Dan Greenberg began his career as a chiropractor, but after a dozen years on the job, he realized that his true calling was something else entirely: smoking fish and meats.
Now, Dan and his wife, Sandy, have a thriving business, South Jersey Smoke House, based in Egg Harbor City.
“In 2015, you couldn’t get fresh smoked fish on the Shore, only pre-packaged stuff,” Dan says. “So Sandy and I stepped into the breach.”
The Greenbergs’ salmon is smoked the way it’s been done for centuries, Dan says—but with South Jersey oak as the smoking wood. Their nova-style salmon is cold-smoked, smooth and less salty than lox, which they also make. They do a pastrami-spiced nova, too, plus kippered salmon, which is hot-smoked, slightly baked, a little chunky and totally addictive, he says.
The Greenbergs’ pastrami-spiced smoked salmon. Photo: Courtesy of South Jersey Smoke House
Dan got his start barbecuing when he became a volunteer fireman in Longport. He was running a chiropractic practice in Ventnor City but becoming increasingly frustrated dealing with insurance companies and paperwork. Some of his firehouse buddies were into making barbecue, and it wasn’t long before he hopped onboard. “I’d grown up cooking alongside my Sicilian mom and knew my flavors,” he says. Everyone would bring beer and their smoker grills to someone’s house, and all the guys had their own styles, spice rubs, sauces, and smoking woods.
“It was a great education, and soon I was very serious about barbecue,” Dan says. “I built grills on oil drums, and [Sandy] perfected our rubs and sauces.”
The Greenbergs received positive feedback from friends, and word of mouth started to spread. Soon the couple was invited to sell their ribs at the farmers’ market hosted by Steve & Cookie’s restaurant in Margate. The very first day, they sold out.
Dan shuttered his chiropractic office in 2015, and he and Sandy teamed up with a follower to open a casual barbecue restaurant in Ventnor City. Though the partnership didn’t last, Dan discovered a whole new passion: smoked fish. The Greenbergs ramped up their production and expanded to several farmers’ markets.
“Our customers feel good about our responsible sourcing,” Dan says. “All our salmon, fresh and never-frozen, is from cold-water fisheries where the fish is sustainably wild-farmed in Iceland, Scotland, Sweden and Denmark’s Faroe Islands.”
A sandwich made with South Jersey Smoke House’s beef pastrami. Photo: Courtesy of South Jersey Smoke House
Numerous meat items eventually found their way back into the Greenbergs’ arsenal. They churn out classics—pork and beef ribs, pulled pork, bacon, pastrami and corned beef—as well as brisket chili, four varieties of smoked cheese, and two smoked chowders (salmon and New England clam). Dan develops most recipes, though the crab dip and mayo-rich salads (ahi tuna, whitefish, chicken) are Sandy’s.
But the core of South Jersey Smoke House’s menu will always be smoked salmon, Dan says. Since moving operations in spring 2023 to a gleaming Egg Harbor City kitchen, they smoke 250 pounds of salmon weekly—and they sell out.
“We don’t sell wholesale to restaurants or supermarkets,” Dan notes. “We’re a fresh-food business, by and for New Jerseyans.”
Dan and Sandy aboard their vintage fishing boat. Photo: Courtesy of South Jersey Smoke House
Customers can buy everything made by South Jersey Smoke House at the kitchen’s retail window Wednesday through Friday from 2 to 5:30 pm. Four farmers’ markets showcase their salmon varieties, corned beef and pastrami: Ocean City on Wednesday, Steve & Cookie’s in Margate on Thursday, Ventnor City on Friday, and Collingswood on Saturday. (Customers who live farther away can order on the online gourmet purveyor Goldbelly.)
“I’m constantly amazed,” Greenberg says, “that I found my true calling selling my own deli-style smoked fish to New Jerseyans, Philadelphians and beyond. I’ve never been happier.”
South Jersey Smoke House, 40 Boston Avenue, Egg Harbor City; @southjerseysmokehouse on Instagram.
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