Sublime Smoke: Bolivar business serves straightforward food and craft brew

The road to success is rarely a straight line. That much is certainly true for Zach Salapack, a graduate of Tuscarawas Valley High School and The Ohio State University. Salapack owns Sublime Smoke in Bolivar. The restaurant opened in June 2014.

The small eatery seats 12 indoors with additional seating outdoors on the patio.

“I purposely wanted to start small,” Salapack said.

He and wife, Aimee, a teacher at Canton Local Schools, are raising son, Luke, and daughter, Evelyn.

Despite a relentless schedule, the young family has learned to balance their busy life. Salapack enjoys being his own boss, and he likes that his kids can pop in to see him while he works. The family lives two doors down from the restaurant.

Sublime Smoke will host Corntoberfest, now in its second year, Saturday, Sept. 26. The event raises much-needed funds for the Loving Heart Foundation's Tusky Valley Schools' Backpack Nutrition Program.

“We learned there are less fortunate families in the community,” Salapack said. “While kids get meals at school, what do they on the weekends? This program gives them enough food to last the weekend.”

Corntoberfest includes an amateur cornhole tournament, live music, a beverage garden hosted by Millersburg Brewery and, of course, plenty of authentic wood-fired barbecue, the house specialty. The Ohio State Buckeyes versus the Western Michigan Broncos game will be broadcast on multiple screens.

Salapack operated Sublime Smoke as a mobile kitchen in Columbus' lively food truck scene before he and his young family returned to Tuscarawas County. Even now, he offers catering for occasions of any size.

Salapack got interested in the culinary world when he worked in a fast-paced Italian bistro after college.

“I was drawn to the pace and I liked the adrenaline,” he said. “Like in sports, a kitchen operates like a team.”

Over the years Salapack would work for corporate and independent outfits. He opened new restaurants for other people, worked as a chef at a golf course and quickly realized he'd joined a sinking ship when he trusted a friend from the past who shorted him on his first paycheck.

He got burned out and operated a Christmas tree farm for a couple years. He even pondered becoming a dentist like his dad.

“I couldn't really wrap my head around looking into people's mouths all day,” Salapack said. “School would take me four years and I'd graduate with a $140,000 debt.”

At 32, he knew he had to figure something out.

The food truck was born in 2010.

“I got back into the very business I was burned out on, but this time it was for me,” Salapack said. “I used the lessons I learned in the restaurant business and the skills I picked up from barbecuing in my backyard.”

Salapack took great care in creating simple, straightforward dishes that compliment each other.

Sublime Smoke offers pulled pork and beef brisket like you'd expect at a barbecue joint but Salapack has created signature dishes that stand out to diners.

The Pork Sundae celebrates a variety of flavors. The dish starts out with homemade corn spoon bread, a layer of collard greens simmered in cider vinegar with onions, garlic, and rib tips, a layer of coleslaw and he tops it off with pulled pork from pork shoulder that's been slow smoked for more than 10 hours. He finishes it with any one of his four original sauces.

Mac Daddy takes comfort food to a new level. Southern-style baked mac and cheese is topped with pulled pork along with your choice of sauce.

“I still serve these items at the restaurant like I would if I was serving them from the truck,” Salapack said. “The plastic cups pays homage to their having come from the mobile kitchen.”

Sublime Smoke offers a variety of other dishes including pork, chicken or beef burritos, ribs and daily features that have included shrimp and grits and ancho chili-rubbed pork chops.

An extensive craft beer menu rivals one found in an urban establishment.

Simply put, Sublime Smoke is going places.

Sublime Smoke is located at 110 Water St. SE, Bolivar.

Order ahead at 330-227-8118.