Head chef Patricia Williams City New York City | Street address 2751 Broadway | |
Established April 9, 1999 (1999-04-09) — Smoke
1976–1998 — Augie's Current owner(s) Paul Stache
Frank Christopher Food type American bistro cuisine | ||
Smoke Jazz & Supper-Club Lounge is an influential jazz club based in New York City on the Upper West Side, a few blocks south of Columbia University. It was founded on April 9, 1999, by Paul Stache and Frank Christopher, who, as partners, conceived, designed, and spearheaded its interior renovation. The venue at 2751 Broadway, between 104th and 105th Streets, had been Augie's Jazz Bar, which opened in 1976 and closed in August 1998. The owners regard Smoke as the enduring legacy of Augie's and often measure its tenure in jazz history to the beginning of early days of Augie's. The club is linked to Smoke Sessions Records.
Contents
History
A former jazz club in the same location, Augie's Jazz Bar, closed under financial duress in 1998. Smoke's current owners Paul Stache and Frank J. Christopher were unable to open their new club under the same name. Screenwriter Paul Auster, who had been a frequent patron of Augie's, wrote the screenplay for the 1995 film, Smoke. Auster based the character Augie — performed by Harvey Keitel — on the real-life Augusto Cuartas (nicknamed "Gus"), the namesake and owner of Augie's Jazz Bar. Auster developed part of his screenplay from a story he wrote for the New York Times, Auggie Wren's Christmas Story, published Christmas Day, 1990. To enshrine the legacy of the real-life Augie, Stache and Christopher named their new club "Smoke."
Smoke's restaurant serves American bistro cuisine and, as of January 2009, Patricia Williams, a former ballet dancer, originally from Houston, has been the executive chef. Her culinary touches are critically acclaimed and widely featured by major media, including the New York Times, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News (Today), the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, Zagat, the New York Post, and Wine & Spirits.
"Smoke" is the business name for PaulFra Restaurant, Inc., a New York corporation. Stache and Christopher filed the articles of incorporation October 1, 1998, listing Stache as chief executive and Christopher as principal executive. Frank J. Christopher, 52, a playwright and actor, grew-up on Eastern Long Island where he had developed a love for jazz by listening to the jazz record collection of his grandfather who had played clarinet in an Army band. Christopher has lived near Augie's since 1984. He also is a drummer. Paul Stache, 44, a musician (guitar and keyboards), is a native of Germany. When he was growing up, his father took him to jazz clubs in West Berlin. Stache has been a resident on the Upper West Side since 1991. The two met while bartending at Augie's — Stache had been there for seven years, Christopher for one. Stache had also been a waiter and manager for Augie's.
The owner of Smalls Jazz Club, Mitchell Borden, had been a frequent patron of Augie's and founded his club desirous of a similar model, one that allowed musicians and ensembles to perform frequently so that they could develop.
Community: nearby jazz clubs and venues
From 1986 to 1997, the current Birdland — now located on West 44th Street — was located at 2745 Broadway, on the same block, same side of the street, 3 doors south of Augie's. Cleopatra's Needle is fourteen blocks south of Smoke, at 2485 Broadway. Jazz at Lincoln Center is at Broadway and 60th Street (1.9 miles). Juilliard is at Broadway and 66th Street. The Manhattan School of Music is 15 blocks north of Smoke. Miller Theatre at Columbia University is 11 blocks north, on Broadway. Symphony Space, a venue for film and the performing arts, hosts jazz events, regularly. Symphony Space is 9 blocks south of Smoke, on Broadway. Harlem is contiguously north and west of Morningside Heights. Harlem jazz clubs include the Lenox Lounge, Minton's Playhouse, St. Nick's Jazz Pub, the Apollo Theater, Showman's (375 W. 125th), Bill's Place (148 W. 133), Ginny's Supper Club at the Red Rooster, the Harlem Tavern, Jazz Mobile, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Londel's Restaurant, and the New Amsterdam Musical Association.
Audo & video samples
Smoke
Augie's