Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
RIVALRY HEATS UP
Steph Curry’s wife Ayesha opens International Smoke near Dwyane Wade’s Aventura restaurant
An NBA-infused restaurant rivalry is heating up in Aventura.
Ayesha Curry — cookbook author, TV personality and wife of basketball superstar Steph Curry — has opened International Smoke at the Aventura Mall, a few half-court shots away from Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade’s 800 Degrees Wood Fired Kitchen .
The proximity is purely coincidental, Ayesha Curry says. Hours before Wade hit a dramatic buzzerbeater to defeat Steph Curry’s NBA champion Golden State Warriors Wednesday, Ayesha Curry and chef Michael Mina officially opened International Smoke to the public. It is the third outpost of the global grill restaurant, which has a location in Houston and started in San Francisco, Curry and Mina’s home base. As the first customers streamed through the door Wednesday afternoon, Curry said she’d be staying
at the restaurant and skipping a trip to American Airlines Arena to watch her husband. “We’ve got TVs so I can keep an eye on the
game,” Curry says.
International Smoke was born after Ayesha Curry, a serious foodie, developed a friendship with Mina, an acclaimed chef who brought Bourbon Steak to Aventura a decade ago. International Smoke features meats and vegetables smoked and grilled in a variety of styles. The menu features Korean short rib (rubbed with chili paste and studded with sesame seeds), Moroccan lamb chops (spiced with harissa) and meaty St. Louis-style pork ribs offered with tangy barbecue sauce (American) or marinated in pineapple juice with toasted garlic (Mexican al pastor style).
The menu also features grilled steaks, vegan dishes and Thai coconut and crab soup served with Ayesha’s cornbread, a warm muffin slathered with Thai red curry butter. “The cornbread is addictive,” Curry says.
Curry says she didn’t realize Wade’s restaurant was mere steps away, in a Publix shopping center
across from the Aventura Mall. Wade and teammate Udonis Haslem opened 800 Degrees, which features wood-cooked meats and pizzas, in September 2018. There is a culinary link between the restaurants, too. Anthony Carron, founding chef of the 800 Degrees chain, once worked for Mina.
International Smoke is located on the ground level of the Aventura Mall’s new food wing, near the slide tower. Mina says he and Curry chose the location because of the mall’s foot traffic and his familiarity with the area. Bourbon Steak, located at the nearby JW Marriott Turnberry Resort, has developed a loyal, local customer base who will be curious to try International Smoke, Mina says.
The new restaurant has 200 seats (including 80 on the patio) and features a bright decor, with modern wood bar, brick and pastel walls. The menu is upscale, with pricing to match. A rack of ribs costs $36 ($48 for combo racks), steaks cost $38-$58 and seafood platters cost $85. Most appetizers and vegetable dishes are in the $12-to-$20 range.
“The foundation of why chef Mina and I love food so much is family, and there’s nothing more family than a barbecue,” Ayesha Curry says.
International Smoke, 19565 Biscayne Blvd., (Unit 946 at Aventura Mall), Aventura Mall, 786-254-0422, InternationalSmoke.com, open daily at 11:30 a.m. for lunch (starting Monday), dinner daily 5 to 10 p.m. (until 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday), happy hour weeknights 4 to 7 p.m., weekend brunches.
mmayo@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4508. Follow my food adventures on Instagram: @mikemayoeats. Sign up for my weekly dining newsletter at SunSentinel. com/EatBeatMail. Join the conversation at Facebook. com/groups/LetsEatSouth Florida.