Celebrity chef and TV cooking star open new Boise restaurant. The ribs are ‘dynamite.’

Every now and then, restaurateur Michael Mina likes to take his chefs on dining excursions to other countries.

No matter how many exotic dishes they savor, their palates eventually tug them toward the same thing: the comforting, familiar scent of meat sizzling on a grill.

“We always end up in these backyards of these old grandmas or something,” said Mina, a James Beard Award-winning chef, “and everything is about barbecue, really.”

That universal concept — protein and flame — drives International Smoke, the restaurant Mina created with TV cooking host Ayesha Curry. And it’s the spirit behind Mac ‘n Cue, International Smoke’s delivery and takeout platform.

Serving tasty barbecue and creative macaroni and cheese, Mac ‘n Cue will open its newest location Monday, Dec. 14, serving Boise. It’s part of the Meridian-based Crave Delivery collective. Like other Crave restaurants, Mac ‘n Cue will operate in a virtual kitchen. There will be no dining room. Just delivery and takeout. Orders can be made using the Crave app.

A Michelin-starred chef with nearly 40 restaurants worldwide, Mina was born in Cairo, Egypt. He met Curry — an entrepreneur, cookbook author and wife of NBA star Steph Curry — at Michael Mina, his flagship restaurant in San Francisco. After the fast friends realized they shared multicultural culinary interests, International Smoke was born. It began as a Mina Test Kitchen pop-up in 2016. Now it has three brick-and-mortar locations.

Mac ‘n Cue is not intended to be highbrow. It is, however, high-calorie. If you order food, “it needs to be a cheat day,” Mina admitted, chuckling during a phone interview.

Pausing while frying chicken in a Crave kitchen, Mina explained that International Smoke is “a fun play on barbecue and live-fire cooking from all over the world.” But Mac ‘n Cue mostly highlights traditional, American-style ‘cue. Slow, wood-fired smokes. Juicy, flavorful meats.

Dishes inspired by home-style cooking.

“We have ribs, we have brisket, we have pulled pork,” Mina said. “But we are having a little fun with the sauces.”

Want to slather up that pork? Choose from condiment options such as Maple-Whole Grain Mustard, Smokey Mama BBQ or Sesame Gochukang.

Mac ‘n Cue also prides itself in smoked, St. Louis-cut ribs. “The ribs are dynamite,” Mina said. “They’re something that we worked on for a long time. ... We cut the back off them, so you just get the real meaty middle of a St. Louis rib.”

The menu will rotate, Mina said. Still, a few entrees probably will be permanent, such as the BBQ Pulled Pork and Ayesha’s Umami Crab Mac.

Mac ‘n Cue is a “true, 50-50 collaboration” between Mina and Curry, he said. “The thing that is fun with Mac ‘n Cue ... She’ll come up with an idea and call me. We’ll work on it. I’ll come up with an idea. We work on it. ... By next week, we’ll have another four ideas.”

One idea that Mina truly loves? This new Idaho startup: Crave Delivery. Mac ‘n Cue is the second restaurant he’s opened as part of Crave, which plans to expand nationwide. Mina’s Tokyo Hot Chicken made its Idaho debut last month. Crave Delivery costs $4.99 and can include multiple orders from the dozen food-and-drink partners. Service is available in Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Nampa, Caldwell, Kuna and Star.

“What Crave is doing here, they’re doing it right,” Mina said.

“I’ve worked with many hotel partners and things of this nature. I’m glad for Boise. You’ve got a group here that’s committed to doing things the right way, which isn’t always the case in our industry.

This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 4:00 AM.