“Bōshi wasn’t a business plan,” says Ian Russell, the Culinary Institute of America-trained chef-turned-pit master behind Smoke & Donuts BBQ in Orlando’s Milk District neighborhood. “It was something I felt compelled to build.”
Now about to enter “Session 12,” Bōshi Bar, a music-driven experience created on a foundation of analog vinyl and, of course, food and drink, has been growing its Friday-night footprint inside the barbecue joint, featuring a curated menu of ramen and other Japanese snacks (along with Smoke & Donuts’ meaty full roster).
But as the aforementioned sentence suggests, it’s a music-first undertaking.
“My dad was a touring folk singer,” Russell explains. “He played the guitar, and we traveled all around the East Coast with him, wherever he had gigs.”
The elder Russell was a songwriter, too, but played a lot of covers — ’50s, ’60s, ’70s rock — and though he wasn’t famous, he opened for many famous acts.
It’s not surprising that his son imprinted on the family’s impressive record collection.
“I grew up with vinyl, which was the norm for me as a kid. It was the most exciting thing for me to clean the records with the little velvet brush,” he says, laughing, but admits that over the years, even after time spent with his own guitar, busking on the street and in the subways of New York, Russell, like so many of us, fell away from listening as he once did, as vinyl gave way to digital formats that changed our habits.
Smoke & Donuts BBQ began offering ramen back in December. Bōshi Bar offers two varieties: prime brisket and pork belly. The noodles are made in-house. (Courtesy Ian Russell)
“There’s no more serendipitous music discovery [on digital listening formats], there’s nothing tactile … and that’s to say nothing of the sound quality!”
There was something serendipitous with this recognition, however, because just as Russell began connecting with Orlando’s robust and growing vinyl, selector and DJ community (“live music doesn’t really work in the Smoke & Donuts space, but a DJ totally does!”), he was also experimenting with new dishes.
“I love ramen, but I had no idea how to make it,” he says. “It was a blind spot for me, and I was super curious.”
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So, Russell, using the high-quality protein extras Smoke & Donuts already employed for things like gravy, he learned to make broth, then reached out to his friends at Red Panda Noodle about ramen’s other key ingredient.
Rather than making recommendations, though, RPN’s Eliot Hillis volunteered to make them himself, eventually transferring his nood knowledge to Russell, as guests began to take notice of the restaurant’s newest simmering pots and show up in greater numbers, particularly on Friday nights.
Bōshi Bar’s menu includes funky cocktails, like this Tajin-dusted paloma, but a full bar means libation choices are wide open. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
Bringing in musical collaborators Zack Lawrence and Luis Muñoz, the trio began creating what is now Bōshi Bar, guiding decisions around not only sound, but space and tone, creating an intentional listening experience that brings the vibes, but doesn’t kill conversation, “an alternative model for nightlife,” Russell’s early press release calls it.
The bar, itself a wonderful aesthetic throwback to another time, suits the spins beautifully, though they’re varied and super enjoyable: hip hop and soul, funk and reggae, disco and Latin with ’70s AM Gold gems that Russell’s dad likely had in his own cover rotation.
Smoke & Donuts itself is a whole different vibe after dark. And with its soup and small plates, and otsumami, Bōshi Bar’s small menu gives it another shade of difference. If it takes off, says Russell, who knows?
“It was never meant to be only a special-event night at Smoke & Donuts. It’s its own thing!” he says. “My goal is to grow it as a pop-up until it’s bursting at the seams, then spin it off into its own standalone location.”
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
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Check it out 7-11 p.m. Fridays, and follow on Instagram (instagram.com/boshi_bar) to find out who’s spinning and what. Smoke & Donuts is located at 601 N. Primrose Ave. in Orlando’s Milk District. smokeanddonuts.com