This West Kendall barbecue spot was years in the making. It was worth the wait
Bakers like Harry Coleman understand the consequences of time.
Two minutes too long in an oven can ruin an empanada or pan de bono at his Empanada Harry’s in West Kendall. Two years of waiting to open his Miami-inspired barbecue restaurant, Smoke & Dough, next door, could have done the same.
Two years can span a pandemic. It can include Coleman suffering a sudden “widow-maker” heart attack at 37, revealing a genetic proclivity that killed his great-grandfather and nearly left his wife and business partner, Michelle, a widow with two children. Two years can allow for a full recovery from a completely blocked artery that strikes without risk factors or warning signs — and usually kills as more than 90 percent of the people who suffer from it.
In Coleman’s case, time was a gift.
It allowed Harry Coleman to focus on his health, his family — and then to approach his new restaurant, Smoke & Dough, with that same mindfulness.
In the two years since the pandemic froze their plans to open, the Colemans attended weeklong barbecue seminars aimed at chefs in Kansas City, Oklahoma and Texas. They studied under pitmaster David Bouska of Oklahoma’s Butcher BBQ and the author of the “Barbecue Bible” (and part-time Miami resident) Steven Raichlen. Coleman, who learned to bake from his father, Philip, owner of Moises Bakery in Miami Beach, had been studying barbecue as a hobby long before then, for five years.
They bought a pair of high-end commercial wood smokers to ensure they could reproduce their Miami-inspired recipes on 10 and 20 cafecito-rubbed briskets a day. Just like his empanada shop next door creates 23 different kinds of Latin American empanadas, at Smoke & Dough, Coleman aims to bring the many Latin flavors in Miami into his barbecue. This includes beef cheek barbacoa, succulent confit pulled pork, a “timba” guava-flecked sausage, cold-smoked Chilean salmon — and even a stunning smoked flan.
A perfect brisket?
Those who say making a perfect brisket is an art form discount the countless hours of trial and error that make Coleman’s work at Smoke & Dough into destination barbecue and easily one of the best new restaurants in South Florida.
Great barbecue can’t be faked.
When a dozen briskets at a time are being cooked for 12-15 hours, there is no cover-up for a poorly smoked piece of meat. You can’t simply whip up good barbecue.
Which is why I wasn’t too unsettled when Coleman recognized me at the restaurant and offered to make a two-person serving of Smoke & Dough’s family sampler, which includes the most popular dishes.
When the tray landed on the table, it was clear Coleman has done his homework. There is not a miss on the plate.
The prime-grade brisket, rubbed partly with finely ground espresso, showed a mastery of the most difficult piece of meat to barbecue. A brisket is actually two muscles, one lean, one fatty. Cooking them so they are both tender and moist is a skill Coleman nails — the fat rendering to flavor every buttery bite.
Whereas a Texas brisket is usually rubbed only in salt and pepper, Coleman adds subtle seasonings that reflect Miami’s palate. Take each forkful with a sliver of house-made pickle and red pickled onion, which includes star anise, for a barbecue bite that’s hard to replicate in Miami.
Something on the side
The dish comes with Coleman’s own barbecue sauce and chimichurri. You won’t need either.
Pulled pork can be a barbecue restaurant’s crutch, since it is more forgiving and often stays moist in its own fat. Smoke & Dough’s holds a perfect pull-apart texture, rich in flavors and spices.
Lump it over a wedge of cornbread, served Texas-toast thick — moist in the middle, crispy from an iron skillet on its edges, and bathed in salty-sweet honey butter.
Coleman playfully calls his brisket-beef sausage, mixed with white cheese and guava, a “timba” — a Cuban snack of white cheese and guava paste. Here the guava adds a subtle sweetness without being too sweet, smoked to a tender bite.
Croquetas and stellar mac and cheese
A tapas section to the menu is Smoke & Dough’s intention that it be more than a traditional barbecue restaurant. Guests are encouraged to order meat and sides to share, but also cold-smoked dishes like duck, Chilean salmon and gouda and ham croquetas. All of them work, especially when paired with a crisp Cigar City Margarita Gose beer. The restaurant offers a selection of wine, including a Dwyane Wade label.
Those croquetas are a work of passion. Both the gouda cheese and ham are smoked before they become the key ingredients in the bechamel cream. Smoke & Dough is brave to offer house-made croquetas less than five minutes from Miami’s croqueta gold standard, Islas Canarias. But this elegant version will create legions of fans.
Mac and cheese is too often treated like a requisite. Here they treat it with the respect of a main course.
The recipe is adapted from one of Empanada Harry’s signature empanadas, with a slight truffle flavor, diced house-made bacon, fontina, cheddar and Parmesan cheeses, with turmeric for color. The dish is made to order, which keeps the pasta tender and the sauce creamy.
Smoke & Dough’s baked beans are ambitious, made with black beans to make them feel more Latin, and flavored with chunks of peach. My serving was too aggressively flavored with red wine vinegar. It felt like a dish just a minor tweak from being great.
Coleman’s empanadas also inspired the must-order pimento cheese ravioli bites. The scratch-made semolina dough is filled with house-made pimento cheese and the ravioli are deep fried and served with a piquillo chipotle cream you won’t need.
They smoke flan
Creativity is what sets Smoke & Dough apart from even very good barbecue. Coleman, a third-generation baker, understands flavor and technique and how barbecue smoke can enhance a dish you think you know.
Take the smoked flan, for instance. It’s a wedge of classic flan de leche infused with the scent of cherry and hickory wood. The rich caramel carries with it the five hours of smoke, and the custard itself is a silken luxury. Eat it on its own, and its dessert barbecue.
The chef Thomas Keller decried to me years ago that too many American bakers are impatient with their pastries, pulling them from the oven before they’ve had a chance to bake to perfection. Time, he said, is an ingredient. At Smoke & Dough and in his life, Harry Coleman has used it to full effect.
Miami Herald food writers dine unannounced at the newspaper’s expense.
Smoke & Dough
Address: 4013 SW 152nd Ave., West Kendall
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sunday
Prices: tapas $7-$13; meat by the half pound, $8-$17; sides $4-$6
More info: Smokeanddough.com
This story was originally published February 21, 2022 at 3:00 PM.
