Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up

Will Brooklyn’s Hookah Bars Get Snuffed?
City Councilman Vincent Gentile of Brooklyn “is trying to extend the city’s indoor smoking ban to hookah bars… Under the proposal, no new hookah bars would be allowed to open beginning in 2012. Existing hookah bars would be required to register with the New York City Department of Health, and would not be allowed to expand or change locations,” NY1 reports. But Grub Street thinks this proposal is a terrible idea: “Look, everyone knows that hookah bars are essentially weekend day-care centers for annoying 16-year-olds — what’s going to happen when they’re outlawed and kids in braces move over to real bars?” Photo by omphale44.

Recently Reviewed: Kappa Sake House
388 Fifth Avenue (Sixth Street), Park Slope; (718) 832-2970, kappasakehouse.com
“Best is the misleadingly named miso risotto ($8 at lunch, $9.50 at dinner), which is essentially congee with oomph. The rich soup — based on a broth of kombu and bonito flakes — comes in a cast-iron pot, roiling with tofu, shiitakes and scraps of egg… It is what you want to eat all winter.” [New York Times]

Brooklyn’s Weirdest Sandwiches
Eater maps out the city’s “strangest new sandwiches,” and 3 Brooklyn sammies make the list, including the O.G. Po-Boy at Honeychiles’ in Williamsburg: “Who would have thought that a thick pile of crispy skin-on French fries stuffed inside a loaf of flaky, mayo-slathered baguette, topped with beef gravy would actually be really good? And not a single customer has had a heart attack while eating it yet! $5”

After the jump: Rave review for a Smith Street spot and Court’s new wine bar…

Chowhound Buzz: Sue Perette
270 Smith Street, Carroll Gardens; (718) 643-2861
“The frisee salad my wife ordered was one of the best I’ve tasted in a long time. Our son had the poached foie gras which was fantastic. For my main, I had beef cheeks with what tasted like cheesy mashed potatoes fried into clouds. Spectacular… Dinner for 3 with a bottle of wine with tax and tip was $170 which I think is pretty much average. Overall, we were very happy with the meal and intend to return.” [Chowhound Bkeats]

A Look at Palo Cortado
520 Court St., nr. Huntington St., Carroll Gardens; (718) 407-0047
Grub Street tells us what to expect at this new wine bar and tapas joint: “you’ll find a dozen sherries, four draft beers, Spanish wines, and wine cocktails (sorry, no hard liquor). Cooking behind a 38-seat tapas counter, chef Jimmy Stafford is coming off of six years working for Hyatt (he recently helped open Wall & Water); in addition to the assortment of traditional tapas… he plans to offer daily specials ‘with a little bit of flair,’ such as today’s house-cured salmon carpaccio with watercress apples and horseradish.”