Salt's Smokehouse in Ealing promises a new twist to the American-style smoked barbecue
A stone's throw from Ealing council, a new restaurant in Ealing is offering a smoked culinary experience in a spacious 60-seater shop.
Salt's Smokehouse was born out of the common love for good quality food shared between three close friends in their thirties – Danyal Ali, Husain Haider and Mustafa Kanchwala.
The striking thing is that none of them are professional cooks nor have any experience as restaurateurs.
Ali works at an architecture firm, Kanchwala at a financial one and Haider is an IT consultant. However, the three partners combined their expertise in the venture to make it more than the sum of its parts.
"We found a gap in the market in West Ealing and that American style barbeque, specifically smokehouses are far and few. So, we decided to go down that avenue and open a smokehouse," Ali said.
From the outset, the idea was to provide a quality dining experience blending the traditional American style smoked barbecue with a south-Asian fusion.
Ali believes the latter "sort of differentiates [them] from other smokehouses."
The idea came up at a house party about three years ago.
"Ali is the steak expert. He used to make a lot of steaks in his backyard, whereas I was the burger guy," said Haider.
When he floated the idea, a rush of excitement took over, not only in them, but their families too.
"Ali's wife readily agreed and showed keen interest to do this. Initially, we thought of making steaks, but the economics didn't work out, so we had to drop that," he said.
Ali came up with the idea to do briskets. He credits YouTube recommendations for planting the seed and shared dozens of cooking videos with Haider over WhatsApp over the next three to four months.
Once the idea was set in stone, they brought in Kanchwala and the trio started hosting taster sessions inviting groups of up to 15-20 people who provided constructive feedback.
Kanchwala suggested to start small and gradually scale up. They bought a Pit Boss smoker and planned to set up a kitchen shed in Haider's backyard. However, they dropped the idea due to the legal requirements it would entail.
They then thought about starting a dark kitchen or a restaurant that sells only through delivery. Haider explained "the problem was that if the brisket is not served within 5 minutes, it dries up and loses its quality".
After lots of brainstorming sessions and being mindful of the substantial personal and financial commitment, the trio took the plunge to open a restaurant.
"Since the very first day, we've met very helpful and resourceful people within the industry who have always been willing to share their knowledge and expertise," said Ali.
They brokered their first deal in Uxbridge for a space one-quarter of the current premises.
Ali said that was a great learning curve getting to know the nitty-gritties of commercial leasing and property negotiations.
However, the landlord pulled out from the deal bringing the partners back to square one.
"The deal broke down in November and by January we had done a walkabout on every high street in Ealing looking for a space," said Haider.
Ali said they wanted a place that was easy to commute to from home but also within a population radius that could attract regular customers.
Eventually, they found the current location which he said they would not have considered had they come across it earlier.
"A property of this scale automatically generates a higher level of risk. So, initially we would not have been comfortable with taking that risk.
But I think after the Uxbridge option, getting feedback on the product and seeing what the gap in the market was, and appreciating what this area is, we thought we'll give it a go."
Ali said they put a lot of thought into the operations, from procuring ingredients and setting the menu to coming up with a name that complements the initials of each partner's children along with a nod to the quintessential seasoning, SALTS.
In terms of setting the menu, the logic was to keep things simple and not overwhelm the customer.
Ali said: "We sell the smoked meats by the weight, by 100 grams, so you can have brisket with lambs, with short ribs and do a mix and match. You don't have to buy a larger portion and get stuck with that."
Although the menu is straightforward, Ali says for now, customers take their time to place an order.
"Surprisingly, that takes a long time right now because there's a lot of explanation required, in terms of the type of menu options and the type of cuisine.
"Not everyone knows what a smokehouse is, nor what a short rib tastes like and what the Moroccan Chermoula sauce is. So, we provide samplings and explain these things."
With the menu explained and food ordered, the next big challenge is something every restaurant must contend with, food wastage.
"That is an important topic within our families and our community and something we take very seriously," Haider said.
He said to curb food wastage, the business had partnered with two types of organisations.
One that collects customer leftovers which goes into making biodegradable material and the second being charities who collect fresh unserved food and distribute it to the homeless.
Two weeks into the business, the partners have received promising reviews and are looking to capitalise on that goodwill.
"At the moment, our key focus is to cater to people who come into the store. Moving forward, the idea is to open to delivery services that are available.
"The reason that we are doing this is not to open a restaurant [only]. The aim is to focus on the products and establish our brand-smokehouse-before looking into expanding through the franchise model," said Ali.
Salt's Smokehouse is located at 79 New Broadway, Ealing and open from Wednesday through Sunday, 12pm to 10pm. To find out more, click here.
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