Coppersmith, Your New 'Third Space,' Opens Today in Southie

Conceptualized over a lifetime and in the works for three years, Coppersmith opens today at 40 W. 3rd St. in South Boston.

"This is my dream. It’s everything I ever wanted in a restaurant," Red Door Hospitality restaurateur Travis Talbot said.

Indeed, it is most everything a restaurant could be: The 15,000-square foot, former copper foundry has an 88-seat dining room with communal tables; a 75-seat bar area with "elbow dining space;" a daytime cafe with hidden electrical outlets and "Star Wars-quality wifi" that doubles as a private event space at night; a ground-level outdoor patio with picnic tables; and, come Monday, according to Urban Daddy, a rooftop deck with Seaport views and a converted Airstream trailer service station.

Oh, and food trucks. Two of them. Parked in the dining room.

Looking ahead to spring, the Airstream trailer will serve as a raw bar, and Talbot previously said there will be a rooftop garden, too.

"We want to be a hub, that third-space place between home and work," Talbot told the Herald.

Chef Chris Henry, a Barbara Lynch Gruppo alum, is overseeing all of the food, including the separate, changing menus at the two food trucks. He's "not reinventing the culinary wheel," but the Virginia native is bringing classic, French training to traditional American, and particularly Southern, cuisine to the restaurant, and globally-inspired street food to the food trucks. Urban Daddy has the full menu.

Coppersmith proper (if you will) has small plates, appetizers, sandwiches, entrees, and family-style meals, including fried green tomatoes; a fried, bloomin' mushroom; bacon and egg salad with frisee; a soft-shell BLT with Old Bay aioli; smoked pork chop with Virgina peanuts and collard greens; buttermilk fried chicken; and a lobster boil. There's also brunch.

The trucks, which will also host guest chefs, culinary events, and charitable events in the future, feature snacks like Korean spare ribs; Carolina mustard wings; grilled naan with curried potato and cauliflower, mango chutney, za'atar, and sprouts; and steamed buns with pork belly.

Zagat notes the 12 draft lines will feature a rotating tap that either spotlights a unique craft, or benefits a local charity. To start, it's a collaborative brew Coppersmith commissioned from Harpoon. Classic cocktails are given a contemporary rendering, like the New England Cobbler, with dry, Rainwater Medeira, dark rum, simple syrup, orange slice and raspberry garnish. The bar also offers snacks, like house-made Chex mix.

Coppersmith is open daily, starting with the coffee bar at 6 a.m., until 1 a.m.