Where: 514 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.
Who: Brian Huskey
Favorites: Pulled Pork, Smoked Wings,Fries
Price: $7-20 (SCAD students, 20% off)
A couple of my friends walked with me through the alleys of Savannah on a mission to get some good barbeque and a great interview from the owner of Wall’s. Unfortunately, the poster on the door of Wall’s said “closed Sunday and Tuesday.”
“Because Tuesday is the new Monday,” my fellow connoisseur deducted. So with our palates set for barbeque, we trekked to Blowin’ Smoke BBQ on MLK.
Blowin’ Smoke has no horseshoes on the walls or vintage metal advertisements. Every table is set with silverware (not plasticware) folded in cloth-like napkins. The color scheme: simple maroon and beige with wood paneling with black and white photos hanging at eye level around the main dining room. In contrast with Wall’s shack-in-the-alley-motif, who is this place trying to fool?
Their menu brags a laborious 12-hour cooking process for their hand-pulled pork and walking into the restaurant, you’ll see certificates for “Best BBQ,”“Best New Restaurant,” “Best Kid-Friendly,” and “Best Chef.” With no country music, no rolls of paper towels on the tables and flat screens showing CNBC, I couldn’t help thinking this place could be compensating for lack of flavor.
The restaurant doesn’t have the quaint Savannah charm of a place where the owner would be hanging around, but the owner, Brian Huskey, promised me an interview. He even delivered our order personally. I found myself pleasantly surprised with the savory sauce complementing the deliciously tender pork instead of consuming it. Likewise, my friends found the fries addicting.
About an hour later, business picked up and I had to go to the bar and request a later time.
“Come in before your 2 p.m. class tomorrow,” he said, typing me into his Blackberry.
Unfortunately Huskey had forgotten about a previous luncheon engagement, so my interview the next day was with the manager, Beau Jones. Sitting at the bar, he told me that Brian bought B. Matthews two years ago and opened Blowin’ Smoke March of 2008 with his wife Jennifer.
Most of their advertising has been through word of mouth and on pedicabs around the city. “When you’re stuck behind a pedicab, you have no choice but to read it,” he said
The restaurant is quite the family affair, as Huskey’s brother Todd is in charge of the kitchen. Todd testifies that the kitchen fires up around 8 a.m. to invest the time needed for the smoked flavor in their ribs and pork.
Often asked to bottle their sauce, Beau responds that the process takes too long. The ingredients are so fresh, they aren’t even sure it would keep.
Any SCAD student who walks into the dining area will notice the sepia photos of folk/jazz musicians spaced around the walls. When I asked Jones about them he said the photographer is a friend of their landlord. He said they would be open to student’s work, “as long as it is in good taste.”
“The courtyard was a must,” Jones said, nothing that the alley turned dining area houses bands Friday and Saturday nights and appeals to people with children or pets.
Huskey bought the building when it was called 514 West. Beau chalked up the previous fine dining joint’s lack of success to “wrong place, wrong time.” He said there are rumors that the building used to be a monastery.
The verdict: A classier take on saucy fingers, Styrofoam cups filled with slaw, and twangy tunes, Blowin’ Smoke is a safe bet with a franchise feel and food that rivals any decent barbeque joint. Their awards are well deserved and the service is more than satisfactory. But your around-the-corner, backyard barbeque gets a little lost in the modern logo on the windows and sauce bottles. Nevertheless, the effort pays off in every bite. For a night out, you get the local taste with an upgrade on the quaint disposable plates.
*An article on Wall’s is soon to come.
Editors note: Corrections made to properly identify Brian Huskey.
