The Nook serves up barbecue and fancy fare: Ribs, wings, pulled pork, prime rib, salmon

TUSCARAWAS TWP. — Jeff Mizarek, Bruce Budd and Mike Blood represent a culinary trio at The Nook restaurant, an offshoot of the Up in Smoke food trailer and catering business.

Mizarek is the former owner of a meat market and has smoked meats for years. Blood is a chef who finished culinary school. Budd, Mizarek's stepson, has a background in marketing and artistic design.

So far, the combination has worked.

Business has been steady since The Nook Smokehouse & Grille opened in June. Some days it's been bustling.

"I think the background of Up in Smoke (Barbecue and Catering) and the reputation I have out there really helps with the restaurant," Mizarek said of The Nook at 12356 Millersburg Road SW, which is near U.S. Route 30 at exit 181.

Food ranges from wings, ribs and pulled pork sandwiches to smoked prime rib, strip steaks, boneless ribeye and smoked salmon — what Budd, director of operations of both Up in Smoke and The Nook, calls "rustic and refined" and a "steakhouse and a smokehouse."

Staffing woes, which continue to plague area restaurants, have forced The Nook to open only from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday, while closing the rest of the week, Mizarek said.

However, The Nook plans to start serving Sunday brunch early next year.

"We're actually living our dream," Mizarek said of the trio. "And I think with all of this coming together, we will have a unique and fantastic restaurant. My goal is to have a five-star restaurant — that is my dream."

Rustic and polished

On a recent Friday night, I tried The Nook with my wife, daughter and the exchange student we are hosting.

Alternately rustic and polished, the restaurant feels warm and inviting inside; a bar area with seating connects to a large dining room that leads to a sprawling outdoor area that is used weather permitting for additional seating while being rented for events and parties.

Budd, who graduated from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in fine art, also decorates the dining room with his drawings.

Sometimes he sketches while customers are eating; he also plans to post paintings and install a relief sculpture to add "character" and "personality" to the restaurant.

Whopper of a pulled pork sammie

The menu included a smokehouse-themed section and a more upscale, dinner-focused page.

For $9, Camille, the exchange student, ordered the pulled pork sandwich, which included three side dishes; she chose macaroni and cheese, baked beans and fries.

A mound of pork was stuffed within the bun; barbecue sauce, available in sweet, spicy and original, was served on the side.

Camille enjoyed the pulled pork, eating the entire whopper of a sandwich.

While the macaroni and cheese and fries drew praise from Camille and my teen daughter, Paige, The Nook potentially could step up the baked beans by infusing barbecue sauce and bits of pulled pork or brisket for a mini-feast.

I love brisket, so I ordered the dinner ($19), and was not disappointed (a brisket sandwich and fries is $15). Tender with crusty edges, the meat was deeply flavorful and the serving size was generous. Dipping the brisket in barbecue sauce enhanced the taste.

Teamwork in the kitchen

Budd and Blood revere Mizarek as the barbecue and smoked meat sage.

Mizarek, 61, began smoking meats at age 10, and his father, George, founded Canal Fulton Provision in 1969. The son operated it for years before selling the business.

"I do take a lot of pride in what I do," said Mizarek, who owns Up and Smoke and The Nook with his wife, Wendy Mizarek. "It was the way I was taught with my father."

Mizarek laughed and kindly declined to share his smokehouse secrets before explaining that he uses "a lot of cherry wood and hickory wood ... and a lot of apple and sassafras — it depends on what I smoke, and I do make all our own sausages here ... and steaks are all cut here and hamburgers are ground here daily."

"Jeff ... has his own recipes that he won't even tell me, but on the kitchen side, that's all me," said the 51-year-old Blood, who is The Nook's chef and a Las Vegas culinary arts school graduate. "It just works together because we both work together. We have the smoked salmon. We worked on it for a couple of weeks before we finally got it out the way we wanted — it's just working as a team."

Budd, meanwhile, developed the award-winning barbecue sauces, which are bottled and sold online, along with spice rubs, at www.uisbbq.com/sauce.

Salmon and prime rib

Traci and Paige both ordered smoked entrees — the prime rib ($29.99) and lemon pepper salmon ($19.99), respectively. Seared salmon is also on the menu. Both entrees included side dishes.

I sampled the prime rib (available on a limited basis) and was immediately impressed with the unique smoked flavor; the cut of meat also was first-rate.

Paige looked up from her plate and said, "This is really good ... this is really good." I agreed based on the tiny sample she was willing to spare. Garlic cream sauce topped the fish, which was easy to cut with a fork.

Offerings also include a large charcuterie, as well as ribs — $13 for a half slab and $24 for a full slab (without side dishes). Tater tots topped with smoked cheddar cheese and pulled pork cost $10. Italian or sweet sausage sandwiches are $7 each with fries. Pulled pork or brisket salads are $12. Smoked wings are $10 a half dozen and $15 a dozen and come in numerous flavors, including spicy barbecue, Jamaican jerk, sweet red chili and mango habanero.  

Apple cinnamon cheesecake

Although the four of us were happily full, the homemade cheesecake ($7 a slice) was too tempting to forgo.

The pumpkin was good, but everyone in our party thought the apple cinnamon was even better; each bite was bursting with pieces of fresh apple and the cheesecake was thick and smooth in texture.

Other cheesecake flavors included mango jalapeno.

More details about The Nook can be found at www.facebook.com/RealUISBBQ.

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com

On Twitter @ebalintREP