Blue Smoke Is Not A Barbecue Restaurant Anymore

"These people are ready for real Southern food," says chef Jean-Paul Bourgeois.

Back in June, Bourgeois hinted at "some exciting new things" ahead for Blue Smoke, restaurateur Danny Meyer's pioneering New York City barbecue spot. "Creating barbecue that's uniquely Blue Smoke" is how he put it. At the time, Bourgeois was serving up smoky Louisiana-style andouille to attendees at the annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party.

It seemed like a pivotal moment, both for New York barbecue, in general, and for Blue Smoke, in particular. The event, which long ago sought to expose uncultured New Yorkers to the various regional styles of barbecue from places far outside the big city, was suddenly showcasing a significant amount of barbecue made within city limits, too – a sign that great Gotham's once-lagging barbecue scene had finally found its mojo.

Related: How Barbecue Became New York City's Most Addictive Smoking Habit

And, the restaurant often credited for sparking that barbecue boom, Blue Smoke, had just experienced its first major shakeup in leadership. Longtime Meyer associate Kenny Callaghan, the former fine-dining chef-turned-pitmaster, was out as executive chef after 12 years. And, another Meyer acolyte, Bourgeois, was in – charged with bringing a new vision to a somewhat dated concept. For its entire 12-year existence, Blue Smoke had offered up a sort of pan-American assortment of various barbecue styles. That generalist approach worked fine in 2002. But, not in 2014, when so many new spots are regional specialists. As Bourgeois described it, "We're really taking on, 'What does it mean to do barbecue in New York?' And, 'What does it mean to be a Southern restaurant in New York?'"

Late last week, after months of tinkering, Bourgeois quietly debuted his fully revised dinner and lunch menus. And, it's clear that he has bigger things in mind than just barbecue.

"Twelve years ago, we blazed the trail for barbecue here in New York, and now we want to blaze the trail for Southern food," says Bourgeois. "I see a huge opportunity with showcasing the best of the South to New Yorkers and beyond."

Redefining the restaurant's mission beyond pit-smoked meats means a greater emphasis on seafood and seasonal vegetables, with recipes culled from all across the South – "from the hills of Central Texas to the coast of the Carolinas and everything below the Mason-Dixon," Bourgeois says.

The timing of Blue Smoke's professed Southern conversion is curious, what with the region's continuing rise in the national culinary discussion. Newly appointed Esquire restaurant editor Josh Ozersky has referred to the South, especially the Deep South, as "the most vital area in American gastronomy." Bourgeois offers up his own pet-theory as to why: "There is such a rich and profound history of that food and that culture and the people that make it up," he says. "I think people gravitate toward that."