Oprah’s chef Art Smith partners with Niles mayor, a restaurateur, for Navy Pier restaurant

Niles Mayor George Alpogianis, a restaurateur, and Oprah Winfrey’s former personal chef, whose specialties have been enjoyed by celebrities from Lady Gaga to British royalty, are bringing some star power to Navy Pier in the form of a Southern-themed restaurant called Chef Art Smith’s Reunion.

Alpogianis and celebrity chef Art Smith share ownership of the venture with Alpogianis’ brother, Manolis Alpogianis, and a fourth investor, Smith said.

It’s the seventh restaurant for Smith, who runs a charity and a string of other restaurants around the country, and the sixth restaurant in the Alpogianis brothers’ culinary portfolio.

In Chicago, Smith owns Blue Door Kitchen and Garden, formerly known as Table Fifty-Two, where former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama enjoyed their 2009 Valentine’s Day dinner. Smith also has Chicago Q, a barbecue-oriented restaurant.

Reunion, which serves the Southern fare for which Smith is well known, opened its doors July 18.

In Alpogianis’ recollection, Reunion began as a conversation between the Alpogianis brothers and Smith at the latter’s Disney Springs, Florida, outpost, Homecomin’. The brothers are fried chicken enthusiasts and drove from Tampa Bay, where they’d been attending an airport conference, to Disney Springs to try Smith’s take on the dish. Alpogianis said he has known Smith for years through Manolis, a longtime friend of Smith’s.

“My brother and I started to talk a little bit about how great the fried chicken (at Homecomin’) was,” Alpogianis said. “And my brother at that point and Art started chit chatting about doing something together.”

The food gene runs in the Alpogianis family, which has been in the restaurant business for generations, Smith observed. He added that when George Alpogianis, himself a trained chef, is at the restaurant, “he cooks, he kisses babies… he knows the restaurant business backward and forwards.”

Smith said the idea of opening in Navy Pier was appealing both from the standpoint of “bringing some of this fried chicken magic to Chicago” and because of the pier’s status as a tourist destination.

“Navy Pier is a destination for the Midwest and it is considered the Disneyland of the Midwest,” Smith said. “It’s become very popular and has a lot of other kinds of food outlets, but they said they’re really looking for some nice restaurants.”

Alpogianis predicted that the same dish that germinated the idea for the restaurant would be one of its main draws.

“[Smith] absolutely has, bar none, the best fried chicken in the world, and there’s no question about it,” Alpogianis said.

Smith — who said he’s fresh off of cooking for both the United Nations and Princess Eugenie of the United Kingdom — said that he sells more than 40 tons of fried chicken annually at Homecomin’, his Disney Springs restaurant.

“Every famous person in the world has eaten it,” Smith elaborated, referring to his fried chicken. “I mean, I’ve met Lady Gaga over fried chicken. Even the Obamas, even though they’re very healthy, they still loved it.”

While Reunion has only been open a few weeks, he said the trade’s been brisk so far.

Alpogianis and his brother own several other restaurants through their organization TAG Restaurants, including America’s Dog and Burger at Navy Pier, O’Hare Airport and in Evergreen Park; Carnelli’s Deli at Navy Pier, and Green Market at O’Hare Airport. But the property where Alpogianis spends most of his time is Kappy’s Diner in Morton Grove.

Asked how he planned to balance adding yet another restaurant to his portfolio with his duties as the chief executive for the village of Niles, Alpogianis said he depends on his brother to help him fulfill both sets of responsibilities.

“My brother is very understanding of my schedule for the village,” Alpogianis said. “He knows I am here at Kappy’s six days a week, at Village Hall every Monday and Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.”

Alpogianis added that Reunion will have a general manager and a chef de cuisine to oversee the kitchen when Smith is not at that restaurant. But Smith will be spending the next several weeks at the Pier, he said, to make sure that things are running smoothly as the first sets of diners pass through.

Reunion is located at Navy Pier, 700 E. Grand Ave., #131, Chicago.