Paul Smith ‘02

Chef/Owner,1010 Bridge; Charleston, WV

Paul Smith ‘02 is chef-owner of 1010 Bridge restaurant and catering company. His deeply engrained love of both cooking and West Virginia can be traced back to his earliest of days, standing alongside his grandfather, helping stir the sauce for the large Sunday dinners so common among Italian families who had settled in the coalfields. With his bachelor’s degree from West Virginia State University, he formally trained at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York, and the CIA at Greystone campus in St. Helena, California, where he studied pastries and wine. Today, he has multiple restaurants in Charleston, West Virginia’s capital: Barkadas, The Pitch Sports Bar & Grill, and 1010 Bridge Restaurant & Catering, which quickly gained a reputation as one of the state’s premiere dining destinations. Chef Paul was named a finalist in 2023 for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef of The Southeast Award and is the first West Virginia chef to receive that honor. His ultimate vision is to give back to the state he has always considered home through his gifts of great food and warm hospitality.