A new Cookman Avenue restaurant from Smith — called Homesick — is set to open its doors with a soft opening on Sunday, May 30 and a full opening on Thursday of next week (June 3).  Located at the former site of the Brickwall tavern, Homesick will focus on “really simple, beautiful food and drinks…the […]

Smith, the Asbury Park-based creative collective and hospitality group behind Porta, Brickwall Tavern, Pascal & Sabine, and Little Buddy, has hired a new Chief Operating Officer. Suzanne Hanna, a former TGI Fridays and Yum senior vice president will oversee business operations for all Smith restaurants, officials said in a written statement. “We couldn’t be happier […]

Two previously approved applications came back before the Asbury Park Planning Board Monday to seek modifications to their site plans. First up was waterfront redeveloper iStar and its team behind the 1101 Ocean Avenue project, the long awaited transformation at the twice failed site last pitched as the Esperanza. With a scheduled Spring 2019 completion […]

The Philly-Asbury connection continues as Smith moves to open branches of their Porta and Brickwall Tavern eateries on Chestnut Street in the east side of Center City, according to a Philly.com article by staff writer Michael Klein. Smith landed in Asbury Park in 1996 as Knockout. Their flagship restaurant Brickwall Tavern and Dining Room opened […]

Brickwall Tavern and Dining Room back of house staff will walk out Thursday with the full support of the venue owners. Held in solidarity with the national ‘A Day Without Immigrants’ movement, the walkout is part of Smith’s continued support of the social movements sparked following the 2016 presidential elections. Smith is the group that […]

The Asbury Park City Council is scheduled to hold a workshop meeting at 6 p.m. Monday in council chambers at City Hall. A public participation session is scheduled to take place near the end of the meeting, after comments from city officials. Items on the agenda for the meeting include: • Special event approvals include […]

Asbury Park-based Smith hospitality group has transformed their former Goldie’s vegan restaurant space into a new restaurant, the Happiness Luncheonette. The concept of the restaurant  “is pure fun and a little trippy,” Smith junior partner Mark Hinchliffe said in an email correspondence with the Sun. The restaurant and hospitality group is “taking food that makes […]

Mister C’s Beach Bistro, an oceanfront American bistro locate in the Allenhurst Beach Club, will re-open for this summer. Allenhurst officials selected the former operator Wednesday after reviewing the two proposals submitted. The other proposal was submitted by Asbury Park’s Smith hospitality group. Mister C’s operated in the space starting in 1991. Owners will be […]

Vegan restaurant Goldie’s will shut its doors after service on Sunday. The eatery is one of the four restaurants in Asbury Park owned and operated by Smith Group. The high-end restaurant with exposed kitchen opened the in the summer of 2013 as New Jersey’s first vegan restaurant with a liquor license, as previously reported in the […]

Two Asbury Park restaurants owned and operated by Asbury-based Smith Group are on a path to achieve accreditation from the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness in gluten-free food service training. Gluten-Free Resource Education and Awareness Training, or GREAT kitchens, provides restaurants with training for all front-of-house and back-of-house personnel on safe gluten-free food preparation and handling […]