While her husband is busy winning play-off games, Ayesha Curry, wife to the best basketball player in the world, Warriors star Stephen Curry, will be busy trying to win over the discerning tastebuds of hungry San Franciscans. Curry has teamed up with Michael Mina to launch the next concept of his Test Kitchen. The Mina Test Kitchen is a pop-up restaurant that transforms every couple of months—the chef and food change, but the decor of the space, at 2120 Greenwich Street, remains the same. Thus far, Mina and his team have experimented with Middle Eastern, Italian, and Indian cuisine. Now, in collaboration with Curry, the Test Kitchen crew will turn their attention to barbecue. The fourth pop-up, International Smoke, will focus on grilled and smoked dishes with unique flavors from all over the world.
Curry’s background is incredibly diverse: she was born in Toronto, but grew up in North Carolina where her Chinese, Jamaican, African American, and Polish ancestry influenced her cooking style. “My diversity is reflected in the way that I cook,” she said in a statement. “Barbecue is the perfect way to experiment and indulge in tasting different flavors, cuts of meat and styles of cooking. They all have one thing in common, that smoky delicious taste is reminiscent of an outdoor family gathering! It just doesn’t get any better.” A sampling of International Smoke’s “lighter side of barbecue” menu include an around the world platter of pork ribs with Korean, St. Louis, and al pastor seasonings paired with cucumber kimchi, watermelon mint salad and jicama-jalapeño slaw; spicy Merguez sausage with purple Peruvian potato salad, double dipped onion rings, and braised mustard greens; and Thai-style barbecued shrimp with chili, coconut and red curry.
The mother of two has been sharing her recipes, lifestyle tips, and videos on a blog for the past couple of years. Not only has she caught the eye of Michael Mina, but she’s been noticed by Little, Brown and Company publishing and Food Network as well. Her first cookbook, The Seasoned Life: Food, Family, Faith, and the Joy of Eating Well, comes out on September 20, 2016 and Food Network announced a television show, At Home With Ayesha, as a part of their next round of programing. However, locals interested in experiencing Curry’s cuisine don’t have to wait until the end of summer to learn what she’s all about. International Smoke debuts on June 4 at the Test Kitchen in the Marina.
