Robert Cho Smokes It at New Jersey's Kimchi Smoke Barbecue

CHO NATION
 

It’s a quiet afternoon moment, yet Robert Austin Cho bustles from the kitchen to the front of the house. The smoke from the in-house smoker wafts throughout the restaurant.

Cho’s fame may have come from his creation of the Chonut— a barbecue sandwich on a doughnut that his customers deemed “life-changing.” But it’s Texas barbecue and tenacity that are truly behind his success.

The walls of Kimchi Smoke, Cho’s restaurant in Westwood, reflect his passions. There’s a photo collage of notable fans and past customers, award plaques, a Texas star and several football jerseys. Cho is a Dallas Cowboys fan. On the opposite wall is a United States map and, in big letters, this: “KIMCHI SMOKE NATION.”

Cho is devoted to Texas-style barbecue.

Before his dream of becoming a pitmaster took hold, Cho’s story was another American dream. He immigrated to the United States from Korea as a young child, and his parents and siblings settled in New Jersey.

Cho earned a business management degree from Rutgers University and had a long career in real estate. He was inspired to cook by watching Chef Bobby Flay smoke ribs. He began his career as a culinary entrepreneur in a modest way—with a small barbecue grill, taking his dishes to church picnics. He learned much from experimenting in his own backyard. The recipe that led him into the business? “Definitely brisket. I spent five years working on it, always trying to make it better.”

Cho’s passion grew, and he began to win awards at local festivals and cook-offs. He named his brand “Kimchi Smoke Fatboy BBQ,” a name he describes now as “two hopeful names in one.” (He eventually shortened the name.)

In January 2016, Cho opened his first restaurant in Bergenfield. The space was small, not big enough for even a dozen customers. In the restaurant, customers leafed through cookbooks written by Cho’s inspirations, including Edward Lee (chef/owner of several restaurants in Kentucky and author of Smoke & Pickles and the recently released Buttermilk Graffiti) and Aaron Franklin (James Beard award–winning chef from Texas, co-author of Franklin Barbecue and Franklin Steak). Business grew, and Cho relocated to a larger space in Westwood.

“We are definitely a little farther up north, but we definitely get customers who travel from everywhere. I find it great interacting with customers who are stopping in after a trip to Bear Mountain, or people driving up from Central or South Jersey. Seeing people taking joy in the food and traveling far to have it, I just hope to meet their expectations.”

Cho appears frequently at pop-ups all around New Jersey and New York City, and served at the Blue Moon Burger Bash for Food Network and Cooking Channel’s New York City Food & Wine Festival.

He has also appeared on Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay, going up against his personal barbecuing muse. For that competition, Cho created a Monte Cristo-esque sandwich of fried chicken and Taylor ham with kimchi, cheese, egg and barbecue sauce.

Cho doesn’t have a marketing team, so he relies on experimentation and his own creativity. His dishes have whimsical names—Not Cho Mama Nachos, ChoLander Fries, Bad as Texas Brisket and the Chonut 2.1, a brisket sandwich piled high on a glazed doughnut with smoked kimchi, bacon, scallions and his signature sauce. That sauce, spiked with bourbon and chipotles, is called Fatboy BCS.

Cho continues to win awards, including a “Best BBQ” award at the Beer BBQ Bacon Showdown in 2018 and second place and people’s choice awards at Brisket King NYC in 2019. His restaurant is included in Food & Wine’s “Best Barbecue in Every State.”

Cho defines his food as American. He just happens to serve it with kimchi, as he and many other Korean Americans did growing up.

Occasionally, a customer will complain that his Korean food isn’t spicy enough or that his American brisket shouldn’t taste the way it does.

“We are not fusion,” Cho says. “My recipes are rather simple, and, for the most part, I’m doing Southern-style barbecue—Texas for the beef and Memphis and Kansas City inspiration for the pork. Then, I do what most Koreans and Korean Americans do: We eat it with kimchi. There are barbecue restaurants everywhere using Asian-inspired flavors and ingredients. I don’t see their food being called fusion, and it’s a reverse effect for sure. Fusion is unfortunately not as inclusive as it appears.

“You can’t please everyone. I used to get more upset [about] people who I felt just tried to put me and my food into one category. I’m just doing my thing. I definitely want to see how far I can go. In the end, I get to decide what I want to be here. I get to be me.”

KIMCHI SMOKE BARBECUE
301 Center Ave.
Westwood
201.497.6333
kimchismoke.com

Kimchi Smoke KTX, a sister restaurant, will open in mid-July at H Mart in Paramus. “I’m thrilled to be partnering with H Mart as the popularity of Korean food, culture and Korean BBQ continues to grow,” says Cho.

KIMCHI SMOKE KTX
H Mart 60 State Route 17 North,
Paramus