Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up

Photo by the Village Voice‘s Fork in the Road blog

Now Open: Scandinavian Grace Cafe
668 President Street (at 5th Avenue), Park Slope
Williamsburg design shop Scandinavian Grace has opened the Scandinavian Grace Café in Park Slope. The owner told the Village Voice “that they’re focusing on housewares, plus coffee, sweets and Scandinavian food items. On the shelves, I noticed those enormous Swedish crackers, elderflower and lingonberry concentrates, lots of jams, a waffle mix, plus other sundry groceries.”

Opening This Week: Whiskey Sunday
49 Lincoln Road (between Flatbush and Ocean Aves), ProspectLefferts Gardens; (718) 282-7098
“A massive wood smoker—capable of cooking 500 pounds of meat at once—is the keystone of Richard Krause’s Texas barbecue joint. Look for spice-rubbed slabs of beef (brisket, cheeks, short ribs), pork (shoulder, belly, ribs) and chicken. As the name suggests, there’s an extensive collection of whiskey (currently 75 bottles and growing), along with 14 beers on tap.” [Time Out New York]

Sneak Peak: Prime Meats
465 Court Street, at Luquer Street, Carroll Gardens; (718) 254-0327
Though Frankies 457 spin-off Prime Meats hasn’t officially opened yet, A Brooklyn Life‘s Erin Behan managed to sneak in and sample some of their uniquely flavored cocktails: “Words that come to mind are ‘herbaceous,’ ‘forest-y,’ and ‘medicinal.’ That may have something to do with my choice of The Waterfront, a mix of Fernet-Branca, Branca Menta and ginger ale, which is best described as what a Halls mentho-lyptus drop would taste like if bottled and bubbled.” Behan preferred the Strawberry Mash, made with “rye, whiskey barrel aged bitters, muddled strawberries and mint–it’s a bracing drink that won’t win over strawberry lovers but truly makes the whiskey shine.”

After the jump: Di Fara remains closed while the owner recovers from car accident, Beer Table‘s Tuesday-night dinner, a review of Walter Foods, yet another Uncle Louie G‘s, Zipi Zape reinvents itself, and more…

Di Fara Remains Closed
1424 Avenue J, Midwood; (718) 258-1367
Dom DeMarco, owner of this beloved Midwood pizzeria, is in the mend, but Di Fara didn’t open last week, as planned. Grub Street reports, “A new outgoing message says owner Dom DeMarco is still recovering from last month’s car accident: ‘Our expected date of reopening is sometime in February, exact date still unknown.'”

Tuesday Night Dinner at Beer Table
427 Seventh Avenue (near 14th Street), Park Slope; (718) 965-1196
“Tuesday nights are devoted to a proper prix fixe dinner, when chef Julie Farias whips up three courses that, at $25, represent one of the best values in town on any night of the week. The meals are subtly thematic, never the same, and matched with optional (but highly recommended) $15 beer pairings by owner Justin Philips… Farias is an alum of kitchens like Café Boulud, and seems to be relishing the casual environs, the freedom to improvise, and the local following for whom Tuesday-night dinner has become not just a night out, but a cherished ritual.” [New York magazine]

Quick Bites
Time Out New York reviews Williamsburg’s Walter Foods… Metromix chats with the owner of Caracas Brooklyn… Gowanus Lounge says that another Uncle Louie G is coming to Smith and 9th… Brad Farmerie, the chef at Manhattan’s Public and Double Crown and a resident of Carroll Gardens, shares his favorite local food spots with Time Out New York — DUB Pies and Eton top his list… And Grub Street reports that our favorite Williamsburg tapas joint, Zipi Zape, will be reopening tomorrow as a “Mediterranean-American restaurant, Barberry, with the same chef, Diego Gonzales.”