The word of the day is certainly barbecue! In addition to Wild Flower’s plans for Majestic in the Central West End and Dave Bailey’s announcement about a new restaurant downtown, Tom Schmidt also announced that he is changing the concept and name of his restaurant Nico (pictured), located at 6525 Delmar Blvd., in The Loop. Instead of Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, patrons will be able to fill up on, you guessed it, slow-smoked barbecue. The new concept will be called Salt + Smoke BBQ and, while Schmidt has targeted an early summer opening, he stated that the restaurant may open as early as the last week in May.
“This is a great time for this concept to come to The Loop,” said Schmidt regarding the switch from Mediterranean fare to barbecue. “We’ve been smoking and curing meat in-house for years,” he said about the culinary program at his other restaurant, Franco. “Chef is excited to expand that passion into the barbecue world,” he elaborated, adding that while the menu will be barbecue-focused, “sides won’t be an afterthought.”
John Dreja will take on the role of pitmaster for Salt + Smoke. Helming the kitchen will be Haley Riley, who assumed the executive chef position at Nico last week, replacing chef Grace Dinsmoor. Dinsmoor’s last day at Nico was March 31. While she has accepted a position with a different employer, when The Scoop spoke with her, she was not at liberty to disclose such information.
Nico remains open but will close for a brief period in late May or early June so that the interior can be remodeled and the kitchen outfitted to accommodate the new menu.
– photo by Jonathan Gayman
This article appears in April 2014.