Mark your calendars: Smoke in Plano slated to open October 6

October 6 is the date owners Chris Zielke, Chris Jeffers and Tim Byres have inked on their calendar to unwrap their Smoke restaurant in Plano, the sibling to runaway hit Smoke in Oak Cliff.

“You wouldn’t believe the layers and layers of (stuff) we’re peeling back as we build out this place,” Zielke told me. “There’s even SmokeEaters hidden in the ceilings from back when Plano restaurants allowed smoking.” No surprise, really, given that the 7,500 square foot space formerly housed Tony Roma’s, Sfuzzi and, most recently, Snuffers.

The J&R wood-fueled smoker has been installed, the landscaping plan is finalized and Zielke things an early October opening date seems doable.

In addition to Smoke, Zielke, Jeffers and Byres created and own Bar Belmont, Chicken Scratch and The Foundry, all in the O.C.