Harry and Michelle Coleman are the owners of Smoke and Dough in West Kendall. Opening in 2022, the place has transformed from a small mom and pop shop to a restaurant receiving customers from around the world.
“We’ve had people come from Spain, France, Thailand, Dubai and that was an amazing experience,” said Michelle. “We got people coming to this hidden gem in West Kendall when the popular spots are usually in South Beach,.”
Their link to global fame comes from a New York Times article that listed the place among the Top 50 Best Restaurants in the United States for 2023.
Though that recognition from one of the world’s most respected publications brought the couple’s Miami-style barbecue into the spotlight, their story began long before any headlines. It was built with creativity, determination and partnership.
The vision was to create Miami-style barbecue by incorporating Latin flavors like ribs brushed with cafecito barbecue sauce or pork belly burnt ends served with maduros.
At the start, Michelle recalls, they decided to commit themselves completely.
“Let’s learn this and do it 100%, let’s go full throttle,” Michelle recalls saying early in their collaboration.
Harry and Michelle met at Florida International University in 2005 while working at The Beacon, now PantherNOW. Harry was the sports editor, and Michelle, an art minor, worked as a page designer and entertainment editor. Their collaboration for one of the newspapers turned them into close friends, then a relationship, and eventually a 20-year marriage.
After graduating, they faced a rough challenge in not being able to find anything on the job market. The 2008 slump hit hard as journalism was shifting rapidly online. With fewer newsroom opportunities and a desire to stay in Miami, they turned towards something more personal — Harry’s family bakery business.
Robert Jaross, student media director at FIU, noticed their potential with leadership and management. “I knew they would both be successful even if it wasn’t in journalism,” said Jaross.
In April 2017 the couple opened their own bakery, Empanada Harry’s near the site of present-day Smoke & Dough.
They learned not only to cook, but how to manage a business together. Michelle used her art background to design menus, flyers, and murals, while Harry utilized recipes passed down from his father like special doughs and tequeños dating back to the 1980s.
“Everything that we do is very personal,” says Michelle. “Even down to just the decor and the photos.”
Harry later adds that, “And even our journalism degrees, we design our own menus, we design our own flyers. Anything we do, we design ourselves.”
In late 2019, the Colemans decided to expand. They signed a lease for what would become Smoke & Dough just three months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Lockdowns devastated the city, and the dream nearly collapsed before it ever began.
Instead of giving up, the couple turned this crisis into an opportunity. They began selling barbecue from their bakery every Sunday. That lasted from March to October 2020. It became their lifeline.
The risks were huge. They had mortgaged their home to fund the business.
“So if Empanada Harry’s failed, we lost the house,” ” Harry said. “It was very stressful. Every day we thought, this might be the last day and that’s what pushed us to work harder.”
That drive paid off. Smoke and Dough got its proper opening in January 2022. Their customers who had already been long-time supporters kept showing up, and the word about Miami-style barbecue expanded their business.
Within months, their mix of Latin flavors and American smokehouse traditions captured global attention. By 2023, not only had the “New York Times” honored them, but “Texas Monthly” critic Daniel “BBQ Snob” Vaughn identified them as pioneers redefining modern barbecue culture.
“This was a very big deal for them even though they have won awards and recognition from local events and news,” said Jaross, as he recounts the time the couple personally told him about the New York Times article when he visited the restaurant.
Even with this new found popularity they didn’t want to stray away from being the authentic mom and pop restaurant they wanted to be.
“We don’t pay influencers,” Harry said. “We’re journalists at heart, we believe in true reviews. Everything you see we’ve been on has been organic.”
Running a restaurant as a married couple isn’t easy, but the Colemans credit respect and a shared vision for their success. “Not only do you have to respect that you are a couple outside of the business, but that inside the business you’re business partners,” Michelle said. “There’s things that are going to overlap with the restaurant and the bakery because it’s our life, but we do have things that we do as a family.”
Their two children, now 14 and 11, often spend time at the restaurant, just as they did during the pandemic when Zoom classes took place between ovens and smoke pits. West Kendall is their home and they wanted the restaurant to create bonding with their family not distance.
“We’ve been together for 20 years,” Harry said. “I get to see her every day, and even when I’m here and she’s not, I miss her; that’s my favorite part.”
Even after leaving journalism, their education continues to influence how they run their restaurant and how they raise their kids.
“We teach them to do their research,” Michelle said. “If we’re going to write something we need to find out is it a fact? Get that background story and I think that’s so important in any industry.”
Their aim isn’t just wealth or fame.
“Our goal isn’t to have a thousand restaurants ,” Harry said. “Our goal is just to have the best empanadas and barbecue in town.
