Augie's Jazz Bar
| Smoke | |
|---|---|
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| Restaurant information | |
| Established | April 9, 1999 — Smoke 1976–1998 — Augie's |
| Current owner(s) | Paul Stache Frank Christopher |
| Head chef | Patricia Williams |
| Food type | American bistro cuisine |
| Street address | 2751 Broadway |
| City | New York City |
| Postal/ZIP code | 10025 |
| Coordinates | 40°48′04″N 73°58′05″W / 40.801143°N 73.968056°W |
| Seating capacity | 50+ |
| Reservations | 212 864 6662 |
| Website | www |
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.
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.
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