MAUMELLE — A little bit of persistence can go a long way.
It certainly has for David Thompson, owner of the Smoke Shack, who said it took a little bit of chatting up to get a chance to buy the place from founder Joe Finch back in 2002. It had been established for about two years as The Shack — a branch in the family tree of the famous downtown joint — and Thompson said he’d made overtures to buy more than once before he got yes for an answer.
“I just kept coming out talking to the fella, having lunch with him, till he sold it,” said Thompson.
It was a venture he’d always wanted as someone who made his career in the restaurant business, starting as a teenage dishwasher. A stint in management at Kentucky Fried Chicken followed by tenures at Morrison’s Cafeteria and then the offshoot Golden Host in University Mall, Thompson’s background was mostly in cafeteria and buffet style service, including owning the cafeteria at Blue Cross Blue Shield, before he stepped into the business.
“Barbecue is what I always wanted to do,” he said. “I’m one of those fellas who always messed with it at the house and wondered if I could make a living of it.”
He certainly had a good start for it. Though the name changed to The Smoke Shack when he purchased it, he got “Mr. Joe’s” recipes in the exchange, and also claims to have original recipes from The Shack thanks to “a little old lady” who worked with him at Blue Cross. She’d reportedly been involved in the original Shack since it’s founding — at least, that’s what she said.
“I’ve made a few changes, but I’ve basically kept it that way he [Finch] had it,” Thompson said.
That includes cooking everything from french fries to baked beans fresh in house on a daily basis and making sure the pit maintains operation on a 24-hour cycle. The heavy cuts — pork butt and beef brisket — go on around 3 p.m. and don’t come off until 18 or so hours later the following morning, when the lighter cuts like chicken and ribs go on to cook for three to four hours. After a cooldown, it starts all over again.
“Basically, we put on what we’re going to serve for the day and try not to run out,” Thompson said.
Temperature is regulated by automated gas burners that fire the wood, but aren’t meant to cook the meat themselves. The wood is always hickory and the smoke is always heavy, he added.
“I put as much wood in there as I can get,” he said. “We really load it up.”
That’s because the best sandwich, he said, is one where the smoky taste in the meat does the work, and the sauce — which comes in mild, spicy-sweet or hot at the Smoke Shack — is just there to enhance, even if it is delicious on its own.
“For me [in a sandwich], I don’t like a lot of seasoning on the meat, because the sauce has a lot of seasoning in it. With the meat, the smoke is the flavor.
“That doesn’t mean I’m right, that’s just my opinion.”