Smith & Porter Opens for Dinner Tonight, January 24

Opening for dinner tonight, January 24, at 428 South 2^nd Street in the new Abiitan Mill City building, Smith & Porter will offer evening dining with contemporary entrées and small plates, vegetarian options and a full bar with a tailored selection of wines and locally crafted spirits and beers.

They will be open for dinner seven days a week, and reservations can be made through OpenTable.  The restaurant is two blocks from the Guthrie Theater and the Mill City Museum, and across the street from the MacPhail Center for Music.

The Executive Chef is Kirt Akerstrom, who most recently was Executive Chef at Red Cow. Akerstrom previously was the Corporate Executive Chef for the Alex’s/Bonfire brand. He also has 12 years experience in Asian fusion cooking that includes all the cuisines of Southeast Asia, and was classically trained at Scottsdale Culinary Institute.

The restaurant concept and menu was developed in consultation with prominent Chef Pat Weber, whose Mise en Place consulting business has worked with top Minneapolis restaurants, including Birchwood Café and Smack Shack.

John Gleason is the Food & Beverage Director at Smith & Porter. Most recently he managed the opening of Giordano’s Pizza in Uptown Minneapolis after opening three locations in Chicago.

The General Manager is Nick Patraw, who previously managed Ling and Louie’s and Giordano’s in the Twin Cities. He also was general manager at CopperWynd Luxury Resort in Scottsdale, AZ.

Smith & Porter’s sister concept, the Porter Café, located adjacent to the restaurant, will open in early February, 2017.  It will offer the Mill City Neighborhood a breakfast and lunch option, with barista-inspired warm and cold beverages, daily features and specially prepared entrées, along with grab-and-go breakfast and lunch options. The café will be open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

Smith & Porter is on Facebook, Instagram and Yelp. The restaurant’s website will soon be live at www.smith-porter.com.