Gastro-cue for me and you

Smoke Ring, a new downtown barbecue joint, occupies a lofty, highly styled and carefully rustic space designed to showcase a new side of barbecue.

This is a spot where you can pull up a stool to the long wrap-around bar for a domestic craft beer or a creative cocktail made with Whistlepig rye whiskey or any number of brown spirits. It’s not your homey brisket barn.

While you can get that paper-lined quarter sheet pan piled with some satisfying pulled pork and spare ribs, you also can fancy it up with pork belly sliders and brisket burritos.

This is the place where the oft-neglected barbecue sides become the most interesting part of the meal. Welcome to gastro-cue.