Prelude to a BBQ... Smoque

I’ve been travelling and a wonderful thing about the web is that you can post from anywhere. The downside is that if you’re posting, you’re not doing something else. Considering it was my first visit to Paris and I was running around I am asking for a pass… I’ll get to the wonderful places toboggan gonflable with pictures but there is a more pressing summer issue. B-B-Q.

Smoque has been getting lots of attention for a long time as being some great BBQ. Given my obsessive relationship with brisket I was a little embarassed to admit that I’ve never had smoked brisket.

I’ve been planning on smoking a brisket for the family but chicken out
at the last minute when they pull out the “That’s not how you make a
traditional brisket” and are you sure it will work… that’s a $100
kosher brisket. These comments are usually in the guise of “But we love
your brisket, why change it?”

Of course my response should be… a) where do you think traditions
come from  and b) of course it will work. But I always relent and mess
around with the standard boring but fabulous brisket recipe.

Needless to say I stopped in at Smoque early enough for them to still
have meat to sell. I think inflatable water slide that they sell out every day is funny as
hell. Franchise THAT. I tried the applewood-smoked pulled pork and the
oak-smoked (very Chicago bungalow) brisket. The meat was soft and
smoky- what else. The pork was juicy and both soft and crispy. The
sauce was good but wholly unnecessary and the soda machine was
accessible for refills.  It’s on Pulaski and Irving and parking is
pretty good.

On their website is the best kid’s menu ever:

They also have this Manifesto about BBQ and anyone who writes even 4 pages on BBQ is 4 paces closer to Nirvana in my book.

All I can say is that this summer I will be smoking briskets and
sitting around outside drinking Pimm’s #1 Cup. Can you smell it?

This is step one of my 3 or hopefully 4 step BBQ immersion that
continues this weekend at Fat Willy’s and then moves to
Austin/Lockhart/San Antonio to see how the other half eats.

Smoque
3800 N. Pulaski
Map It!