You get what was an old pub (ET’s), renovate it with a firm dash of smart elegance, inject some big names and acumens to boot, polished greetings at the door and you spit out The Smith – Prahran’s newest gastro pub.

Famed Taxi Dining Room leaked some talent on this one. Michael Lambie and Scott Borg head The Smith Family. Lambie was of course, Head Chef at Taxi and Borg the restaurants Manager.  One suggests they were well liked too…along for the ride is ex-Taxi head Sommelier, Alex Owens.

The kitchen space is revealing. Diners get all the theatre of the kitchens many teams interchanging and finessing over what is set-up to serve an all day dining and grazing menu. There’s the ‘Mouthfuls’ from 4.50 – Peking Duck Dumplings anyone; ‘Tastes’ which are all under $20, ‘Charcuterie’ and ‘Fish & Meat’ all under $40 and shareable.

On entry, go left for dining and right for the bar. Between those two areas Agenda sat upright on one of the long communal tables. There are two communals running parallel and these for us are the prized seats. On a Friday and Saturday they make for prime people viewing and perfect casual dining.

At The Smith our sense is that this is far more about the food than the drinks. Certainly good for a couple of glasses of plonk with the lady or gent, or a starting few with the lads & lasses but a lot better if you’ve got a tummy and table waiting.

Location: 213 High Street, Prahran || Reservations: 9514 2444 || Web: TheSmithPrahran.com.au