Dan Smith ( left ) and Steve McDonagh—The Hearty Boys—talk about books, business and food. __________
Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh—the entertaining yet calm individuals who comprise the entity known as The Hearty Boys—are doing what a select few ( such as Beyoncé and Oprah ) have accomplished: become successful in more than one enterprise.
Many know the twosome as the ones behind the eponymous catering business as well as the Lakeview restaurant HB: A Hearty Boys Spot and their Food Network series Party Line with Dan and Steve, the latter a result of the duo's victory on the reality show Search for the Next Food Network Star. However, they are also planning to release a book as well as open another North Side restaurant, Frill, in the spring.
Below is the latest in what the partners ( in business and in life ) have done and what they will do as they expand their empire—although they are pretty sure that it won't get any larger than this for a while. 'I think that a business can take a life of its own and almost dictate to you where it needs to go,' Smith told Windy City Times. 'This is the size that we want to stay,' added McDonagh. Indeed, they have come a long way from Smith's café in Bethel, Maine.
Television: The show Party Line—in which The Hearty Boys provide entertainment ideas for get-togethers of every conceivable size and occasion— is now in its third season. 'Winning the reality show was interesting because you think that nobody really ever wins that stuff,' said Smith, who said that they made the video for the audition and 'just moved on' because they were so busy. 'The really hard part was being one of the final eight who were selected [ out of 10,000 ] ,' said McDonagh. 'It involves some luck.'
Cookbook: The book, entitled Talk with Your Mouth Full, will be out in 2007—and, along the way, the duo learned some lessons about the publishing business. 'We had been working on the cookbook for a couple of years before Food Network happened,' McDonagh said. 'However, once that happened, we were dealing with them and our agency ( William Morris ) , lawyers, and more—which then pushed the book back at least a year.' Smith added, 'Once you get a publisher, it then takes [ another ] year and most of that has to do with marketing. However, it will be out in September [ 2007 ] , just in time for the holiday season.'
Like their show, the book will focus on parties. However, McDonagh and Smith insist that it will be a lot more readable than your standard cookbook. 'There's a big hors d'oeuvres section as well as areas devoted to dinners ( sides, entrees and desserts ) and a big section about drinks,' Smith said. Added McDonagh, 'There will also be tons of tips, like how to set up a buffet and how much ice to buy, for example.'
There will also 'be a lot of stories,' said McDonagh. 'We don't want it to be like a Martha [ Stewart ] cookbook. We want it to be something funny that you're enjoying as well as using.'
Moreover, the duo feels that anyone can use this book. Describing themselves to Windy City Times, Smith emphasized that 'neither one of us went to school for culinary [ arts ] . If I can cook, anyone can cook. I learned from other people, the Web and cookbooks.' 'The problem is that people don't read recipes and start substituting, for example, vanilla pudding for milk—although experimentation can be good,' said McDonagh.
HB: A Hearty Boys Spot: The restaurant HB: A Hearty Boys Spot ( 3404 N. Halsted; 773-661-0299 ) features a menu that changes seasonally, according to Smith, but added that executive chef Joncarl Lachman 'does a lot of specials. During the season, he went to the green market and did a Wednesday Green Market special. It's a small menu, and probably a third of it is also specials that change on a daily basis.' 'He has total reign over the menu,' said McDonagh. 'Right now, he's focusing on game meats. [ Recently, ] he did braised buffalo shortribs,' said Smith.
When it comes to food trends ( such as fusion and science ) , the duo generally shuns them. 'I think you have to be true to your own vision, and you can't try to impose the latest food trends on that vision,' said Smith. 'What [ some trendy restaurants ] do, I can't do.' McDonagh stressed that 'we don't follow trends; we do what's right for us. Trends come and go. If we followed them, we're not going to be in the forefront of anything.'
' [ For example, ] when we started the catering company, we wanted to serve the gay and lesbian community—not because it's a cash cow, but because we thought our community lacks a comfort level when it comes to catering,' McDonagh said. 'You don't want to be judged by a waiter in your own home. We are staffed with gays, lesbians and [ allies ] —and it caught on. We're not trying to start trends; maybe, we're just aware of them quicker.' 'Our PR person said to us that we are setting trends because we're a national presence; people look to us to see what we're doing,' Smith stated.
Frill: Frill, slated to open in the spring at 3819 N. Broadway, will focus on hors d'oeuvres. In fact, it is named after the frilled toothpicks inserted into such items. 'It was going to be called Hors D'Oeuvre until we realized people would have trouble spelling it when they tried to Google it,' said McDonagh.
Deciding upon the theme was easy, said McDonagh: 'We want a place that closely resembles what we do as caterers. Everyone's favorite part of a wedding [ involves ] hors d'oeuvres. We want a classic supper-club feel ( and there'll be live music ) ; we want people to come in and order four to six pieces. It's going to be a nice date place.'
When asked if the new place is like a tapas-style restaurant, the answer is...sorta. 'It's a sister idea to [ that type of ] restaurant,' said McDonagh. 'Tapas are more geared as sides to main dishes; these are actually hors d'oeuvres, so you're not getting like a little plate of potatoes. This is finger food,' Smith added. Look for such food items such as Mexican meatballs in chipotle sauce; coriander-lime shrimp; and soup shooters.
Something else that will distinguish this place is that it will serve cocktails from long ago—just think beyond the '70s ( e.g., Rob Roys ) and more into the Prohibition era. 'They're going to be classic drinks from the '20s and '30s that have fallen out of favor,' McDonagh said. 'We will actually hire a bar manager who's a mixologist to put together really cool items.'
The decor will feature dark curtains; a huge wood bar; curved booths; little lamps on tables; and swaths of marble. 'We want a true cabaret feel,' McDonagh said. In addition, there will be an outdoor eating area.
See www.heartyboys.com for more, including extensive info about their catering.