Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

Feeding My Stomach and My Soul

When I moved to New York from Florida a year ago, one of the upgraded amenities was the diversity of food styles. Not to say that Orlando doesn't have a diverse food selection, on the contrary Orlando has a great foodie scene with a variety of amazing cuisines. But I think the sheer number of restaurants in every food genre that you can imagine makes trying these food styles much more accessible. That being said, one of the cuisines that I have desperately missed is BBQ. I'm talking that smokey goodness that is as messy as it is delicious. So my excitement was off the charts when I found out our second food adventure was to try Blue Smoke - Manhattan's very own barbeque nirvana.

It was a beautifully sunny day, birds chirping and the sun warming our faces as we entered Blue Smoke. The exterior itself was delightfully snazzy, while the inside continued to solidify the theme of a happening jazz and BBQ haven.

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Inside the restaurant, the decor and atmosphere evoked a decidedly "Manhattan Casual" feel. Although this is absolutely an upscale BBQ place and not your typical rib shack, it's not so stuffy that you feel uncomfortable in your jeans with sauce on your cheek.

The menu itself has every item that I would want to eat, presenting the problem of what to get. My first instinct was to go for the ribs, but then I realized what I truly wanted was a saucy, tender sandwich of brisket. And a side of hush puppies. And a sweet tea, which they didn't have, so I mixed the unsweet version with their homemade lemonade. It didn't disappoint!

When the food came out, it looked and smelled amazing. I snagged a photo of the ribs ordered by Laure 'n Michael, immediately regretting my decision until my sandwich came out and couldn't wait for the first bite. Pile on the sauce and get ready to get dirty!

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After devouring our food, we had the opportunity to view the kitchen and, my favorite part, the smoking system. In my opinion, the smell of BBQ directly impacts the taste. Seriously, you can taste the smoke in the meat and if you can't, it's not any good. So to go back to the smoker, as full as I was, I wanted to eat another plate of ribs, pulled pork, chicken, EVERYTHING right then and there.

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I'll be honest, the food was very well done, but it wasn't the best barbeque I've had. A Southern girl loves her Southern BBQ, and I will definitely head back to my favorite restaurants when I'm back in Florida to get my BBQ fix. But it is nice to know that if you want that experience of a good, social meal with the comfort of smoked barbeque, it's right around the corner.