Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire: Indigo Smoke Returns to Maplewood

On Friday, Sept. 18, a few friends and I ventured to Indigo Smoke for dinner. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones with the idea. Even though they are not officially open—owner Lance Knowling said it was a soft opening—the place was packed. Not bad for their third night of service.

We arrived at 7 p.m. without reservations and were told they could not seat us until 9 p.m. Thankfully, the bar was a fun scene and the yummy cocktails, which were not as pricey as we expected, helped tide us over.

Knowling said he’s not sure when or even if they will have a grand opening. “The plan was to do a soft opening for a few weeks and then send out a press release,” he said. “However, we weren’t expecting business to take off like this so soon. I’m very excited.”

As was everyone else. The crowd, which ranged widely in terms of both age and race, brimmed with enthusiasm. Maplewood couple Dan Elie and Katie McCormick arrived for dinner with their 9-week-old daughter Annabelle. “We enjoyed having dinner at their Springfield Avenue location and we were excited to have them back. One big difference, though, was the portion size of the fried okra. It was a lot smaller,” said Dan.

Knowling, a chef who has previously worked at the Four Seasons, has lived in South Orange for 18 years with his wife and two dogs. “We were very excited when we opened up our restaurant on Springfield Avenue. We wanted to be part of the renaissance of the avenue. Unfortunately, despite the amount of money we put into the place, it could not survive,” he said.

He feels hopeful the new location will prove to be positive. “Look at everyone walking around,” he pointed outside. Knowling also shared how, on Tuesday night at 11 p.m, he finally tore down the brown paper that was covering all the windows. He later heard that at 11:15 p.m, someone had already posted online that the paper was down and the restaurant was sure to be opening soon. The next day, Knowling had customers waiting to be served lunch. “It was amazing.”

They weren’t the only ones waiting. My friends and I were starving after waiting  two hours to be seated. Once we were seated, our waitress immediately took our drink order but then we had to wait another 10 minutes to place our food order. We simply could not get her attention. Knowling, who had been walking around the restaurant all night talking with customers, realized we had not placed our order and the situation was cleared up.

We were glad to place our order and our food came quickly. I had the Indigo Blue cheese salad, which was delicious and the portion was generous. My friends shared an order of the honey barbecue wings. For our main course, I had the pulled beef brisket, which was smaller than I expected, while my friends had a kitchen Cobb salad and half rack of baby back ribs. We were all very happy with our meals. By that point, we were full, so we opted to skip dessert. A great reason to return.

Indigo Smoke will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. Brunch will also be served on Saturday and Sunday. Just make reservations!