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people and places profiles tim smith N ap a R i ve r G r i l l 3 9 3 8 D u p o n t C i rc l e 893-0141
HOT PROSPECT
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f Tim Smith ever decides to pursue a new career, he might have a future in motivational speaking, with his own inspiring career as the topic. Still on the youthful side at 30, Smith has risen from busser to executive chef at Napa River Grill, one of the most prestigious kitchens in Louisville ... with no formal culinary education. What’s the secret to Smith’s success? He credits the old-fashioned work ethic
BY MICHAEL L. JONES | PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAN DRY
that he brought to bear at Mama Grisanti’s Italian Restaurant, which once occupied the St. Matthews-area building that now houses Napa River Grill.“I’ve always had to understand that I didn’t know it all. I knew I had to learn it all—from the front door to the back of the house. Any job they gave me, I focused on it 100 percent. If they put me on the oven, I had to master it. I would try to be the greatest oven guy they ever had.” The story of the Grisanti family’s restaurants—and the many top chefs, restaurant hosts and owners they’ve produced—has been told often, even right here in Food & Dining. Smith’s story is one of them. But the stor y begins even before Smith, who grew up in nearby Jeffersontown, started as a busser at Mama Grisanti’s in 1990. In fact, he admits to an early interest in cooking.“When I was a kid
my mom bought me an Easy-Bake Oven, and I used to make little cakes,” he said. “I wanted to take one to school for Showand-Tell, but I was afraid the other boys would laugh at me.” After he graduated from duPont Manual High School in 1992, Smith became a utility player at Mama’s, splitting time between the front and the back of the house.“It started because they needed help in the kitchen during lunch,” he recalled. “I’d work in the kitchen during the day and in the front bussing tables at night.” By the time Grisanti’s gave way to Napa River Grill in 1999—a transformation that shifted its focus from family Italian-American to the upscale food and wine of California’s Napa Valley wine country—Smith had worked his way up to sous chef. During the transition, the