Straight operated as a nightclub in the Village for around three years, but customers increasingly wanted to get their dining on before getting their groove on. So owner Renda Abdo overhauled the place with some help from the design team at Commute Home (Nyood, Colborne Lane, Briscola Trattoria) and brought in executive chef Peter McKnight, a veteran from Wish, to create Smith. The restaurant opened earlier this month.
The concept: Smith has an element of the avant-garde with Commute’s custom-made wall installations and light fixtures, but reclaimed woods and a heavy antique presence keep things rustic (the mismatched cutlery and dinnerware come from a myriad of sources, including moms’ houses). The first two floors seat around 55, while the third floor acts as a nightclub on weekends; its new theme is gothic ballet studio.
The hood: In the heart of the Church and Wellesley village, across the street from Sugo Trattoria.
The eats: McKnight describes the menu as “a sort of greatest hits compilation” from the menu at Wish. That means a lot of regional American fare and southern-style cooking, presented elegantly. The flat iron steak ($25) is seared on a cast-iron skillet, accompanied with hand-cut frites and gravy derived from a six-hour cooking of oxtail. The halibut ($26) is kept simple, seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper and then seared on a cast-iron. “I like things to taste how they should taste, as opposed to masking things too much,” McKnight says. The menu — presented like a newspaper, with illustrations — will change seasonally and also showcases brunch, served on weekends.
The chef’s choice: Southern fried chicken ($17), which sees boneless chunks of chicken soaked in buttermilk for a day, coated in a seasoned flour and then twice-fried for crispiness. It comes served with a ham hock gravy and collard greens.
