The 2014 Outer Banks Taste of the Beach event is excited to announce that Chef Michael Smith, James Beard award-winner and owner of two highly successful KC restaurants, as well as appearances on the Food Network and Cooking Channel, has agreed to come and visit for the event in March! He has also graciously agreed to co-chef an event (or more as we are still in development).
Chef Michael will be co-cheffing along with Chef Pok and Chef Tony at the Outer Banks Brewing Station and doing a Tapas style, multi-choice, multi-course dinner event with drink pairings. It is scheduled for Friday, March 14th and likely it will have two seating times. We are also entertaining the idea of doing an after party/meet the Chef social with drinks and such afterwards. We don’t know what the price points will be just yet but the guys will be working on figuring it all out along with menu development, etc. This event will be posting soon with ticket availability and pricing. Look for it by Christmas!
A little background on Chef Michael Smith:
Michael Smith’s degree from the University of Southern Colorado may have been in psychology, but the culinary arts are where he is most adept. Most chefs and restaurateurs would also agree, that psychology is the perfect foundation for a career in the culinary business. Following college, Smith went to work at Chateau Pyranees in Denver, where he studied and worked under Chef Jean-Pierre Lelievre and, later, Chef George Mavrothalassitis (now in Hawaii). In 1985 he traveled to Nice and Cassis in the south of France, cooking and learning, and was struck with the French approach — artisanal products and fresh, local ingredients.
It was a lesson he carried back to the U.S. when he went to Chicago in 1987 to work as Sous Chef at Charlie Trotter’s. Two years later he returned to Nice to be the Executive Chef at L’Albion. Upon his eventual return to Chicago in 1991, he worked as Co-Chef at Carlos’ in Highland Park and then Executive Chef at Gordon until 1994.. Moving on to Kansas City, he took over The American Restaurant and while there, Smith won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Midwest, 1999. Kansas City had never before had a chef so honored. The James Beard Awards weren’t through, however — Smith’s restaurant, Forty Sardines won Best Restaurant Design in 2002.
His newest venture is a duo of restaurants under one roof at 1900 Main Street in Kansas City’s Crossroads Art District. Restaurant MichaelSmith and Extra Virgin may share an address, but not much else. Namesake Michael Smith is the epitome of fine dining and high class with a 500+ Wine Spectator awarded cellar, while Extra Virgin is a trendy Mediterranean tapas restaurant with one of the city’s coolest al fresco dining areas and a spectacular bar that complements the adventurous menu. Smith is still winning awards, with 2011 Pitch Magazine Readers Choice “Best Chef Kansas City” and now two years in a row, KC Magazine “Best Chef” 2012 and 2013.
Michael not only owns and operated two of Kansas City’s best restaurants, he has a busy schedule of guest chef appearances around the country and abroad and is sought after by the media as an industry spokesperson.
