by: Anna Frost
Meet James Smith, or, as everyone on the island knows him, George. Be prepared for blank stares if you inquire about the chef at the Ritz by any other name. Regardless of what he is called, George can be found at the Oak Bluffs dive bar, The Ritz, cooking up a hodge-podge of Tex-Mex, taco truck, and good ol’ American cuisine. It may also be the only dive bar in America that serves not one, but three kale salads, as well as a bacon, kale and tomato sandwich. Customers also have fresh, local seafood and produce from island farms like Morning Glory and Thimble to look forward to once the season picks up this month.
George opens the kitchen at 4 p.m. every day and stays open as long as the bar, which is 1 a.m., providing plenty of opportunity to chow down on tacos, quesadillas, sliders, or the housemade six-cheese and beer queso.
So you’re George, but you have a proper name?
George is a Vineyard name, really.
How did that happen?
When I was working at the Red Cat, the bartender, Jay, and Ben forgot my name, so they told the staff it was George. So the servers, the bussers, they started calling me George and I was like “What the hell is going on?” Finally three days later, Ben cracks and starts dying, laughing, “I told everyone your name was George,” and it stuck. From then on, no matter how hard I tried to sway people, it was George, so I just kind of ran with it.
Where’d you learn to cook?
It was purely accidental. I was doing bouncing and doing valet at a nightclub…and their cook walked out one day, and the general manager was a good friend of mine and I hopped on the line with her. That was eight years ago and I never stopped. I’ve never gone to culinary school, never taken a cooking class.
What do you like about The Ritz?
It’s a dive bar. It’s no frills – we serve stuff on half sheet trays and quarter pans and the plastic stuff, and for me it’s not about what plate you use, it’s what goes into it.
I noticed you have a lot of kale on the menu, are you a fan of kale?
No, no.
Then why is there so much kale on the menu?
I’ll be honest with you, I’m going through 20-30 pounds of kale a week in salads. People are digging it, because no one’s really doing kale salads [on the island].
If you’re going to eat something on your menu every day for a month, what would it be?
I’d have to eat the same thing every day?! [laughs] You know what, honestly the tacos.
Which ones?
I’m a big fan of the pork…I would have to say the pork tacos, and put a little queso and some bacon on it – I make up my own stuff when I get hungry.
