What's Geoff Smoking? A BBQ Pop Up at The Country Table in Greenwich

When Geoff Lazlo opened his gourmet sandwich shop-cafe-market, The Country Table, back in 2021, he recalls it being a “crazy stressful time.”

Some of Lazlo’s struggles were navigating pandemic restrictions, wearing masks over long periods of time in a hot kitchen, and not having adequate staff.

“I put all my money into this,” he says. “We had all these state mandates to navigate. My cooks were coming in hammered or stoned, some employees were stealing. We couldn’t hire anyone. I remember one day, the kitchen literally incinerated whole chickens, like $300 worth of good quality chickens. I was waking up at 4 a.m. to do my stretches, shower, have a coffee, just so I could get here at 6 a.m. so I could run the kitchen the right way. I was putting in 100 hours a week easy.”

Lazlo, stops, kinda stomps his foot like you would to wake it up from it falling asleep.

“That’s from all the hours,” he says. “I have a fractured vertebra. But, you know, the first year goes by and I said to myself, ‘I’m supposed to be having fun.’ Opening this place should have been my dream, but it was becoming my nightmare.”

“We’re not cutting corners on quality, on meat, or on techniques,” Lazlo says. “We’re doing it right. We just started making our own (jalapeño-cheddar) sausages.”

Something that Lazlo reflected back on wasn’t his storied culinary career at places like Gramercy Tavern, The Whelk, or Mill Street Bar & Table, it was smoking meats and listening to music.

“It was about what brings me back to what my groove was,” he says. “Twenty years ago, I had this little smoker. I’d invite my friends over, crank up the Grateful Dead, have a couple beers, and have a good time.”

With a couple of modest smokers, Lazlo started a once-a-week BBQ pop up. Just him, sunscreen and a hat on, slicing up slow smoked brisket, ribs, and the like while multitasking by grilling oysters, making shrimp tacos, or assembling butter drenched lobster rolls.

“I started doing it to fulfill something in me and the community response was great; it was the most successful thing we had ever done up to that point,” he says. “Maybe lobster rolls was stretching the BBQ theme too much, but it’s called What’s Geoff Smoking? because it could be anything you want it to be. I wanted it to be fun and not say it has to be a certain type of BBQ.”

What’s Geoff Smoking? had caught on and it started to bring in consistent locals and customers from Westchester and further north of Greenwich, so like anything that’s drumming up interest, growth is inevitable.

Cuber (left) and Lazlo pose outside their smoker when there was a lull in what was a steady flow of customers. Show up, and you’ll surely hear a regular say how terrific the BBQ is.

On Cuber, Lazlo says, “I basically told him, I’m gonna give you this (BBQ pop up). “I trust him and I knew I couldn’t dedicate 18 hours or more, once a week, into doing this even if I wanted to. I have to be the owner, GM, chef, and run the catering.”

One day, in walks Ryan Cuber, a local pitmaster and someone who’s been covered on CTbites before from his stints at Mason Street BBQ, his food truck, Savory Smoke Barbecue, and before that, Mason Dixon Smokehouse in Stamford.

“His resume says pitmaster and I’m like, ‘What the fuck are you doing here?’” Lazlo says. “He tells me his story and I figured we need to do this thing together. He’s a legit Texas BBQ guy. With him, we can elevate this little side project we have going on here and do it at a level we didn’t have before. As a chef, I love smoking meat and I understand the concept of it, but I can’t do it to the level that he does it. I’m trained to make food taste really good, no matter how I get there. He has a totally different process. I didn’t know guys like Ryan existed and were just out there. Us meeting was really important.”

Pork bites are practically candied, with a tangy, sweet, mustardy glaze.

Pulled pork sandwich, piled super high.

In an interview five years ago, Cuber told us that his brisket is smoked for upwards of 16 hours, using either white or red oak and a slow, clean burn. “Dirty smoke (that burns black) results in a bitter taste,” Cuber says. “You don’t want it to taste just like wood.”

Every Saturday (at least that’s the goal, to be weekly) from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. (or until sell out), you can swing by the parking lot and get smoked meat by the half-pound or you can get it on a sandwich, plus, there are fried potatoes (tots, fries, and sweet potato fries), and all the appropriate BBQ sides like mac & cheese, coleslaw, and maple butter cornbread.

Cuber’s brisket figures to be a constant, and so does his smoked turkey, pulled pork, and sticky sweet with a touch of heat in his St. Louis ribs that all come off a Lang Smoker that The Country Table acquired from Cuber’s former residence at Mason Dixon Smokehouse so they can churn out more BBQ.

What Cuber is expecting to bring to What’s Geoff Smoking? is consistency, not only with the BBQ, but by hopefully not skipping a Saturday and by offering it year-round. Cuber also teased, “Well, family and BBQ go hand-in-hand, and my wife is Peruvian, so we might throw in some Peruvian influence soon.”

As for Lazlo, a self-professed dreamer, he hinted at wanting to bring in live music, something he did at this pop up early on.

“I want to have a rock band, get some kegs, and have 200 people in our backyard,” he says. “Ryan’s the first guy I trusted to take this and run with it. I think it’s an awesome concept mixed with Ryan’s skills.”

1 Glenville Street, Greenwich
203.701.4340, country-table.com