# Smith

> Smith is an Asbury Park-based hospitality group that grew out of a 1990s branding and design studio. Beginning in 2006 with Brickwall Tavern, its partners helped restart a stalled downtown, then built a collective of restaurants and bars - Porta, Pascal & Sabine, Homesick, and Lovesick - that pair scratch kitchens with art-filled rooms. Smith treats hospitality as an instrument of urban renewal, designing, branding, and operating each venue in-house.

- **Founded:** 2006
- **Headquarters:** Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States
- **Founders:** Meg Brunette (Founding Partner), Kyle Lepree (Founding Partner), Jason Watt (Founding Partner), Jim Watt (Partner / Architect)
- **Team size:** Roughly 20-25 headquarters staff plus several hundred restaurant employees across locations
- **Products:** Porta, Pascal & Sabine, Homesick, Lovesick, Private & Public Events
- **Notable:** Brickwall Tavern (2006) is widely cited as the spark of Asbury Park's downtown revival; the city's economic development director called it 'a breakthrough.', Porta Asbury Park earned an 'excellent' review from The New York Times in 2013., Expanded the Porta concept to Jersey City (2014) and Montclair.

## Products & services

- **Porta** — Rustic Italian and Neapolitan pizzeria with daily-made dough, mozzarella, and ricotta; the Asbury Park flagship doubles as a dance club. Locations in Asbury Park, Jersey City, and Montclair.
- **Pascal & Sabine** — French brasserie at 601 Bangs Ave in Asbury Park, named for the children in the film 'The Red Balloon.' Open since 2013.
- **Homesick** — Asbury Park scratch kitchen on Cookman Avenue celebrating seasonal ingredients.
- **Lovesick** — Quirky small wine bar adjacent to Homesick on Cookman Avenue.
- **Private & Public Events** — Weddings, buyouts, rehearsal dinners, corporate events, and art/music programming across Smith venues, including Porta's disco-ball-lit Abbot Room.
- **Design & Branding (Fishbird)** — In-house concept development, branding, and interior design methodology used to build each Smith venue and outside clients.

## Achievements

- Brickwall Tavern (2006) is widely cited as the spark of Asbury Park's downtown revival; the city's economic development director called it 'a breakthrough.'
- Porta Asbury Park earned an 'excellent' review from The New York Times in 2013.
- Expanded the Porta concept to Jersey City (2014) and Montclair.
- Built a multi-concept hospitality collective - Porta, Pascal & Sabine, Homesick, Lovesick - from a former design studio.

## Latest updates

- **2015** — Targeted Burlington City, NJ as its next revitalization project, acquiring a 16,000-square-foot former firehouse.
- **2014** — Opened Porta Jersey City.

## Links

- Website: https://www.smithmade.org
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/smth

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/smith
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-01