Hearty Boys Visit Woodstock

Chicago’s very own Food Network stars, caterers, restaurateurs, authors and genuinely nice guys, Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh highlighted the Woodstock Fine Arts Association's Creative Living Series Thursday at the Woodstock Opera House. And what a hit they were!

Calling themselves The Hearty Boys, Dan and Steve got their food start in an eight by eight foot Chicago kitchen that was so small they could stand in the middle and touch the stove, fridge, and the collapsible counter top they had rigged to the wall behind the back door. Four hundred twenty-three guests listened to The Hearty Boys talk of their journey, stopping to highlight events and share laughs with the group.

Neither Steve nor Dan went to culinary school or studied the hospitality industry in college. Starting out as actors in New York, Dan and Steve ventured into the food industry to help pay the bills, moved to Chicago, and the rest is, as they say, history.

Once in Chicago their lives became busier and busier. In one eight week period during the summer of 2005, Steve and Dan beat out 10,000 entrants to become The Next Food Network Stars where they launched their own show, Party Line with The Hearty Boys, opened their first restaurant called HB, and then adopted their newborn son, Nate.

The Hearty Boys Cookbook, Talk with Your Mouth Full, was released in September of 2008, and the restaurant and catering businesses have continued to flourish. A perfect gift for the holidays, the book is available through their HB Restaurant or here. Steve and Dan even treated the crowd to home-made brownies that melted in one's mouth, and provided the recipe, which will be on their web site tomorrow. Thank you Hearty Boys for making this visit memorable. You were fabulous!

Photo attribution: Somewhatforty Plus