D

Live Blog Feed

Very Short Non-Review Of Opening of Smoke Restaurant

Posted on September 14th, 2009 10:19am by Sarah Eveans
Filed under BBQ, Openings, Restaurant News

As Zac mentioned on Frontburner, we both attended the opening of Smoke, the new restaurant at the Belmont Hotel, on Friday night. I arrived around 9 pm, and the place was incredibly packed. As soon as we arrived, we said hello to chef Tim Byres, who was looking cute in a cowboy hat, and to Stephan Pyles, who was there supporting him. Then they ran off to do their thing and we ran off to try and find some food.

Alas, there wasn’t any left. So, there’s not too much to say here, because that’s what you guys want to know about. When we got there we saw pigs being roasted in front of the restaurant, but by the time we got inside (we went up to BarBelmont for a drink when we got there because we heard it was less packed), all the food was gone. I was definitely bummed about that. The interior of the restaurant was designed by Mike Thompson, and it is very chic–especially in comparison to other barbeque restaurants. Like Zac mentioned, I also liked the back door entrance to the bar, which makes it feel like a speakeasy.

There were around 1 million people there, so surely, a Disher can help with a food description. Please?

4 Comments to “Very Short Non-Review Of Opening of Smoke Restaurant”

Creth Davis @ September 14th, 2009 at 12:34 pm

I too wanted to try the food, after all we could smell it! and I saw half a pig in the kitchen but the waiter told me there wasn’t any left… he actually said he hadn’t even had any! poor guy. oh well, guess they wanted to wet our appetites. mission accomplished
Elijah @ September 14th, 2009 at 12:35 pm

I ate there over the weekend. First, I was corrected when I referred to the place as a barbeque restaurant. I was told that Smoke is not a barbeque restaurant; it’s a restaurant with barbeque items on the menu. OK.

The room is very cool. I think they borrowed on the success of Bolsa and Jack’s to create a good indoor/outdoor flow that will be fun on nice days. Service was friendly and good, especially for having been open only a few days.

I went for brisket, as there is not any really good brisket in Dallas. At Smoke, it’s better than average but a long way from the great stuff of central Texas. First, it’s coffee cured. Second they commit the abomination of serving it already sauced. When I saw the sauce on it, my heart sank as I knew it was not what we were all hoping for. The coffee cure and the pretty ordinary barbeque sauce take away any hint of the classic brisket/beef taste. What’s left tastes good and sweet, but it’s not a real brisket taste. The meat is tender and not too dry, but, again, a long way from the melt-in-your-mouth brisket that would have been great.

There is a good assortment of sides. I especially liked the beans with the pulled pork on top. The entrees from the regular menu (not the barbeque scantron) do look promising (duck, scallops, big beef ribs – in the $20-24 range). I’ll be back and I think the food will be good. It’s just not a classic barbeque place.
guyndallas @ September 14th, 2009 at 7:15 pm

So is it weird that a restaurant has an opening and they don’t have enough food? Is that not sort of a big deal?
sayswho @ September 16th, 2009 at 10:45 pm

Being that the opening was from 7pm till midnight, it should have been clearer that food wouldn’t be provided all night. Or, common sense should kick in. I arrived around 10pm but wasn’t expecting to eat. Nice atmosphere – definitely will try the restaurant soon. Belmont has become one of my fav spots in Dallas. It’s a little piece of Austin placed in the fake world of Dallas. We need more places liked this.

SideDish is a food-related discussion among editors at D Magazine about the Dallas-Fort Worth dining scene -- everything from good meals to bad service, kitchen gossip to restaurant news, chefs’ secrets to culinary trends. Bon appetit.

Subscribe via RSS (What is RSS?)

Follow SideDish on Twitter