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August 12, 2009

Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up

Now Open: Der Schwarze Kölner
710 Fulton St., Fort Greene; (347) 841-4495
Eater shared this photo of Fort Greene's new beer garden and says that "the sun drenched corner spot has plenty of space at its long bar and communal tables for serious drinking. They're serving 18 German-only draft beers from $4-$16 along with bratwurst, pretzels, cheese platters, and pickles."

No. 7: Brooklyn's Best New Restaurant?
7 Greene Avenue, Fort Greene; (718) 522-6370
Bon Appétit named No. 7 one of their top 10 best new restaurants in America, citing the waitstaff, which (allegedly) looks "straight out of an American Apparel catalog" and the "risk-taking, slightly theatrical menu from chef Tyler Kord." The magazine also shares the recipe for No. 7's Pumpkin-Seed-Crusted Tofu with Lemongrass Broth, Rice Noodles, and Poached Eggs. Do you believe the hype about this place? Share your thoughts in our restaurants section.

Speakeasy to Open in Bed-Stuy... with a Dress Code
Eater says that SarahJames, a speakeasy-style restaurant, is set to open this Saturday on Pulaski and Throop: "The menu will include 'classic American food, including steak & chops, seafood, and pastas.' ...and a dress code ('no sneakers, baseball caps, droopy jeans or hoodies') will be enforced." Does this sound a little strange or strict to anybody else?

After the jump: Brooklyn Brewery reveals plans for their new bacon beer; Floridians attempt to recreate Brooklyn bagels, a video on illegal Brooklyn beekeeping, an interview with the man behind Buttermilk Channel, praise for Fort Defiance...

Brooklyn Brewery's Bacon Beer
Broookyn’s brewmaster, Garrett Oliver, has been experimenting with bacon fat and brown ale, and then aging the experimental brew in bourbon barrels. He tells Pete Wells from the New York Times Diner's Journal: “Either this will be the most amazingly disgusting thing you’ve ever tasted in your life. Or I shall rule the earth.”

Floridians Recreate Brooklyn Bagels
Gothamist says that "a south Florida company, The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co., has started selling bagels that owner Steve Fassberg claims taste just like our bagels—because they're made with 'Brooklyn water.' The effect isn't achieved by a tap water pipeline from Brooklyn, but by an elaborate water filtration system, enclosed behind a glass wall in the restaurant." (Not sure if we buy into this technology, but we'll definitely be telling our Grandma about this!)

Quick Bites
Jauntsetter chats with Buttermilk Channel owner Doug Crowell... A "passionate crew of illegal urban beekeepers in Brooklyn" post a video on Vimeo... And The L Magazine (with the help of yours truly) piles praises on Fort Defiance...

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Comments

The dress code sounds impractical, discriminatory, and offensive. Is there really any need for it? I haven't seen anyone dressed in, um, this manner in Peaches, Saraghina, or even Bread Stuy, which is a casual cafe. Or are they worried their restaurant is going to be more of a pick-up spot or club?

Posted by: mopar at August 12, 2009 11:36 AM

I heart Garrett Oliver.

Posted by: new2hood at August 12, 2009 11:37 AM

Umm... I think the dress code is *meant* to be discriminatory... in a positive sense. There are a lot of bars/clubs that have dress codes in some manner to create a certain "atmosphere." obviously, they are targeting a crowd that's not the hip-hop and/or thug crowd.

Posted by: tybur6 at August 12, 2009 11:47 AM

Please, a dress code for a casual restaurant?

This is obviously one of those 'restaurants' that turns into an annoying club (sans caberet license) during weekend nights. I bet this place will be a neighborhood nuisance for a while.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at August 12, 2009 11:49 AM

It's funny that the Bon Appetit article says that the wait staff look "straight out of an American Apparel catalog" which is classic Brooklyn.

Brooklyn is awesome, but aside from parts of Williamsburg, it's definitely not filled with young hot exotic models. Sure, the quality has gotten better in the last few years, but it's still far below what you see in the East Village or Soho.

Posted by: IronBalls at August 12, 2009 11:55 AM

I'm a tough sell, but No. 7 is really, really, really good. It continually impresses. An excellent value, and nicely informal to boot.

Posted by: zinka at August 12, 2009 11:58 AM

I've REALLY enjoyed my couple times at No. 7

I think it deserves the praise.

James is another really wonderful place, if you haven't tried it yet.

Posted by: 11217 at August 12, 2009 12:03 PM

ditto new2hood.

Posted by: eh at August 12, 2009 12:07 PM

I dunno, opening a speakeasy in Bed Stuy, and not the most prosperous part of that neighborhood, either, and then excluding a sizable portion of the under 35 population of said area sounds discriminatory to me. It would be more out front to simply say, "this place is for young, white hipsters of a certain income and style of dress, and their friends of color with same criteria, only."

I, personally, don't want anyone around me who can't pull up their pants over their butts and keep them there, and I can see where they are coming from, but still, that dress code screams bias. Not cool.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at August 12, 2009 12:26 PM

No this isn't strange I think it is okay to enforce no baseball caps, droopy jeans or hoodies'. Sneakers well everyone wears sneakers mostly for comfort.
But i think this would be a great addition to the neighborhood!

Posted by: mysideofstuy at August 12, 2009 12:28 PM

I remember being at Buttermilk Channel once and there was some wedding dinner or whatever, a large group of friends all Abercrombie and Fitced out and there were 2 guys with fancy hipstery hats that kept them on while eating (I wanted to do a Three Stooges slap across their heads to knock them off). No matter how nice one dresses up, there will always be uncouth people in the crowd.

Posted by: lifer at August 12, 2009 12:44 PM

In my experience whenever a place starts off with a dress code of some sort that place ends up exactly opposite of what was planned. Happened to Soundz Lounge in Harlem where a no baggy jeans and baseball caps type place turned into $3 beers for college students all day kinda place. Happened to 95 South in CH where they originally wanted a mature, professional crowd yet six months later the crowd on line out in front putting their business all out on the street is decidedly not. I wish SarahJames luck and hope they can stick to their guns and make a proffit.

Posted by: kissera at August 12, 2009 12:57 PM

omg soundz lounge i remember that place!
*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 12, 2009 1:06 PM

Gotta agree with MM on this one.

Posted by: sixyearsandcounting at August 12, 2009 1:30 PM

Oops, posted too soon. People should be kicked out of casual bars and clubs based on *behavior*. If your clothes are all thugged out and you're having a good time and not harassing/disturbing others, who cares?

Posted by: sixyearsandcounting at August 12, 2009 1:33 PM

Last time I ate at Smith and Wollensky a group came in and one young man was dressed in a white tee shirt and shorts, with flipflops.

Having a dresscode, I'm ok with it. Men often have to wear jackets to dinner...why not be fancy?

Posted by: infinitejester at August 12, 2009 1:40 PM

You should see me when I'm "all thugged out" with my jeans below my ass, my Fifty Nine 50 cap on sideways and the big bling clock around my neck.

This place is too far for me to bother to travel to.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 12, 2009 1:42 PM

The idea of excluding based on attire is a waste of time. Most places don't enforce it, and it ends up being a case by case basis. Business owners who do this limit their potential profit. I don't go into the previosly mentioned 95 South because of the rowdy crowd it attracts, not based on the attire. A similiarly dressed crowd hangs out around the corner @ Franklin Park, but is much better behaved.

Posted by: charise at August 12, 2009 1:46 PM

Excluding customers based on a dress code is a 1000yo tradition and it works. Some places are fancier than others and that's that. If they turn away some billionaire who's pants are falling down to his knees or who just happened to leave his ascot at home - big whoop.

As to the accusations of bias - because some of us are or know of well-behaved people who dress like idiots doesn't mean that 9 out of 10 times that someone dressed like an idiot is in fact an idiot.

Isn't insinuating that most of the residents around Pulaski and Throop dress in droopy jeans, hoodies and baseball caps offensive?

Posted by: crazypants at August 12, 2009 2:25 PM

If you're going to tell me what I can wear to dinner - you better deliver some tasty sh*t

The only places I know of that have a dress code are very upscale (Per Se, Jean Georges etc - 21 club doesn't even require a jacket anymore) - and I have no problem with it.

But a local neighborhood spot with unknown quality of food trying to control it's non-existant clientele before opening? Not smart

Posted by: dirty_hipster at August 12, 2009 2:42 PM

Der Schwarze Kölner looks like crap already.

Posted by: superstooper at August 12, 2009 3:07 PM

i say we have our next meetup at that speakeasy and wear our best thug gear

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 12, 2009 3:43 PM

Oh my god i can't believe how seriously you people take your everyday boring attire. Look, it's not personal, this place is playing the oldest exclusivity trick in the book, Old-school new york, and it WORKS. People LIKE to dress up, they LOVE to be told to dress up. It makes the occasion feel special. Imagine it's like the glorified grammy's or the opera or something. You want to look like a slob? there's a million places to do that. Choose those places and enjoy being "accepted" for being "you" whatever the hell that means to you. But I love the fact that there's a place that requires a bit of drama and imagination on the part of the clientele. And fyi, every cool club in ny (and I mean cool, not trendy), used to have the severest dress code. IT wasn't as explicit as this one, but everyone who was a regular knew what the door person liked and they LOVED dressing up FOR that door person.

Posted by: iz at August 12, 2009 3:45 PM

I agree with superstooper. Also, the guy that's always standing in the door whenever I walk by there has a permanent scowl on his face. Bummer.

Posted by: iz at August 12, 2009 4:04 PM

Remember people: you can be dressed up and still be a sick puppy.

Posted by: infinitejester at August 12, 2009 4:06 PM

If you have to "announce" a speakeasy, it's not a real speakeasy.

Posted by: East New York at August 12, 2009 4:30 PM

russell simmons is one of the most influential, wealthiest people in the the entertainment industry. he was very instrumental in getting the rockefeller laws rescinded. everytime i've seen coverage of him, whether it's a casual event the rock and roll hall of fame, obama's election night ball or a meeting with gov patterson and oprah , he is sharply, cleanly, and expensively attired and wearing sneakers and a yankee fitted baseball cap. i'm guessing he won't be allowed at speakeasy. this places sound wack.

Posted by: ramona at August 12, 2009 5:55 PM

One one point I can understand why some establishment owners in certain neighborhoods would feel obligated to keep certain "elements" out. However, I would advise the owners to adjust their price points and the type of music they play first. That may work better than expected.

Posted by: Crownlfc at August 13, 2009 12:40 AM

I tried new beer "garden" the other night. A packed crowd on a Tues night. The A/C was on the blink, they finally opened the windows. The beer selection was decent, from light, crisp pilsners and lagers to darker ales and stouts. The sausage, er, bratwurst on a roll with mustard was the perfect drunk food.

Posted by: Crownlfc at August 13, 2009 12:52 AM

We swung through the other night. The scowling dude turned out to be a very nice fellow, very passionate about his establishment. I would love to see them redesign it to bring the din down to less excrutiating levels. add some fake beams, put some shelving on the walls, I don't know -- or ask a designer friend to help them come up with other noise-reduction tricks.
Also, please!!!!! wash those windows (the oily smears made me lose my appetite) and put in some lighting. The weird cheapo bulbs with the migraine glare have got to be replaced.
Finally: 3 average beers, 2 small pretzels and 2 okay sausages on dry rolls: $44 bucks. HOLY *@#($&%(&@#%(&@(&#%(&.

Posted by: iz at August 13, 2009 11:24 AM

« Savings in Fort Greene Condo of the Day: 445 3rd Avenue, #201 »

August 12, 2009

Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up

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