Cinda’s Cellar Valley Smoke: Low and Slow Wood-Smoked Barbeque
If you’ve driven the stretch of Roscoe Boulevard alongside the Intracoastal Waterway in Ponte Vedra Beach, you’ve probably noticed a contemporary farmhouse-style restaurant surrounded by the lingering aroma of barbeque. That would be Valley Smoke, one of the restaurant concepts from Southern Table Hospitality, operated by owners Ben and Liza Groshell—the same folks that created Marker 32, four Fish Camps, Billy Jack’s, AB Kitchen, and Dockside Seafood Restaurant. While many of these destinations feature seafood, the emphasis at Valley Smoke is wood-smoked barbeque.
It all starts in the continuously operating smokehouse adjacent to the restaurant that is fueled entirely with locally sourced oak. The carefully selected cuts of meat, including pork ribs, short ribs, brisket, pulled pork, hot links, and chicken, are all smoked low (temperature) and slow (time). In fact, most of the smoking starts the night before, ensuring barbeque that’s always hot and fresh from the grill. What sets Valley Smoke apart, however, is the way in which the culinary team imparts Southern and smokehouse influences across the menu.
Valley Smoke has experienced significant growth since its 2017 opening, driven by exceptional community support and consistent quality. The restaurant’s event spaces are utilized seven days a week, and growth has been largely organic. The culinary team, consisting of founder and owner Ben Groshell, the culinary mind behind it all; Troy White, executive chef; and Mike Riska, director of culinary operations, emphasizes fresh, locally sourced ingredients. Notable dishes include smoked salmon cakes and barbeque chicken wings. The restaurant also offers homemade sauces and fresh-milled cornbread, highlighting their commitment to quality and hospitality.
We start our adventure by pairing Chalone Chardonnay with smoked salmon cakes served with homemade tzatziki sauce and a tomato, cucumber, and caper salad. Whole salmon are smoked every morning to ensure the quality of the fish. The Chalone Chardonnay is a perfect pairing for the dish with enough acid to cut through the tzatziki sauce. The oak from the wine highlights the smoky flavor imparted to the salmon cakes from the locally sourced oak.
Next up are Valley Smoke’s famous chicken wings, smoked with a proprietary barbeque dry rub and then deep-fried for a crispy texture. The wings are accompanied with homemade blue cheese dressing with blue cheese crumbles sprinkled on top. The wings pair well with a Chalone Estate Pinot Noir which reveals aromas of cherry, strawberry, leather, truffle, forest floor, plum, and cinnamon.
We’d be remiss not to mention the cornbread made with cornmeal from Marsh Hen Mill in South Carolina. The cornbread is served in a small iron skillet which imparts a lovely crispy texture around the edges, and it’s topped with freshly whipped honey butter and a little drizzle of honey,
At Valley Smoke they make their own variety of barbeque sauces, six in total, including mustard sauce, Piedmont vinegar-based sauce, and Alabama white sauce with a touch of horseradish. All their sauces are available for purchase to take home.
What’s next for Southern Table Hospitality and the dynamic Groshell duo? A Carolina hunting lodge concept restaurant, to be called The Lodge, that will be located near Trout Creek, past the Shands Bridge. Their newest restaurant will blend elements from various Southern Table Hospitality establishments, including Valley Smoke, the four Fish Camps, and Billy Jack’s, and will feature a variety of seafood selections, country-style specials, and a barbeque area. The Lodge will be a hybrid of all the other restaurants encompassing the Southern Table Hospitality portfolio
It would be shortsighted to classify Valley Smoke as just another Northeast Florida barbeque joint. Valley Smoke is classy, approachable, fun, decadent, relaxing, and thoroughly enjoyable. So, the next time you’re craving some slow-smoked barbeque, are in the mood for great wine or whiskey, craving a truly approachable meal, or simply feel like whiling away the hours along the banks of the Intracoastal, just head on over to Valley Smoke.
If you are looking for an event space, Valley Smoke’s Porch Room holds 20 to 30 people, and their Hearth Room can seat up to 50. They can also seat up to 120 in an outdoor enclosed tent. The Palm Valley Fish Camp (about 2 miles up the road) also has an outdoor enclosed tent that can seat 40 to 50.
11 S. Roscoe Boulevard, Ponte Vedra Beach, (904) 285-3235, www.valleysmoke.com
