obviously a time buying or catch-up measure for the kitchen since our beer and soda did not arrive until 15 minutes later. Choosing what to eat at Blue Smoke is one of the situations in which, depending on your mood, everything looks equally appetizing, or nothing seems appealing. Our friend and I blundered into one of the most desultory Caesar salads we have both ever tasted. I am wondering if the kitchen ran out of Romaine lettuce since it made our salads with iceberg instead. The little grains of Parmesan tasted like the grated cheese you buy in a bottle, and there was nothing other than  croutons in the salad to give it any additional taste. My wife, at the our waiter’s urging, ordered the fried bread, which was four large pieces of unsweetened donut with a red pepper salsa and a kind of cream cheese of herb and tomatoes served on the side in little metal cups. If you like greasy donuts, this dish should suit you well. Furthermore, the salsa’s red pepper taste was clearly defined and the cream cheese made a good textural contrast to the bread.

As a kind of “entremet”, if one may invoke that word around barbeque, we order a rack of the baby-back ribs, of which there were a dozen. My rib experience has been limited to the Northeast United States at such places as Stick to Your Ribs and a little spot in West Philadelphia owned by, and named after, the old Braves and Phillies outfielder Wes Covington. Within this context, these ribs at Blue Smoke were as good as I have had. I tried them with and without the sweet sauce in the plastic squeeze bottles, and they were so tender and flavorful that the sauce deterred from their succulence. The problem is that a rack at $21.00 with just a small cup of average coleslaw ( half a dozen or so side dishes are offered “a la carte”) may not satisfy a hearty appetite.

The half of an organic smoked chicken with French fries as my “plat de resistance” raised more questions than it answered. It was remarkably like the chicken I had had several weeks ago at Gramercy Tavern. It was without dark meat (which I feel is more flavorful than white meat) and when cut into, had a built-in ridge or step in it, an indication of its compact density. The color was also “blanc casse” like top quality birds, yet the flavor was restrained, although the meat was moist. The skin, however, was nicely crisp and smoky. The kitchen loaded up the plate with the French fries, which I found to be lacking a assertive potato taste and were a bit greasy as well. Fried onion rings that we ordered for the table suffered a different fate: They were not greasy, but cut into enormously wide rings which reduced the covering of batter on each piece. I had one small bite of my friends smoked baked salmon, which, although praised by Gael Green, struck me as a standard issue piece of farm-raised salmon (a fishy and “off” taste)  with a small hint of smoke. The pulled pork sandwich my wife and our other friend ordered was served on a roll that seemed to her was coated with some kind of saturated fat. The meat itself struck us all as ordinary, if not overly dry. We passed on dessert and coffee which would have prolonged what was a two and a half hour dinner in a room that got increasingly noisier as the evening went on. In all fairness, however, it does seem that the acoustics dampen the noise to a level where you do not need to strain to hear your tablemates.

As we were walking from our table to the street, a few of the wait staff wished us a warm and friendly farewell. I began to think about our waiter; how he referred to the four of us as “guys”; kept asking if we had questions or if there was anything we wanted him to explain to us; and took the rap for a mistake or two in the kitchen. I began to realize that in Danny Meyer’s restaurants it was a lot more than the kitchen that determined what motivated people to patronize the restaurants (and be able to reel off the name of each one)    and to think of them first when deciding where to eat out. Meyer figured out that because of his core constituency of the unsophisticated diner with adequate disposable income, it was the front line of captains, waiters, waitresses, busboys, and bartenders whose job it was to hold the customer's hand, bond him or her to the restaurant, take the fall for others, keep the client from blowing his stack, and seeing that he never asks to speak to the manager.

When I began putting forth my hypothesis to my friend’s wife, I said that it seemed to me that all the front of the house employees must undergo sensitivity training. She replied, “Yes, just like they do at the Disney theme parks”. In the cab on the way home, I suddenly realized something: I hadn’t just dined at Blue Smoke; I had just eaten another meal in Danny Land.

[Bux]

core constituency of the unsophisticated diner with adequate disposable income

I should note that I may not be Danny's core constituency, but I do enjoy both Gramercy Tavern and 11 Madison Park. I don't really know who else eats there, with a few exceptions, but those few exceptions include those I look up to for advice on where to eat in NY. The tavern room at GT is still a pretty good value. I don't have much to say about barbeque.

[kjohn]

From what I've heard it's pretty obvious the staff has to do a lot of covering for the kitchen at Blue Smoke (ironic to me, because my visits have been unmarred by mistakes in the kitchen or service.) I can see the 'Danny-land' parallel somewhat in my dining experiences at the USC, but I also frequent Tabla, 11 Madison Park, and Gramercy Tavern, where I have found the service friendly, but never overly familiar, e.g. staff referring to me as 'guy' or 'mac' or whatever. Sure, there are some 'unsophisticated diners' present, but that's true of just about every restaurant in NY. I don't see it as cause to cast aspersions on Danny Meyer.

[Ron Johnson]

Fat Guy, your wine-making analogy is interesting.  Of course I am aware of the practice of using oak chips, or even sawdust to add an oak flavor to wine.  Sadly, many of these "scientific", wines as you aptly refer to them, receive some of the highest scores from the wine intelligentsia.  However, I do not think that precludes food smoked with chips instead of logs being referred to as "barbeque", at least in Memphis.  That being said, I know the prefered method there is to use logs or use charwood with chips or chunks of hardwood.  During the six odd years that I lived in Memphis, I found that both yielded reliably consistent and delicious barbeque.  As an aside, I was not a fan of Corky's when I lived in Memphis, but would be happy to have it here in Louisville.

[friedclams]

For reference, I was born and raised in Brooklyn and in my youth I yearned for bbq but never had any until I finally moved and now live in north Texas...

mind you, I crave excellent seafood (grew up on Lundys and New England fish houses) and whole belly fried clams but can't get them here (its like searching for the grail)...

but when it comes to bbq, its on every street corner...

admittedly, one can get baked brisket, pork butt or rib slabs, but one doesn't have 2go too far to have real smoked meats, pink ring and all...

I have read with much interest this thread about Blue Smoke...I can only continue to feel sorry for my NYC friends who have been salivating for excellent bbq for so long that they might pay such high prices for mediocre food and small portions... when it comes to bbq, only mass quantities will do...

On Mondays I go to the all-U-can-eat (really smoked) beef ribs best of the local bunch and pay $8.95 ...

Other days I go to the all-U-can-eat (really smoked) pork ribs, brisket, pork butt best of the bunch and pay $10.95 ...

Lets consider the tradeoffs...

I can get all the beef or pork smoked bbq, tasting much better than average, definitely much better than NYC bbq at very reasonable prices ...

I can't get anything like whole belly fried clams anywhere locally at any price ...

So it goes for the region of the country where you live...

Fat Guy calls Blue Smoke the best in NYC even in its early stages... most others are not convinced...

my question: if its already the best, how could it possibly get better ???

Dont get me wrong... I'm rooting for BS... for my friend's sakes...

:)

[ngatti]

Okay, not a review. But here goes . A description of my dinner at 'Blue Smoke'.

We are a party of 6 at 5:45 on a monday. 'twas all that was available 2 weeks out. No problem. I prefer early AND on off nights. We were told that the larger tables go quickly. It happened to be one of the nicer corner tables, arguably the best table in the house. A corner table next to window with a view of the entire dining room.

My wife and I are the last members of our party to arrive. We are just on time (as I succesfully indulged my jones for free on street parking) and are cheerfully greeted by the hostess on duty and shown directly to our table. Note: lots of genuine eager to please vibe and karma gushing from all. No dark "hate my job", "wish I were somewhere else" shite. Friendly friendly (not obsequious) waitstaff. Beer and wine orders are taken promptly (Anchor Liberty Ale for me, something white wineish for my SO) and delivered samewise.

The room is spare and utilitarian with exposed ductwork and chandeliers constructed from caged industrial safety lights. A long bar dominates the right side of the resaturant countered by a line of banquettes across from it. This opens into a large space divided into two dining areas separated by some stark but properly trendoid floral arrangement.

Apps are ordered first and delivered.

Mine: "Blue Smoke Black Pepper Pork Sausage with pickled Onions and Okra". Kinda' like Southern Style Saucisson with black pepper.

Okay, but something else next time. Nothing wrong, just wasn't wowed. YMMV.

Other apps: "Chicken Wings". No surprises but seemed obligatory and forced. Side order of roquefort bacon dip did much to elevate these.

"Fried Green Tomatoes"; One of the better apps. Cornmeal breaded with a refreshing salad of small tomatoes. Reminded me of giant fried okra.

"Chilled Smoked Foie Gras"; Lightly smoked torchon begging the question...why? Otherwise fine, but next time I'll save the bucks for two more of the interesting and tasty sides. More later.

"Jackies Fry Bread"; Yowsers!, Came heavily touted by our waiter and did not disapoint. Southern fried Zeppole with a pleasent jalapeno marmalade.

Hit of the table with much passing of same.

Apps were rounded out by a generous Caeser Salad. I didn't taste it, but the greens looked fresh and the dressing, inviting. I'd order it on another visit based solely on the looks of this one. But I was always a sucker for a pretty face.

We ordered sides and then mains. Massive galvanized buckets of housemade BBQ potato crisps and fried breaded onion rings. All tasty and good. Crisps could have been salted more, but there was a shaker at the table. Onion rings were fresh with a decidedly unsoggy crust. Nice and tender thick sweet onion interior. Good all by themselves. But one could always employ the lazy susan of a pedestrian BBQ sauce, Tabasco Chipotle Sauce, or shaker of dry rub

At this point I switched to Brooklyn Weisse Bier. Nice and sweet with a big chunk of lemon to edge it off nicely.

Mains consisted of the following:

"Rhapsody In Cue", A too cute name for a sample platter consisting of Pork Spareribs, a smoked chicken drumstick a half smoked chicken breast on the bone and a serving of pulled pork with a squeeze of house BBQ sauce on it.

The spareribs were extraordinarily well trimmed. The meat was slightly chewy but by no means tough. If you're looking for falling off the bone you won't get it here. The chopped BBQ was moist and tender with some welcome tasty browned pork gribenes chopped through the pulled meat. The chicken was smokey but curiously underseasoned. The side of cole slaw that came with all the mains was tarted up with some unrecognizable (to us) spice that all agreed had no place in a proper BBQ slaw (what do we know).

Other mains included: Smoked Brisket of Beef; Great portion but I wanted more smoke and a bit more seasoning. Pulled Pork BBQ was another large portion that ran up to the edge of the cliff but stopped just short of taking off. My impression is that everyone is trying too hard to get it right. Like an 80s era cd of a great performance. Clean but still coldly digital.

At this point Danny Meyer came to the table and introduced himself. We made some jokes and he agreed to have his picture taken with a friends fiancee who is particularly taken with him. We said that his photo would go next to the wedding picture on the mantlepiece. The frown that crossed his face (yes Virginia, he does on occasion) upon realizing that one side dish from the previous course had not been cleared was revealing.

BTW by 7:30 or so the place was full and cooking. Noise levels did get to the point that shouting was necessary. But all seemed to fit in with the nature of the place.

All agreed that ALL the desserts were proper, fitting and well executed.

One of the best Key Lime Pies I've had. My wifes Coconut Layer Cake was, to use her words, "to die for!" Rhubarb Pie ala mode and Banana Cream Pie were also big hits.

The dining experience was good and the service was appropriate in spades for this place. We left happy and felt that normal eaters should escape well fed and beered up for about 50-60 dollars per person. We didn't think that was bad. We had a good time and thought that Union Square Group has achieved its goals of an unpretentious neighborhood place that serves good Bar- B- Que.

Thanx for Listening

Nick

[Fat Guy]

Were I the boss of Blue Smoke, I'd read that one aloud at the next staff meeting.

[yvonne johnson]

We and two chums had dinner on Wednesday at Blue Smoke. Of all Danny Meyer restaurants I have tried, this is the best so far. I’m in a minority, I know, but USC, Tabla and GT do very little for me.

Starters: Very substantial peppery pork sausage and the pickled onions & okra were nice accompaniments. Lots and lots of chicken wings with chipotle sauce that had real heat. I agree with Nick, the homemade, good, BBQ potato chips were served in enormous quantities in a large bucket. Also, we received sliced bread (from Amy’s bakery, I was told) and “bread and butter pickles”. Do you see a lot of food on the table yet?

Main courses: 2 types--St Louis & Memphis--of pork spare ribs. As previous posters have mentioned, this is not wet, fall-off-the-bone meat, it is a little drier than that, but by no means un-moist. I also tried some delicious pulled pork. I agree with others, the coleslaw is not the best. It seemed a bit tired to me. Now mine, the brisket, which may have been the best thing we had. It was juicy, meaty, tender with a few caramelized onions accompanying the very good mashed potatoes. My dish was enough to feed a family of four. I ate two big slices of the brisket, gave away one slice and took enough home to feed two for lunch the following day. We also ordered a large (oh, my) order of fires. These were piping hot and were sprinkled with salt. Maybe not Les Halles quality, but nonetheless very able fries. We’re big eaters, but 80% of the fries we had to leave. Nearly forgot, we also ordered fried onion rings. Good selections of tap and bottled beers.

At the end of this gluttony I contemplated the room in an effort to take my mind off the possibility that I was about to put out--I see people on eGullet mostly talk about about “taking in” meals---my dinner. Everything is massive here: huge pussy-willows in huge blue vases, and big windows looking out to garden scenes. Given its name, I imagined a dark, smokey place but it's quite bright. We ate early, but by 8 o'clock it got hugely noisy. Talk of a dessert I somehow tolerated, and to my relief no-one ordered anything more to eat.

Service was very good in parts (welcoming without being gooey)and in other places, spotty (disorganized placement of food on table). I think some new staff were being trained.

Will definitely go back. But next time, I’ll order a little less.

Other reports by fellow eGulletarians

http://forums.egullet.org/ibf/index.php?s=...ue%20smoke&st=0 Robert has interesting report on p. 2

http://forums.egullet.org/ibf/index.php?s=...3&hl=blue+smoke from CathyL

[Suzanne F]

We ate there in the spring, before the service kinks were resolved. And they were pretty kinky at that time; quite unexpected for a Danny Meyer place.

However: overall we enjoyed it. The cocktails were unusual and delicious, and the beer selections very interesting (I just can't see having wine with 'cue). The assorted platter has some hits/some misses even in the same items (loved the peppery sausage, but the skin on it was almost impenetrable; brisket was tasty but dry). The smoked chicken was close to perfect -- but yes, it needed seasoning. The Potato Salad was one of the best I've ever tasted. The cole slaw, yawn. And the bread made a great edible napkin.

Of course, to people who can get the "real thing," this isn't. But I can't, so if anyone I know is desperate to go there, I won't mind accompanying them.

[Damian]

Can't stand all this talk of barbecue... that settles it, I'm going tonight. Am calling now to cancel 7:30 reservation at Artisanal.