11.15.07

Review of Blue Smoke, Thursday November 2007

Posted in Barbecue, Gramercy, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 9 to 10 at 20:50 by Dominique

116 E. 27th and Lexington/Park, 212-447-7733
Great for: self-medicating with comfort food, impressing Southern friends, inducing meat coma, seeing how down-to-earth your date is

Blue Smoke is the restaurateur Danny Meyer’s homage to American food and pit barbecue. The Boyfriend and I have stupidly tried to walk in several times – we’re a bit impulsive – and invariably got a courteous “the wait will be 45 minutes.” This time we put our names down at 5:30, went back at 6:30 and only had to wait 10 minutes. The Boyfriend’s company had Blue Smoke cater their Christmas party, and he’s been making me drool with loving descriptions of their macaroni and cheese ever since, so our expectations were pretty high.

We started with a nice Illinois Porch Swing (Tanqueray 10, prosecco and lemon juice) for me and a Heineken for him as we dove into the menu. We pretty much wanted to get everything, but limited ourselves to an appetizer of Peel ‘n’ Eat Shrimp, Rhapsody in ‘Cue for him, lean brisket for me, and sides of creamed spinach and of course mac and cheese. Oh my god. The shrimp were our first clue that this was no ordinary bbq joint. They’re seasoned and spiced to a high degree of deliciousness, not just boiled – we were sorely tempted to get another order before our entrees arrived.

When we saw his platter of St. Louis ribs, pulled pork, chicken and sausage and mine of piping hot beef with mashed potatoes and onion sticks, we just looked at each other in glee. and when our waitress set down the sides, we could restrain ourselves no longer. I can say, without a doubt, that that was the most amazing creamed spinach I have ever tasted. I tore myself away after several bites to try the mac and cheese, which was fully as good as the Boyfriend had said, plus it didn’t taste as heavy as I worried it would. I don’t have brisket that often and once I tasted mine, I really wasn’t sure why. It was as moist and juicy as I could hope. So was everything on the Boyfriend’s plate. We didn’t talk until we’d finished, except for “Mmmm” and “Wow.” I highly suggest using the sides as sauce on your meat. We pretty much cleaned our plates in about 15 minutes.

We meant to stop there, but were persuaded to have dessert. I’d gotten a decent Coltrane’s Resolution (sparkling wine, Lillet, and blood orange juice) after the shrimp and decided to continue drinking with the new sundae on the menu, I think it was called Granddad. It’s basically a yummy bourbon ice cream float. The Boyfriend had some but he’s not into brown liquors. I’m usually not either, but the strong cocktails made me think I was. Just kidding, it was quite yummy. Finally we waddled home.

All the staff were very good. The friendly hostess advised us on when to come back to minimize our wait time, and our waitress was cheerful and helpful without being too familiar. Someone accidentally put a nearby table’s desserts on our bill, but she took care of that right away. It looked like the people around us were happy with their service, too. It’s a fun, casual atmosphere there, definitely a place you’d want to go with a big group of friends if you can get a reservation. In fact, they have some large tables that look permanently set up, so a big party might actually have better luck. I can’t wait to go back.

Rating: 9 / 10
Noise level: happy-noisy but the kind where you can talk quietly to each other
Our cost: $140 (several drinks)
Chance of walking in: very low, unless you want to eat at 5:30. Definitely make reservations a few days in advance.

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