Jerky has successfully made the transition from humble gas station snack to smoking superstar.
Umi Nom
Brooklyn, NY
This Southeast Asian tapas-style eatery pays tribute to the chef’s mixed heritage—Thai and Filipino—with ma-banh beef tapas, or Asian beef jerky, marinated in soy sauce, lemongrass, kalamansi and garlic. The thinly sliced strips are dried in the oven, deep-fried to order and topped with smoked chili sauce.
Hub 51
Chicago, IL
The menu features “Jerky.Jerky”—cleverly described as a truck stop charcuterie platter. There’s thinly sliced beef jerky and house-made turkey and bacon jerkies.
Strip House
Houston, TX
Executive chef John Schenk’s jerky is made from prime steak trimmings and marinated in ingredients such as oyster sauce and curry powder. The jerky is then finished off by deep-frying in goose fat; it’s served with buttermilk fried onions.
Bunny Chow
New York, NY
In step with the contemporary South African cuisine served here is a beef jerky known as biltongs. The appetizer of shaved dried beef is flavored with raisin juice, brown sugar, coriander and cumin and heated up with African peri-peri pepper. The sweetness is punctuated by an accompaniment of dried fruits and champagne grapes.
The Vanderbilt
Brooklyn, NY
Classic cocktails at this restaurant’s bar can be paired with a Vietnamese-spiced house-made jerky.
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