Two Sicamous restaurateurs are widening their culinary profile with their new restaurant, The Narrows Smokehouse.
The Smokehouse opened for business at 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 27. Located at 221 Main St., the new BBQ joint has been catching the eyes of passersby since its sign was unveiled, said co-owner Doug Peng.
Ian Baillie is the other Smokehouse co-owner; the pair have been in business together for two years. They started working together when they bought longtime Sicamous staple G&G Kitchen and Tap from previous owners, Dave and Shirley Gross. They’ve been running it ever since, and said their experience will help them as they operate their new restaurant.
Baillie and Peng’s Smokehouse focuses on the classics. Its ‘core four’ meats are pulled pork, Texas brisket, turkey breast and baby back ribs, all of which are smoked low and slow in a Southern Pride commercial smoker. Smoked Italian sausage is also available.
“I love smoking meats because there’s a different flavour to it, you can’t rush it,” said Baillie. “We’ve spent a lot of time on menu development. We’re doing all of the rich, fatty meats.”
Beside the restaurant’s smoker are piles of colour-coded bags of wood for smoking meat. There’s hickory, applewood, cherry and oak.
The Texas brisket that was served at The Narrows’ opening night was in the smoker for 14 hours — Baillie said he likes using hickory to smoke brisket. It ended up being a top seller — only the baby back ribs sold more.
Baillie said the Smokehouse sold out of cornbread over the course of its packed first evening, and began making more.
The Narrows Smokehouse has created four homemade sauces. There are classic sweet, mustard-based, pineapple-based and spicy barbeque sauces available at the restaurant.
“The meats have really strong flavours, that’s why we’re gonna just put the sauces right on the table, and people can use them or not use them,” said Baillie. “Every time someone comes, they could try different things and have a totally different flavour experience.”
While smoked meats are the restaurant’s focus, there are menu options for vegetarians too. There’s mac and cheese, Greek salad, watermelon salad and pesto parm roasted potatoes, among other offerings.
Baillie said building a restaurant during the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns has been challenging. But he and Peng love how their restaurant turned out, and hope the people of Sicamous and beyond will as well.
They plan to have the smokehouse open from Wednesday to Sunday year-round moving forward. In the fall and winter, it may just be open for dinner.
The Smokehouse has a patio that connects to an indoor dining area via a big, windowed garage door, as well as a bar. While the business is still waiting on the government for its liquor license, it has beer taps ready to go. It plans on having a wide selection of alcoholic beverages.
For restaurant hours and more, visit The Narrows Smokehouse Facebook page.
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