When widely acclaimed Smoque BBQ broke the news about Smoque Steak in April 2022, what immediately became one of the most anticipated new restaurants in Chicago was scheduled to open six months later.
A full year later, carnivorous fans still wait for what owner Barry Sorkin described as a different kind of steakhouse in the Avondale neighborhood.
“It’s an idea we came up with pre-pandemic,” Sorkin said recently. “We developed what we think is a different and better way of making a steak.”
My early taste test revealed remarkably tender meat, cooked perfectly medium-rare, within a beautifully seared crust, indeed infused with smoke flavor.
So when will Smoque Steak open?
“We’re getting ready for some of our pre-opening events this week, and getting some practice swings in,” Sorkin said. “But we are definitely targeting mid- to late May.”
And what happened with the delay?
“COVID certainly was the central cause of the delays,” he said. “We had hired a general contractor, who estimated this as a 15-week project.”
That 15-week project wound up taking closer to nine months, he added.
“I know they were working hard, and eager to get it done as well,” Sorkin said. “It just seems that doing construction in this world, such as it is right now — it’s complicated.”
Meanwhile, menu testing has continued, and staff favorites have already emerged. Smoque BBQ’s Al Sherman, Mike McDermott and Chris Hendrickson remain partners in the new venture. They also brought in another partner for Smoque Steak, chef Dylan Lipe, whose background pairs fine dining and the barbecue circuits.
“So far, everyone loves the rib-eye,” Sorkin said. “And the steak frites. I think all of the steaks eat above their price point.”
Smoque Steak cooks with an unusual three-step process: smoke, sous vide and sear.
“That’s sort of our secret sauce,” he added. “We’re taking these steaks, and not just throwing them on the char broiler or grill. We’re smoking them over red oak, just to put some flavor on them. And then we are cooking them sous vide.”
Sous vide is a method of cooking with food typically sealed in vacuum bags, immersed in a water bath at precise low temperatures, for a prescribed length of time.
“So you get that perfect edge-to-edge doneness that’s really difficult to achieve — if not impossible — cooking conventionally, and some additional tenderness,” Sorkin said. “Then we sear in cast iron with butter to get that nice golden crust without any of the bitter char you get by subjecting it to an 800-degree environment.”
As for prices, last year he said you’ll be able to get a steak for less than you would pay for a slab of ribs at Smoque BBQ, which still costs $26 at the Old Irving Park restaurant in 2023.
And now, after a roller-coaster year for food costs?
“We’ve got really great options as low as 20 bucks for a really nice bistro steak,” Sorkin said. “And our steak frites, an 8-ounce outside skirt steak served with fries, for about 29 bucks. The rib-eye, which is the most indulgent and decadent steak, a 16-ounce USDA prime rib-eye, will probably be like $55.”
One of the big differences between Smoque Steak and Smoque BBQ is the new full bar service.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Sorkin said. “We’ve been looking forward to selling some drinks.”
The Smoqued Pineapple is a margarita-inspired cocktail mixed with mezcal, Ancho Reyes chile liqueur, plus smoked pineapple, lime and agave nectar.
A Bananas Foster bread pudding has become an overwhelming staff favorite for dessert.
“And we are always conscious of being able to take care of our vegetarian friends,” he said. “So we also have a smoked cauliflower steak.”
Pescatarians will find a lobster tail and grits appetizer, plus a main course of smoked salmon and a shrimp scampi pasta.
Smoque Steak will take reservations, initially for dinner only, six days a week, for indoor seating up to about 120 diners to start. (The restaurant will be closed Mondays.)
“The room is not going to have the same sort of feel as most of your downtown steakhouses,” Sorkin said. “We want it to feel more like a neighborhood restaurant, and reference our barbecue roots. And take advantage of the bones of the building, which are very industrial.”
Guests can order from print menus with servers, and have an added option to scan a QR code to order directly from their table. It’s a hybrid service model the partners experienced at other restaurants.
“When we went to some of these restaurants, we got to focus on the people we were with,” he added. “We ordered and ate at our own pace, and weren’t worried about, oh my god, the server’s been here three times asking if we were ready to order, we better figure it out. We didn’t feel any of that stress or pressure.”
There’s also a small butcher shop and market to browse at the entrance.
“We were very much in the COVID mindset,” Sorkin said. “A lot of people are eating at home these days, and some of those habits are gonna stick even after the pandemic is gone. I think people did sort of just rediscover the value of eating at their own dining room table with their family.”
The idea behind the market was anything you need to serve steak dinner at home, he added, from raw smoked steaks, heat and serve sides, premade cocktails, and even sous vide wands and cast iron skillets.
“Food prices, and particularly beef prices, have been so strange and complicated and volatile over the last couple of years,” he said. “Are the steaks as low priced as we wanted them to be four years ago when we conceived this idea? No. They had to have gone up like everything else, but we’ve really tried to make sure you’re going to leave feeling like you got more than your money’s worth. And that was our guiding principle.”
Smoque Steak, 3310 N. Elston Ave., smoquesteak.com
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