Vol. 10
On turning one...
We’re approaching a major milestone at the end of this month: November 1st will mark one whole year of Smithereens.
How do you measure the life of a restaurant? Is it in the number of tables turned, buckwheat pancakes dropped (6,079), or seaweed martinis slung (3,518)? In reviews or awards earned? How crowded the fridge becomes with magnets gifted from friends, or how many scuffs appear on the plaster walls to be quietly repainted over the weekend?
Or is it measured in more amorphous terms? Something that’s less transactional and more alchemical? A restaurant becomes a different thing altogether when it meets its diners: a slippery, mutable, deliciously unpredictable thing. Diners meet us here in the “murky deeps, where anything could happen,” each service coming together differently than the one before, slowly building to a sum greater than its parts. It’s a particular kind of magic; one that can feel at once routine in its repetition but also, in the idiosyncratic, earnest devotions the staff shares during service—from waxing poetic about riesling to insisting celery can be a dessert—anything but.
We’re ringing in the big birthday with not one, but two special events: this Saturday, October 25th, we’re hosting German winemaker Eva Fricke for a special four-course pairing, and on November 11th we’re bringing in Chef Sean Gray (of The Sergeantsville Inn and Momofuku Ko fame) for a reunion with Chef Nick and Nikita.
Come raise a glass with us and read on for a trip down memory lane…
See you soon,
Smithereens
Dinner In the Cellar | Eva Fricke
On Saturday, September 25th, celebrated winemaker Eva Fricke is coming over from Germany for a special dinner in the cellar room.
Eva Fricke started as a winemaker at Weingut Leitz, one of the Rheingau region’s most prolific wineries, and then began making her own wine as a side project from a rented parcel in 2006. By 2011, she was able to strike out on her own to build Weingut Eva Fricke: now a patchwork of 17 hectares of vineyards between Lorch, Eltville, Hattenheim and Kiedrich, all of which speak to her steadfast commitment to building recognition for the Rheingau terroir.
For the dinner, we’ll be serving up a four-course tasting menu paired with wines from Eva’s estate—including some of her most expressive single-vineyard rieslings. Expect dishes like shima aji with quince and fig leaf, and duck (duck!) with cabbage and green citrus.
This collaboration with Eva is a fitting celebration of a year spent lovingly exploring variations on a theme: riesling and the exquisite craftsmanship behind it.
Q&A: Eva Fricke answers the Smithereens Questionnaire
1. What wine do you dream of opening one day?
2023 Schlossberg TBA in 15 years.
2. Where in the world would you most like to travel to at this moment?
The North Shore of Germany is one of the most exciting regions—especially now under climate change—with the most amazing white beaches. Its wild nature is pure and wide.
3. What is your favorite soil type?
Quartzite soil for wines with residual sugar. Weathered shell debris and chalk for dry rieslings.
4. What is your go-to song during harvest?
There are so many; we have a large playlist of all kinds of songs and music styles.
5. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
I don’t know if there is one version of this for me; I could answer this in so many different ways:
When we can contribute though our work to make the world a tiny tick better, and when our income allows to support others in need.
Receiving messages from our clients about how our wines created special moments of happiness in their lives.
With my love, and my beagle, a great wine, simple, high-quality food, on the beach during sunset and reflecting on life under the stars.
Walking through our land and fields, seeing vines and flowers thrive.
A Year on Earth with Smithereens
Nicholas Tamburo, Chef/Owner
I find myself trying to describe what opening a restaurant is like without resorting to cliches and platitudes. “It’s one of the hardest things a person can do.”
I can tell you that the moments when it all starts to come together are some of the most exciting and surreal. When the space that you’ve been creating is still an empty vessel and full of possibilities. Maybe it will turn out exactly as you hoped, maybe it ends up being something else entirely.
I wanted Smithereens to channel a traditional tavern or pub. Not in the food that we serve but in the spirit of the place. In reality, maybe Smithereens is closer to an izakaya (but if you think about it, aren’t these all kinda the same thing? Isn’t that what makes restaurants beautiful?). We look to New England for inspiration but also I can’t stop thinking about Japan and other places I’ve been. We almost exclusively serve seafood but still go to the farmers market three days a week for our vegetables.
More than anything I wanted freedom. I wanted Smithereens to be a place to explore new ideas, to innovate, to be creative, to mess around. All the things that make cooking actually fun. Smithereens should embody the restless energy of a group of people that want to share the things they find delicious and cool.
It’s funny how working at a restaurant that you own feels hardly any different than working at a restaurant as an employee. Even though you have no one to answer to, the beast still needs to be fed. Every day the doors need to open at 5:30, somehow, no matter what. A year later, opening those doors is just part of the routine and you can’t remember a time when it wasn’t.
All this is to say, looking back on one year of Smithereens it shockingly feels somewhat…unremarkable. Yes, all of my hopes and dreams are wrapped up in this place but I still spend most of my time doing all the things that I’ve already been doing for the last 15 years: cutting things, cooking things, and cleaning things.
The good part, the best part actually, is that we can do whatever we want.
Running other people’s restaurants you’re constantly having to worry about what other people want. The owners or the folks in charge. (If you work at a giant restaurant group you often have a whole room full of people to answer to, and you’ll likely be making compromises on the menu that feel like sacrilege.)
When we opened this restaurant we decided to put ourselves and the team first. We wanted to cook the things that make us excited (pretty much seafood and only seafood), pour the wines that we find most compelling (mostly German), and listen to the music that we like to listen to (lately, Goth and New Wave). Our entire cocktail menu is devoted to rum and gin because we like rum and gin (this staff just can’t stop drinking daiquiris).
This shouldn’t be a radical way to run a restaurant but somehow it often is.
A year in, I feel vindicated by a hunch I’ve had all along. If we serve the things we love and we keep sharing our deep-dive obsessions with you, you’ll pick up on what we’re doing here: everything we love and nothing we don’t.
Thanks for coming in.
Sergeantsville Inn x Smithereens
For a special anniversary edition of our guest chef series, we’re bringing in Chef Sean Gray for one night only, on Tuesday, November 11th. Now helming the kitchen at The Sergeantsville Inn in Hunterdon County, NJ, Sean was previously the executive chef of two Michelin-starred Momofuku Ko, where he worked with both Nick and Nikita (though, as chance would have it, not all at the same time).
On 11/11 we’re bringing all of us together in the kitchen for a collaborative menu featuring Smithereens classics alongside dishes from the Inn. Expect reimagined tavern fare with fine-dining technique and a touch of nostalgia, alongside wine selections co-curated by GM/Wine Director Omy Bugazia.
Reservations drop today at 10 am: come wish us a happy bday!
Q&A: Sean Gray answers the Smithereens Questionnaire
Chef Sean Gray grew up across the Delaware River from Sergeantsville in Bucks County, beginning his culinary journey at the Lambertville Station where he worked his way up from the parking lot to the dining room. Then, he found his way to New York City and landed at Momofuku Ko, serving as executive chef for over a decade until 2021. In 2024, he returned to his home base, taking over the kitchen at The Sergeantsville Inn, a modern tavern housed in a historic 1700s stone building. The Inn’s menu is both refined and familiar, serving up recognizable classics with delicious, thoughtful twists. It’s only about an hour and a half from the city, and well worth the trip for Sean’s fried chicken alone. And it is fireplace season…
To tide you over until 11/11, we’ve asked Chef Sean to take a spin with our questionnaire:
What is one thing you will always order if you see it on a menu?
I’d say a side of meatballs, as an appetizer for the table. Love seeing that on a menu.
Where in the world would you most like to travel to at this moment?
I think my answer is always Montreal. Always love going there.
It is your last meal on Earth, what are you having for dinner?
Pot roast, mashed potatoes, and green beans. With some kind of gravy.
What is an ingredient that you can’t live without?
Onions. All of them. Might be my favorite vegetable.
What music are you listening to in the kitchen?
Typically I’m not in charge of the music in the kitchen. But when I can get on, I do enjoy radio playlists from the 50’s and 60’s. Or a baseball game—that’s always a nice service background.
BTS at Smithereens
The week we threw our doors open, we passed a disposable camera around hoping to document some of the madness.
Before you go...
The hunt for the perfect martini is a time-honored NYC tradition, and we’re happy to spot our seaweed number on this Michelin guide to the best martinis in the city.
Speaking of seaweed, according to Food & Wine it’s having a moment…
We’re thrilled to be in such good company on The Resy 100!
Last but certainly not least, three cheers for Nikita, VinePair’s Next Wave Sommelier of the Year! Can’t wait for you to lead us down more rabbit holes…
A special p.p.s. — we’re dropping new anniversary tees on November 1st. Here’s a sneak peek for yours truly. You’ll be able to find them at the store.
Totally OK to show up at the concert wearing the band tee.
That t-shirt is so good 😍
whoever curated your playlist… we are on the same wavelength