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Chefs John & Karen Shields have announced that Smyth, will reopen for indoor dining March 5.

Over the past year, the Shields’ have held the seasons in suspense, preserving an entire bounty of harvest in bottles and jars. On top of that, they have spent time researching producers across the country and are ready to celebrate the small producers with whom they have developed relationships.

“We have the opportunity to return with meticulous focus and this boundless, pent-up energy,” remarks John Shields. “It truly feels like life is back. The energy in the kitchen is palpable.”

A Florida native, Shields has always been passionate for the ocean, calling it a driver everything he does. Smyth’s opening tasting menu offers several seafood servings including three with chilled shellfish: wild Maine mussel in a savory licorice and lightly whipped cream; scallop marinated in bergamot nectar and hazelnut; and barely cooked lobster claw seasoned with salted fall raspberries.

Smyth’s philosophy is to build relationships individually with like-minded, specialized farmers in meaningful ways. Examples include a nearby Livingston county farm, Spence Farms, who are growing seeds exclusively for Smyth from pines and spruces to hazelnuts and walnuts, to a seaweed farm in Monterey Bay, California.

Other themes throughout the menu include:

  • Luxe ingredients, like Kaluga caviar, gently warmed in buckwheat butter with almond milk and newly-pressed walnut oil
  • Amazing citrus, from Nagami kumquats with citrus blossom, eucalyptus and frozen sheets of ice to chilled avocado with a paste of Bangkok guava and hoja santa
  • Various game dishes featuring venison from upstate New York
  • Sweet servings, such as a milk chocolate spruce bar with black raspberry, roasted wheat berry ice cream & black malt, and a preserved egg yolk tartlet, marigold and jasmine 

Smyth reservations are live on TOCK for limited indoor seatings beginning Friday, March 5. The two Michelin-starred restaurant will offer one tasting menu experience including anywhere from 14 to 17 servings. Reservations are available for Friday through Sunday to start priced at $225 per person, with Thursday reservations coming soon. Smyth will open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays starting in April.

On the same nights of indoor service, Shields will continue to offer two unique Smyth at Home experiences for takeout:  On The Line, an abbreviated tasting menu and plating contest at home (last month’s winner was gifted a Le Creuset package), and Johnny Good Times Smoked Meats, a pop-up BBQ menu that Smyth launched in November amidst the indoor dining shutdowns in Chicago.

Smyth + The Loyalist added a sidewalk patio along Ada Street last summer which will return later this season once the weather allows.

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