Soul & Smoke Evanston Nears Early Summer Debut | Eater Chicago

"An Evanston flagship from the team behind Feast & Imbibe and a popular food truck, this century-old barn at 1601 Payne Street has been transformed into a community-focused barbecue restaurant that emphasizes Chicago-style smoked meats blending Texas, Memphis, and other regional influences. Founders Heather Bublick and D’Andre Carter combine fine-dining experience and pitmaster expertise—Carter smokes with hickory and cherry in twin A.N. Bewley flat smokers (about 800 lb capacity each)—to serve celebrated items like brisket, ribs, and rib tips (one critic called the brisket “the best I’ve tried outside of Texas”). The menu will also showcase creative specials—a Moto Cigar–inspired dish that uses smoked chicken wrapped in collard greens with sesame-seed “ashes,” a snap pea salad with smoked barley and smoked duck confit, and Mibrasa-charcoal–roasted lamb chops, fish, and a T-bone steak the team hopes will be the best on the North Shore. Beverage offerings, curated by a former sommelier, include playful canned wines, beers (including a collaboration with Sketchbook Brewing), draft cocktails, and nonalcoholic slushies for kids; sauces are sold online and at Mariano’s. Emphasizing local hiring, youth mentorship, high-quality sourcing, and honoring the building’s Black-owned-business and desegregation legacy, the restaurant will use a hybrid service model (counter service, QR codes, and wait staff) and planned to open in late June or early July." - Ashok Selvam