Bar News
Downtown Dallas bar-eatery spins off spiffy twin on Henderson Avenue
If you are obsessive about hitting the very newest bars in Dallas first, you're in luck: Smithy is a new restaurant-bar opening on Henderson Avenue for dinner service on April 10, IE tonight, from the team behind downtown Dallas bar-restaurant The Woolworth.
Within hours, you could be the first one to be seated at 2927 Henderson Ave., eating a pork sandwich before anyone else and drinking a mixologized cocktail.
According to a release, "Smithy" is derived from the short English name of Blacksmith. The original tenant was Henry Potter's ironwork shop. A well-regarded blacksmith, his work can be seen in Dallas public schools built in the 50's, SMU campus, and several Highland Park homes.
The redesigned space now has an outdoor patio. The decor features a masculine matte black steel bar with copper hints.
Smithy comes from brothers Brandon and Blakely Luke, and chef Ron "RV" Von Hatten, who also own and operate The Woolworth, which very capably hosted a spring social for CultureMap Dallas in 2014.
Von Hatten describes the menu as shared plates and unique eats. The food menu will have a few staples, but rotate seasonal items three times a year.
Brandon Luke emphasizes the global influences. "Influences such as Asian, French, Mexican, and American will keep you guessing on what to order or share," he says in a release.
Shared plates include truffle fries, steak bruschetta, smoked salmon pizza, wings, lamb pops, calamari, crab nachos, queso, chicken quesadilla, and tots poutine, a trendy mashup of tater tots and poutine with house-made tots topped with cheese curds, bacon, and pot roast.
"Handhelds," the 2018 word for sandwiches, include sliders, bacon bratwurst, shortrib, grilled vegetable, and an unwieldy sounding sandwich called chowder and cheese, which seems to be a grilled cheese sandwich filled with ingredients one might find in chowder including shrimp, fish, crab, and potato.
A "hobo dinner" has fish, potatoes, haricot vert, mushroom, and tomato. There's peri peri chicken with mashed potatoes and corn; and a soba bowl which is almost vegetarian with its mushrooms, carrot, bean sprouts, and spinach, if not for its pesky beef broth.
There is also a small steak section that includes hand-cut steak by the ounce; you start with a 12-ounce $31 rib eye and add $2.50 for each additional ounce.
Desserts include a sundae, trifle, bundt cake, and a bacon crunch bar with a motley assortment of ingredients that includes house-made Nutella and a salt-and-pepper ice cream.
The bar program will take a spirit-forward approach using local ingredients, classic standards, and a culinary touch. Beverage director is Mike Hernandez, continuing his success at The Woolworth. They'll also feature beers on tap from local breweries.
Brandon Luke was an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, and has worked for 15 years in the service industry. Von Hatten worked for Landry's for 30 years and has opened restaurants of his own. He was most previously at RJ's Mexican Cuisine in the West End.
They're open for dinner and will add weekend brunch in May and lunch sometime thereafter.
