Community Corner

Chef Nate Smith Leaves Dean Street after One Month

Owner Rob Gelardi said owners and chef wanted different things.

Nate Smith is leaving his post as head chef of after just a month, co-owner Rob Gelardi said tonight.

“We appreciate what he’s done with us,” said Gelardi in a telephone interview several hours after he and co-owner John Longo announced the parting on Facebook.

“The fact is we got to a point where we wanted two different things for the restaurant and for everyone’s mental and physical health the best thing to do would be to move on. He’s an extremely talented guy and we wish him nothing but the best,” Gelardi said.

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The eagerly anticipated restaurant opened in late January, replacing the popular Tavern on the Dean on Dean Street at the corner of Underhill.

Smith, as the former chef of the Spotted Pig, brought immediate fame to the restaurant, leading to much attention from foodies and long wait times.

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But Gelardi dismissed rumors that he and Longo replaced Smith because his fame was talking away from the casual, neighborhood feel of the place.

“It was extremely popular out of the gate and most people want to eat between 8 and 10 p.m. I think those were things that would have worked themselves out. It was not a factor in our decision,” he said.

The restaurant remains open, including tonight, and another chef, who wished to remain unnamed, is filling in. Smith’s wife, Sophie Kamin, of Four and Twenty Blackbirds, will no longer be providing the pastries, Gelardi said.

Asked if the menu would change in the interim, Gelardi said, “We don’t want to do anything that is Nate’s creation,” but the menu would be similar.

Gelardi and Longo are already looking for a new chef and pastry chef, and hope to find replacements “as soon as possible without making a hasty decision,” he said.

Asked if they planned to move to a more casual menu, Gelardi said no.

“We are unashamedly pub guys,” he said, but added, “Our initial vision and what we foresee is we want a pub feel with high quality food. That is not going to change for us. We are not going to turn around and be serving pub grub. Our only mandate is we want to serve good quality food.”


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