Aug. 4, 2022

Take two graphic designers, add a passion for smoking meats and combine with an Instagram account.

The surprising result? A food truck specializing in smoked meat sandwiches that makes its public debut Friday night at Bin 201 and also appears Saturday for lunch at Billion Auto at 41st Street and Minnesota Avenue.

The Smoked Culture is the creation of Ryan Gaede and his wife, Jess Jones.

“I bought a smoker four years ago, and we’ve just been playing around and taking pictures of food and putting those on Instagram,” Gaede said.

They’d make sandwiches and other creations and take them to his mom, Cheryl Turbak, for her feedback.

“She has been vital in getting us to where we’re at,” he said, noting that she has been their biggest supporter and cheerleader.

A year ago, they created the name The Smoked Culture and started an account just for those images.

“Next thing you know, someone contacted us and said: ‘That food looks amazing. Why don’t you do something with this?’”

They took that encouragement to heart, connected with Buffalo Ridge Brewing in Hartford and provided food for a couple of events there.

“Once we tried it, we were hooked,” Gaede said of watching customers enjoy their food. The couple decided they were ready for the next step, so they bought a trailer and decided to open a business.

The names of menu items are linked to the skateboard community, which is where Gaede discovered the joy that comes from making and sharing food with others. Growing up, he and his friends would skateboard and then grab a few steaks and grill out.

The Big Spin Brisket has chopped smoked brisket with queso and caramelized peppers and onions. The Poser has pork belly, barbecue sauce, onion and pickle. The Trilogy is brisket, pulled pork and sausage with queso and onions.

Pork Belly Popsicles are a hunk of meat on a stick. They’re smoked low overnight and then “hit again with barbecue sauce,” Gaede said. “In the end, it pretty much melts in your mouth when you eat it.”

No Comply Nachos are loaded with pulled pork, beans, queso, onion and jalapeno. Fakie Nachos are vegetarian with queso, peppers and onions.

For homemade sides, The Smoked Culture will offer cheesy Hardflip Hasbrowns and Ceci’s Baked Beans, both of which are smoked. The beans are a twist on his grandmother’s recipe.

“Everything we do has some kind of smoke,” he said.

To start, they envision selling food at Wednesday and Friday night events and for lunch and dinner on Saturdays, with a few Sunday events in late summer and early fall. The Smoked Culture also is available for catering.

They’re booked for the 605 Made Night Market on Aug. 27, and next season, they’ll look for more opportunities to be at festivals in the Sioux Falls area.

They’ve set up a website, and they’ll post updates on Facebook and Instagram @thesmokedculture.

Customers might be drawn in by the images of the food, but what they’re served will look the same.

“We’ve really built our brand off the way our food looks,” Gaede said.  “The food is going to look like that. It’s not going to be a hockey puck when you come and order.”

“You eat first with your eyes and nose before you taste the food. … It tastes as good as it looks.”

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