Smith has published two cookbooks, Back to the Table and Kitchen Life, about home cooking and family life. He edits a monthly article on Oprah.com and contributes articles to O, The Oprah Magazine.

Smith founded the non-profit charity Common Threads, which focuses on teaching children about different cultures through food and art. Common Threads has served over 750 children and served 2,000 healthy meals to children in 2006. He serves on the board of directors of “Kids Café”, a nutrition program, for children in Minneapolis. Smith owns and runs a highly successful restaurant in Chicago called TABLE fifty-two as well as Art and Soul in Washington, D.C. In 2009, Smith raised $10,000 for Common Threads as a participant on Top Chef Masters.

Smith has cooked for many celebrities and heads of state, including Barack Obama and the current King of Sweden. In addition to being chef for Florida Governor Bob Graham, he cooked for Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Romero Britto, film stars Ali Landry and Eduardo Verástegui amongst many others.

Smith lives in Chicago, Illinois with his partner of ten years, Jesus Salgueiro, a painter; they donate their time to many causes, from children's cooking classes to humanitarian aid.

Shortly before his 50th birthday, Smith was diagnosed with diabetes. In response, he changed his diet and lost 85 pounds to reverse the diagnosis.