Byline: Donna Ditota Staff writer
Keith Bulluck was intrigued by the concept.
The former Syracuse University linebacker, now employed by the Tennessee Titans, listened as his friend Michael Satsky discussed his vision for a Manhattan restaurant. It would be modeled on the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, where Satsky ate at least three times a week while attending classes at SU. It would be located somewhere downtown, somewhere hip.
Earlier this year, Satsky found the perfect location at 6th Street and 2nd Avenue. And Bulluck, his 5-11 season with the Titans providing the perfect inspiration for focusing on other business ventures, signed on.
The result of their collaboration is Smoked - a barbecue joint in the East Village that Bulluck co-owns.
'I'd been in the club industry for eight years,' Satsky said, 'and Keith always said when I'm ready to be funded, he'd go with me.'
The restaurant has been open about eight months. Sports Illustrated recently gave it a plug, which Satsky said helped raise the restaurant's profile.
Bulluck, in an e-mail interview, said he was 'somewhat involved' in the planning stages of Smoked.
'I was more behind the scenes,' Bulluck said. 'I was involved more by sitting in on interviews and a lot of meetings. I gave input where I saw areas that needed my input.'
The decor, with its inverted license plates, its cozy circular booths and its blond wood, chrome and leather, suggests upscale more than honky-tonk. The place is all windows, which allows diners to watch the world pass by.
And the menu features all the comfort food fixins: ribs and chicken, macaroni and cheese, collard greens. On a recent visit, there was even sweet potato ravioli immersed in herb butter and smoked duck.
Smoked also prides itself on its bourbon, 40 varieties of which line a back bar wall. But the crowd, on a recent Saturday night, seemed more interested in downing pints of beer - served, for the most part, by SU graduates wearing baseball caps and T-shirts.
Bulluck said he tries to visit the restaurant whenever he's in town, though the long football season prohibits him from stopping frequently. Satsky hired several SU graduates to help out, and Bulluck seems grateful for that.
'One of my business partners is a Syracuse graduate and one of my assistant managers is a Syracuse graduate as well,' Bulluck said. 'For me, it was important to have someone in there that would watch my back and that knew me and would make good decisions.'
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Dennis Nett /Staff photographer
MICHAEL SATSKY (left) is the co-owner of Smoked, a barbecue restaurant in New York, along with former SU football great Keith Bulluck. To the right is Ken Collinn, chef.
Dennis Nett/Staff photographer
SMOKED,a barbecue restaurant co-owned by former SU football player Keith Bulluck and Michael Satsky, is located on 2nd Ave. and 6th Street in New York.
