This article had so many beginnings.
A first attempt regaled the importance of a specific brand of semi-dive bar to the ethos of Richmond’s Fan neighborhood (think Bamboo Cafe or Sidewalk). A second explored the value, both price and quality, of a masterclass classic cocktail or ice-cold brew in the aforementioned drinking den. And a third and fourth iteration noted the value of community and company in a place where longevity on a bar stool or bench seat is celebrated with or without booze.
Each opening worked well, but only together did they form the package that is our underrated local entity known as the ‘Fan bar.’
Smoke and Barrel, located at 2329 W. Main Street and North Stafford Avenue, occupies the bottom floor of a corner building that has been many things over the years; most recently (recent is relative in the Fan) a small restaurant with big feelings, The White Dog. Then after the quirksome TWD came a Big Easy-themed bar with a huge ego, Lady N’awlins.
Smoke and Barrel is neither a combination nor a refresh of those former places. Instead, and smartly so, this months-old spot is powering toward a proven Fan bar recipe with foodstuffs leaning on handhelds and fried items, a bang-up Happy Hour and great drinks at solid prices, a bar studded with regulars and brisk but brilliant service.
It is frog hairs away from achieving this successful Fan bar methodology. It helps that owners, Kevin Sheffield (a multi-year winner of Richmond’s best bartender awards), Joe Hadad, and Jordan Noble, also both previous bartenders in Richmond, aren’t strangers to the local scene.
The more nuanced service model, so often present in the successful Fan bar, is immediately noticeable on entering. There’s a bustling hostess stationed at the entrance of this roughly 30-seat spot to tuck you out of the sun on a bright afternoon, or place you near the cooler, exposed-brick wall on a hot day. Also there’s a server/bartender who is both pleasant and maddeningly efficient, snagging myriad miscellany every hot second: ice, waters, additional napkins, hot sauce, a tequila shot, several beers for a regular, all while deftly explaining the menu from drinks to eats.
As for food, the smoked meats and treats are where the culinary talent shines. The usually ubiquitous bar chicken wing is the clear front-runner on a list of mostly familiar appetizers: nachos, a pretzel, truffle fries, empanadas, hummus, etc. Their wing rendition is drenched in Dijon mustard then smoked daily in Chef Andy Jones’ proprietary blend of cherry sawdust, apple and hickory wood chips. Of the four sauce choices on offer, a house BBQ, a Buffalo, a S&B dry rub, or a smoked honey mustard (all house-made), it’s the dry rub, a mysterious combo of sweet and savory, that makes the most sense with the wing’s delicate smoke flavor.
House-made empanadas are fried to a deep, deep mahogany and filled with a light-in-color pork sausage (chorizo from the menu description), toothy potato and small dots of cheddar. These crescent-shaped pockets get a little lift from a drizzled dill sour cream. Marie Hadad’s family recipe (yes, of Hadad’s Lake) is a hummus purist’s Roman Empire if that purist loves startlingly minimalist, loosely mashed chickpea and a well of olive oil.
A drippy, hefty eight ounce-r of ground sirloin comes slathered with a heady onion bacon jam, a melted slice of smoked gouda and massive dash of garlic aioli. While a little less refrigerator chill on the brioche bun would have amped up the whole kit and caboodle a notch, the accidental cheese fry moment made from the abundance of toppings is a boon.
A pull-no-punches, smoked pork sandwich with tender shreds is done in the same fashion as the wings but overnight, piled high and then smeared with a sweet crimson barbecue sauce. French fries are chunky, coated and best with a tiny ramekin of boozy beer cheese. The pork ribeye, just the meat, is the only real miss here; curiously tender, wet-seared and overly salty, but the accompanying collard greens are super, adding much needed acid to the blanket base of custardy, cheesy smoked tomato grits.
As for the libations, their cocktails require no notes, nor should they with such bar staff firepower. The house martini is a as good as it gets with a refreshingly detailed q&a (dry, wet, etc.) A smoked old fashioned forgoes gimmick and focuses on technique and balance. The beer list straddles the Fan bar fence on local beers like Vasen Brewing and The Veil Brewing, and fan favorites such as Tecate and Pabst. Happy hour shows out until 7 p.m. with both alcohol and food making appearances. And in what can only be categorized as smart fun, the bar offers what they call a ‘whisper,’ a half-shot of liquor. Your younger self could only wish for such a thing.
This article originally had many endings, too.
One version ended with reverence for the bar that embodies the essence of Richmond and the Fan area, said to be the largest Victorian neighborhood in the nation. Another discussed the history and transition of our beloved watering holes, with their incredible staying power.
But I settled on this: Smoke and Barrel is well designed to carry on this great Fan tradition for years, just like those bars whose backs it came up on.
And that would be the best ending.
Smoke and Barrel is located at 2329 W. Main St. It is open every day of the week, Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to midnight. You can reach them at 804-562-4603.
