Blue Smoke Brunch: Southern Classics on Top of Barbecue

Blue Smoke Brunch: Southern Classics on Top of Barbecue

Much of the menu was inspired by chef Jean-Paul Bourgeois’s Louisiana childhood

  

“Barbecue will never be off the menu” at Blue Smoke, says head chef Jean-Paul Bourgeois, but it’s time for a transition.

Since he was brought in last year, the restaurant has been expanding into Southern classics, many inspired by his own childhood in Louisiana. Brunch launched at the Battery Park City restaurant in February and at its Flatiron location in March.

As a starter, customers love the cornbread madeleines ($7), a delicacy Mr. Bourgeois first tried decades ago when his visited Frank Stitt’s Highlands Bar & Grill in Birmingham, Ala.

“Frank Stitt’s is considered the grandfather of Southern food, and I remember being 17 years old and eating his cornbread madeleine,” he says. “That was the first madeleine I’d ever had, and I wanted to recreate it here.”

Mr. Bourgeois’s version is made with Anson Mills cornmeal and then served with Steen’s Cane Syrup straight from Abbeville, La.

Another dish inspired by Mr. Bourgeois’s childhood memories is the Delta scramble ($17), a soft egg scramble—“pretty porridge-y, with lots of butter”— with crawfish, homemade andouille sausage and benne-seed crackers. The brisket burnt end sandwich ($16) with grilled onions and scrambled eggs on brioche is a hit, and comes with a lightly dressed salad.

Those with a sweet tooth will enjoy the brunch pastries, which have been so popular that Blue Smoke is starting a “beignet happy hour” deal: a cup of Caffe Vita coffee and its powdered sugar beignets (currently $7).

—Angela Chen

Sorry but no recipes are offered.

But here are three pics with captions.

Delta scramble with crawfish, andouille sausage and benne-seed crackers. Photo: Andrew Lamberson for The Wall Street Journal

Coffee and beignets. Photo: Andrew Lamberson for The Wall Street Journal

Cornbread madeleines. Photo: Andrew Lamberson for The Wall Street Journal