Smoke Signals
New restaurant heats up at the RiverLights community
Local restaurateur JAMES SMITH (below, left) didn’t name his latest venture, SMOKE ON THE WATER, by chance. Just as classic rockers Deep Purple were stirred by striking images when crafting their iconic song by the same name, so, too, was Smith.
Facing the Cape Fear River with an open deck, Smoke on the Water, 3704 Watercraft Ferry Drive, is a new concept for the downtown Fork-n-Cork owner. It was an observation he made while standing on the RiverLights development’s dock, Smith says, that inspired him.
“I was out there one day in the morning, and the mist on the water was just ‘smoke on the water,’” he says. “I took a picture, and it just looked gorgeous.”
One of the first businesses within the community-hub portion of RiverLights, the restaurant was initially envisioned as a second Fork-n-Cork location, but the kitchen area wasn’t as sizeable as Smith would have liked.
“The kitchen was a little small for all the kind of homemade type, from-scratch prep that we do at Fork-n-Cork, so I came up with a new concept, a seafood concept,” he says. “Then, since we do brisket downtown, I thought we would bring in a barbecue aspect. So, we’re going to do brisket, ribs, (and) our chicken wings are smoked. So, we’re playing with the ‘smoke’ aspect, in with the seafood aspect.”
Relocating to the Port City from New Orleans, Smith last came from what he describes as a “culinary mecca.” It’s the ingredients – from his former home – of quality seafood with a buoyant atmosphere that Smith is recreating with Smoke.
As Smoke on the Water’s menu options grow, so does Smith’s vision for the venue, as a whole. Since participating in RiverLights’ grand opening celebration in December, the new restaurant is steadying its foundation for the busy season ahead.
Smith answers some questions about his latest concept:
What sets the restaurant apart?
SMITH: “We’re going to be one of the restaurants in town that has a view and good food. I feel that (some) restaurants in town that really have a view, unfortunately, the food just doesn’t really stand up.
It’s a seesaw – however much you’re paying for food, or (the owner does) for rent, you’ve got to kind of make that money up somewhere and, unfortunately, with some of the restaurants it suffers on the plate.
"We’ve got a pretty good situation going on here," says Smoke on the Water owner James Smith, "so I think it’s going to be kind of a destination restaurant where people from downtown can come out and see a beautiful river view and still get good food."
Our snow crab legs are huge. We’re doing king crab legs. We’re getting all of our oysters from either Stump Sound or James River right now (in mid- December). When soft-shell crabs come in season, we’re going to do a soft-shell crab sandwich.
… Kind of like what I did downtown with bar food (I’m doing) out (here). I took bar food to a little bit of a different level. It was wings, but it was duck wings. It was cheese dip, but it was fondue with honey and walnuts and chili flakes. It was something a little bit different, you know, it was your usual suspects but upgraded a little bit.”
The menu will follow the seasons, or how will it work?
“We’re going to follow the seasons in certain trends, when like Maryland blue crabs come in, we’re going to throw them in a big bucket with mallets and hammers, and you can go out on the deck and have a Maryland crab boil.
We have access to cooking pits within the (RiverLights) development, down the boardwalk, that I can use to do lobster bakes, clam bakes, oyster roasts – right on top of the fire … It’s something that I have not seen here.”
Will you be working with any area breweries to offer local beer?
“We’re working with Wilmington Brewing Company. We carry one of their beers downtown, and then we’re going to carry one on draft and one in bottle at the new spot. We’re also working with Wicked Weed out of Asheville and Red Oak out of Greensboro.”
What’s on the horizon for smoke on the water?
“I see for weekends we might do a happy hour, live-music thing. My main concern right now is the menu and getting it where … you sit out there, and you have seafood on the table and by the fire pit and you’re looking at the river at sundown, you’re going to come back – I mean, it’s a place that you really want to come.
They’re building a marina right in front of us, so we’re going to have a few dock-and-dine slips. Depending on the different seafood seasons … we’ll be doing some bigger events outside with the fire pits … We’re also working with the water taxis downtown so that potentially, you should be able to park downtown and just grab the water taxi and come out so you don’t have to drive out River Road.”
To view more of photographer Erik Maasch's work, go to ejmphotography.org.
