When Josh Smith first walks into a room, you’d never guess that he’s probably considered one of the best upcoming young Executive Chefs on the Strip. He’s ruggedly good looking and a beard that would make any Spartan soldier jealous — and so many tattoos that you almost expect Dave Navarro to follow behind him. However, that’s not what is making people turn heads: it’s the top quality, amazing French-influenced food that has been making both critics and tourists talk a lot about Bardot Brasserie by Michael Mina.
Also, Josh Smith is a local to Las Vegas. He was born here, then made his way into some of the best Kitchens in the United States including working for Chef Matthew Kirkley at L20 in Chicago. For those who don’t know, that was the highest rated restaurant ever in that City. This is a new trend in Las Vegas, where more and more local chefs are coming back to Vegas and making a mark on the culinary community after being trained by industry legends.
I had the opportunity to have a private chef’s tasting with Chef Josh Smoth this past weekend at Bardot in the Aria Resort with Michael Uzmann, the noted Food Traveler and Donald Contursi. Not only was I floored by the amazing food, the diversity and creativity of every dish, but how accessible the Chef has made it for everyone to enjoy French food. (We will have a review of the tasting soon)
There are dishes for those who know what they love, including the “quartet of duck liver preparations, the jar of mousse beneath gelee as pleasing as ever while a silken seared slice atop toothsome lentils was a favorite for those hailing from overseas, both the au natural torchon and aspic-laced terrine equally as elegant.” Then there is the legendary French toast, which has become not only a local favorite for brunch, but highly recommended by almost every single food critic. The food is clearly French, but also amazingly unique in every dish. From foie gras on top of French toast, to poached eggs and duck on waffles, the food is made to the highest quality, but at the same time something that reminds you of good home cooking at the same time.
We had time to sit down with Chef Josh Smith and ask him about his background, Bardot and much more:
What’s your favorite thing about French Cuisine that you really love? How do you think you are taking it on to a new level? French cuisine is technical. That’s my favorite part about it! It’s all about taking something ordinary and making it extraordinary. It’s so hard to reproduce sometimes that I really don’t mind sharing all of our recipes. What makes us special is how far we’re willing to go for each dish. Three day process on the chicken, the mac and cheese, the gnocchi. These dishes are all incredibly hard the way that we do them. It’s not easy to do what Bardot does on a daily basis, it’s too much work for most and that’s why we’re different.
You’re part of a new trend of local Chefs that were born in Las Vegas and are staying in Las Vegas. How do you think growing up in Las Vegas may have made you a better chef? Growing up in Vegas aided me in really understanding my guest. It also really helped me to understand volume and it shed light for me on what truly good service is. We have so many hospitality professionals here. They’re not serving as a means to become an actor/actress, they’re career servers.
You worked with Chef Matthew Kirkley at L20 in Chicago, which eventually closed despite being one the highest rated restaurants in Chicago, ever. What did you learn from that experience? Matt Kirkley was the hardest working, most talented chef I’ve every worked for. He pushed me to see detail I was blind to, to truly understand time management down to the minute and he turned my idea of work ethic upside down. He’s the most influential mentor I have had in decades. That restaurant took the passion and talent I already had and added in organization and discipline!
What would be your three favorite dishes that everyone must try at least once? My favorite three dishes at Bardot? That’s a truly hard question!
1. The roast chicken. I put so much hard work into that recipe and it’s truly a masterpiece.
2. Our escargot. I’m really proud of the mix of influences I have on that dish and think it’s the perfect “Vegas” escargot dish. Novices don’t have to see the snail yet it’s technical and has fun ingredients like chartreuse!
3. I guess this is our tartare. It is hand ground to order and I think we nailed the classic flavor profile we wanted. There are still all of the details I love in a good dish. We even buy pee-wee eggs to use in the appetizer version so that the yolk isn’t too big.
What is the ultimate dish you’d love to make at Bardot if cost wasn’t an issue? I think we get to do just about all that we want at Bardot. The only cost prohibitive dishes I can think of are ones like croquembouche. The only thing that makes it prohibitive is the fact that it takes countless hours of labor but no one would ever pay you what it’s worth. This doesn’t mean we never get to make these rare classics, it just means we don’t get to do them as often as we’d like.
When did you get your first Tattoo? How many have you done total approximately, and what is your favorite one? I have 5 tattoos. My 5 just happen to be pretty big, I think I’ve spent about 70 hours under the needle. Symbolically my favorite is my railroad spike, it’s for my dad who just passed away, he’s a retired union pacific railroad engineer. Quality wise it’s definitely my right sleeve by Sung Song. He’s the best, it’s a circus themed piece, I’ve always really loved the circus.
