Nate Smith of Allswell
If you ask Nate Smith, chef of ALLSWELL, what he plans to make for October 25th’s Brooklyn Bounty, he’ll tell you he has no idea yet. His favorite time to cook is the period between two seasons, because you get to use ingredients that don’t normally “cross paths,” as he put it. 
A California native, he loves the climate of New York, especially fall. He plans to base his Bounty dish (he hinted at braising) on whatever’s in season at the time, and is very excited to see what October weather, and the restaurant’s first anniversary entail.
After moving to Brooklyn from San Francisco with a group of friends who were more like family, he worked at the Spotted Pig with April Bloomfield. Working with April was an incredible learning experience for Nate, giving him the tools needed to open his own place. After months of construction and lots of stress, he opened ALLSWELL, the homey gastropub in Williamsburg. Smith uses seasonal ingredients, getting biweekly lists of what’s in season from farmers in Lancaster.
The name ALLSWELL was chosen in part because it reflects the desired mood, “all is well.” The ‘well’ in ALLSWELL, Smith mentions, is also a reference to the extensive bar, custom built for the restaurant. Smith believes that great food should not just be for special occasions, especially in a city where so many people don’t cook. Smith wanted to create “a breakfast, lunch and dinner place. It’s fun to have a place that you can stay late at night and drink at night and then come back in the morning for breakfast.”
Amazing french toast!
He’s at the restaurant every day, working to create a place with “a soul that’s more than four walls.” Smith has always worked with food, beginning in pizza joints when he was a teenager. His whole family is involved in the restaurant, although his kids are still picky eaters. Smith loves the community of chefs in Williamsburg, calling it “another generation of the neighborhood” and is thrilled that food is no longer a fringe interest. “When I started cooking,” he explained, “I had no friends that were into it. It was this weird thing that I did.”
In addition to a commitment to seasonal ingredients and everyday goodness, ALLSWELL makes everything from scratch, from sausage to bacon to bread (they have plans to wholesale it down the line). When we visited, the homemade bread was transformed into delicious French toast topped with seasonal peaches. The waitress joked that everything but the peaches were made in-house. ALLSWELL may not have an orchard but it does have a patio, brunch (a recent addition), a bar with late night service, and perhaps most importantly, a chef who loves every minute of what he does.
– by Abigail Koffler
Brooklyn Bounty Intern
Brooklyn Bounty 
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