Smoke Break...fast

Sometimes getting woken up an hour early by a not-so-tired baby can be a good thing. With that extra hour I had to kill, I headed over to Smoke for breakfast. The dining room was empty at 7:15, but had started to fill up by the time I left at 8:00. It's a full service place, and the wait staff was friendly and attentive. I ordered up some poached eggs and (server recommended) cheese grits with a side of the house smoked bacon. I've kind of forgotten what it's like to eat one type of meat with my meal, so I added on some of the house made andouille sausage.



The plate was gorgeous, and came with a little lagniappe of asparagus and grilled tomato. The eggs were poached perfectly, but an odd acidic flavor (lemon in the poaching water?) cloaked the eggs. The grits also had an odd acidity, and too little cheese for the moniker. Enough about the breakfast specific items. A very thick slice (yes, singular) of bacon was grilled to done, but not crispy. It was similar to an English style breakfast bacon, but the fat was still a bit chewy. The sausage was sliced in half lengthwise and was nothing short of perfect. A bit of heat was evident in this smoky link which was nicely moist without being fatty. The snappy casing covered a medium grind sausage with good mouth feel and bold flavors. I could become a regular just for this sausage.

I also snagged the much discussed "Scantron" which one uses to order the BBQ items at lunch or dinner.



The lunch menu suggests that meats are avaialble to mix-and-match by the quarter pound, but the scantron sheet only lists the options of a sandwich, half pound and full pound. Just taking a quick tally of my usual 'cue order, a two meat plate of ribs and brisket with two sides will run you $29. Here's hoping that they really do allow quarter pound ordering, or at least add a combo plate to best allow customers to sample more than just one of their fine meats at a time.

- BBQ Snob