Faces and Food – Owen Brown and Smoky Sue’s Famous American BBQ
Being Australian, there’s always been a fascination with the art of barbecue and its various forms have evolved since Paul Hogan’s famous tourism ad featuring Australia’s famous prawn and barbie. As we’ve become more diverse, we’ve been blessed with Korean BBQ, Japanese BBQ and even Brazillian BBQ. Another on the rise that captures our minds and hearts is the all-famous American BBQ. Known for its long smoking process, American BBQ smells and tastes like no other when executed properly. Smoky and spicy sausages, outrageously juicy brisket and ridiculous ribs/short ribs. American BBQ is an art like no other. So, when I got the chance to talk to Owen, owner of Smoky Sue’s BBQ, I could not be more excited.
D: “So, tell me all about Smokey Sues!”
Owen: “BBQ has always been a hobby of mine. It’s been a burning passion of mine for the past 10 years. I probably got into the BBQ thing a bit before anyone else did.”
D: “Yeah, it’s an interesting dynamic right. In Australia, barbecue is more of a flash grill exercise where we put meat on and meat off as soon as it’s cooked. In America, it’s a whole different exercise. You’ve got burger patties going on one side and things smoking on the other. People are gathered around their barbecue for long periods of time.”
Owen: “Yeah exactly, BBQ is all about bringing people together right. When I was growing up, we didn’t have enough money for a proper barbecue and we had to cook over an open fire and we’d use a hot plate. I got addicted to cooking meat over an open flame. There’s something completely different about it. The smokey elements. It’s totally different. Cooking your meat over your fire, it’s just awesome.”
D: “Were you always in the food game?”
Owen: “Yeah, I’ve been in the good game for the best part of 25 years. As a franchisee and doing the corporate aspect of it. I was helping franchisers with cafe businesses and sales businesses. An opportunity came up with a supplier who had a passion for low and slow BBQ as well. We had a couple of drinks and we decided to get together and do something. We spent 2-3 years working on the Smokey Sues concept.“
“They were in the meat business that was all about Sous Vide cooking. Low and slow but in a different format. An issue in Australia is labour and consistency of products. So Sous Vide helps to alleviate a lot of that. We’ve used that technology in producing smoked meats. So instead of cooking for 14-15 hours on a smoker/BBQ, we can turn it around in 4-5 hours. That’s actually where our name comes from. Smoking ‘Suous Vide’ meat – Smoky Sues.”
D: “Oh my god. Haha, that makes a lot of sense now. I bet not many people know that.”
Owen: “Yeah, we opened our first store in Neutral Bay. It was always going to be short-term. It was a proper 50-seater restaurant and it was great for testing out our processes. I wanted to move somewhere busier so I bought out a business partner and eventually opened up our Maroubra location as well as this Penrith location. We are looking to expand in other areas too. But it’s about making sure we are consistent. People will travel for a good feed and that’s what we set out to do here. Good product and good service that everyone will enjoy. That is paramount to us.”
D: “Tell me more about the sous vide process. I’ve watched a lot of American BBQ videos and a lot of emphases is placed on these huge barbecue tankers. Wood chips are highly important as well in making that smokey flavour. How do you recreate that process with the Sous Vide process? Essentially, that’s a controlled cooking process in a water bath right? How do you recreate that magic of a fiery BBQ?”
Owen: “Sure. Great question. When we sous-vide our brisket without any flavouring. We just cook our brisket down and break it down to the stall period. The beauty about sous vide is that the meat sucks back up all the juices. When we need to smoke it, we put it into our smoking machine on-site in-store every day. We use hickory bark from the states and it provides our meat with a lovely subtle flavour. In Australia, they usually use Ironbark. The beauty of our process is that we can cook to service. Due to the lower turnaround time (we cook it in a third of the time), we have a constant supply for our service.”
D: “Talk to me about your timeline. In 2017, you started off in Neutral Bay. Then you said you took a little bit of a break? Did you have to fight through COVID?”
Owen: “Oh yeah, our lease finished in early 2020. And then COVID hit. We took a month off but we did open Maroubra in 2020. Part of me still wishes we had that Neutral Bay store. We built such a loyal following there but they travel to our Maroubra store still. We opened up our Penrith store in 2021 in the middle of the lockdown.”
D: “ How did you navigate through COVID?”
Owen: “It was tough. Luckily, BBQ is very well regarded for takeaway. People will order it individually or as massive platters. We managed to partner up with a lot of delivery services and managed to get our product out there. We managed to streamline things and it worked out okay for us. We managed to grow our following during that time so it’s been good ever since. Tough but good.”
D: “Excellent. What’s your favourite thing on the menu?”
Owen: “Oh mate, the Philly burger. It’s the smoked brisket burger. It’s over the top. It’s got onion, capsicum, liquid cheese and yeah. It’s just awesome.”
D: “Last question. What’s your opinion on the state of BBQ in Australia?”
Owen: “Oh yeah it’s growing. I dare say the scene hasn’t even started yet.”
D: “Oh yeah. I agree. I think it’s going to blow up even more.”
Owen: “Yeah. As Australians, we just love BBQ. Smoked meats are still a growing concept in Australia. I think it will just grow more and more. People don’t have the time to smoke meat for 14-15 hours. I think we are going to be able to fulfil that for people.”
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