Nobody goes to Navy Pier just for the food.
You used to settle for the best of bad choices.
Now at Chef Art Smith’s Reunion, the mouthful of a name for the new restaurant from the man perhaps forever best known as Oprah’s former personal chef, they offer more than just good food.
It’s a sanctuary meant to send you home with leftovers — not just edible, but emotional.
Unlike most celebrity chef restaurants, like Gordon Ramsay Burger, or even Jaleo by celebrated chef and humanitarian José Andrés, you might see Smith bussing tables on a busy Saturday or checking in with my family on a random Monday afternoon.
We did indeed order Chef Art’s Famous Fried Chicken. That’s how it’s listed on the menu, with a side of whipped mashed potatoes and a mention of hot sauce. What that doesn’t tell you is it’s enough to serve two, with a big half-bird parted in four, and a crock of mash, which rivals chef Joel Robuchon’s in butter. Should I tell you it’s served with a glorious, golden goat cheese buttermilk drop biscuit, too?
“There’s some very good chicken in town,” Smith said. “A lot of it is really spicy, but I’m not part of that crowd. Because where I come from, we would never spice chicken, we would only offer a condiment, like a hot sauce on the side. I love food that’s spicy, but I don’t like it on the chicken. That’s just how I’ve always done it.”
I kicked myself for forgetting my leftover hot sauce, especially when I learned they make the radiant condiment themselves.
“The restaurant is very much in keeping with the style of food that I’ve done now for over 15 years here in Chicago,” said the chef, originally from the town of Jasper in Florida, near the Georgia state line. “There’s a reason why much of the food on the menu is what it is, because there are stories behind much of it.”
He refers to the menu as Southern with Midwest touches, reflective of his own background.
Smith owns the restaurant that bears his name with brothers and restaurateurs, Manolis Alpogianis and George Alpogianis (the latter also happens to be the mayor of Niles); and their mutual friend Margie Geddes, the heiress of Red Stripe, the Jamaican beer originally brewed in Illinois. Chef Ruben Villalobos, who helped open Pizza Friendly Pizza with Oriole’s Noah Sandoval, runs the kitchen.
Together they’ve exorcised the space that was previously Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., situated on one of the flagship corners flanking the front of the historic pier building. It’s transformed into a cozy yet elegant lakeside retreat, with an expansive patio and sheltered outdoor bar.
“I’m more than fried chicken,” Smith said. “Fried chicken became part of my repertoire, because when Oprah chose to have it for her 50th birthday, then all of Hollywood had it, and she told the world, so it became synonymous with my name.”
First he brought the dish to Table Fifty-Two, which became Blue Door Kitchen & Garden, then to Chicago Q, the barbecue restaurant, and now Reunion.
“Fried chicken still prevails as far as popularity,” the chef said, laughing. “Mine has pedigree. It’s been served to five presidents, Lady Gaga backstage, and the Dalai Lama. We made a vegan version for him.”
You too might find enlightenment here, perhaps from the fantastic platter of cornmeal-fried green tomatoes, layered with slices of country ham, cured like the prosciutto of the South, all finished with a flourish of arugula drizzled in remoulade.
When I grabbed the Double Stack burger with both hands — piled high with bacon, cheese and those fried green tomatoes — my mom watched in horror as I took a huge bite.
“Ai yah, don’t do that!” she said in Cantonese, looking around to see if anyone else had witnessed her daughter do what many mothers believe should only be done in the privacy of one’s home. “She’s doing her job!” said my dad, also in Chinese. When I repeated the unseemly act with the catfish sandwich, my mom somehow refrained from shouting and throwing a napkin over my head as if I were eating ortolan.
Both stupendous sandwiches are served with unexpectedly beautiful fresh-cut fries.
“I give credit to Manolis for the burger. He’s known for hot dogs and burgers,” Smith said. The Alpogianis brothers founded America’s Dog & Burger, which also has a location at Navy Pier. “My touches are the fried green tomatoes, the homemade pickles and making it much more substantial. You can cut the whole thing in half and share it. I’m all about sharing food. I see no shame in that.”
It’s part of his ethos that people need to feel comfortable with their food.
“One of the things that I learned from Miss Winfrey was we never served any plated food in her house,” said her former personal chef. “We always did a big kitchen table of food. I had all different assortments of things, so guests did not feel uncomfortable about their selection.”
The shrimp and grits showcase snappy jumbo crustaceans smothered in a ruddy red tomato sauce studded with spiced Tasso ham, which you could share, if your sister didn’t claim it as her own as mine did. You can also share family-sized sides, including an extravagant baked macaroni and cheese, stone-ground grits and a lovely creamy cucumber salad.
I couldn’t quite picture Winfrey with Oprah’s Electric Lemonade though, a bright blue cocktail served in a portable pouch.
“Manolis added a little blue curacao to my recipe,” Smith said. The original recipe is just vodka and honey lemonade.
The surprisingly balanced drink now mixes Ketel One, lemon juice and bittersweet citrusy Giffard blue liqueur. It’s strong, but it doesn’t have Ole Smoky Moonshine, as the menu says.
“You can get a drink and walk around all over the pier with it, you realize that, don’t cha?” asked the chef.
Oh, yes, I do.
“I come from the South, where they used to hide what they drank,” he said. “We do also emphasize a lot of drinks with no alcohol in them, and people like our sweet tea a lot.”
Kids can get their drinks in kids’ cups with straws and order from a kids’ menu.
The whole family will probably love the crunchy hush puppies, and you’ll want a double helping of the tangy pimento cheese that comes with them.
Deviled eggs, spiked with crispy ham, and a chopped salad, topped with silky pulled chicken, were well executed, but a bit prosaic. A pan-seared skinless salmon fillet, on a tender bed of shaved Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes, was a touch overcooked. That’s typically most evident along the thinner edge, and can be avoided at a lower heat, a tip I learned as the chef at a fishing lodge in Alaska.
At the lodge, guests sometimes peeled off my painstakingly crisp cooked salmon skin or crunchy chicken crust, I told Smith.
“Honey, that drives me crazy,” he said. “Here, we make our fried chicken crustier, because the guests like that.”
For dessert, pastry chef Marie Charles Donnejour bakes Smith’s signature recipe for the classic Southern hummingbird cake. The seasonal pie offering during our recent visit features a chocolate pecan filling in an impressively thin cream cheese crust. An aromatic lemon hemp seed Bundt cake could easily serve four with its rich ridges.
“I’m proud of that, because I think we’ve talked about hummingbird cake until the cows come home, but people love it, God bless ’em,” Smith said. “And our baker can bake, oh, my God, so beautifully.”
While the menu caters to fan favorites with Southern comfort food, what’s most surprising is its relatively accessible pricing paired with truly exceptional service, especially given its location at Navy Pier and during a time of widespread staffing challenges.
“Art really made it clear how sensitive he was to that,” Manolis Alpogianis said. “He said to me over and over again, ‘This is not about only serving people in the summertime that are tourists.'”
But summer tourists — or locals, for that matter — can just wear shorts and a T-shirt, because there is no dress code.
“I feel really lucky, because we have a general manager who worked in Morton’s for 14 years,” said Alpogianis of general manager Patrick Hoyle, who is to be commended along with all the terrific service staff. “Before that, he worked for Moretti’s for 14 years, so he understands: casual, but really nice.”
For a restaurant delayed more than a year due to the pandemic, they’ve wasted no time making adjustments to the menu, from the burger and beyond.
“I’ve tried hard to give it some Midwest touches,” Smith said. “For the fall menu, we’re doing a roast chicken and apples with a cider glaze, more fish from the upper Great Lakes and, with the winter coming, more cellar vegetables and things of that sort.”
He’s also developing more pie recipes.
“Because pies are a big Midwestern dessert,” said the chef. “Probably even more than cake.”
I do look forward to going back, as do Mom and Pop Chu, and leaving with leftovers edible and otherwise.
Chef Art Smith’s Reunion
600 E. Grand Ave.
312-224-1415
Open: Daily from 11 a.m., Sunday to Thursday until 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m., reservations available for indoor and outdoor tables; outdoor bar seating is first-come, first-served
Prices: $13 (fried green tomatoes), $14 (Oprah’s electric lemonade), $18 (The Double Stack burger with fries), $22 (shrimp and grits), $26 (Chef Art’s Famous Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes), $13 (hummingbird cake)
Noise: Conversation-friendly
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible with restrooms on upper level with ramp
Tribune rating: Between very good to excellent, 21/2 stars
Ratings key: Four stars, outstanding; three stars, excellent; two stars, very good; one star, good; no stars, unsatisfactory. Meals are paid for by the Tribune.
