When most people visit New York and start planning their dining itinerary, they almost always focus on the restaurants in Manhattan. I too have been guilty of only visiting restaurants in this popular borough on previous visits to NY. But, since moving to the empire state, I’ve discovered that Brooklyn has some serious food chops. There is a huge movement of restaurants and chefs towards handmade artisan food and focusing on locally sourced and seasonal ingredients. I had the pleasure of recently dining at two such restaurants.
The first dinner took me to Williamsburg after reading many reviews about a new gastropub basically doing everything from scratch….and I mean EVERYTHING! Allswell makes its own bread, cures its own fish, butchers and roasts pigs raised especially for them, and changes the menu EVERY day…the days menu is posted on its website every night at 6pm. (causing a menu studier like myself serious anxiety!) But I had no reason to be worried, Allswell more than lives up to the hype. My friends and I all agreed the small plates were the most appealing and in an effort to try as much as we could, we decided the smartest decision was to share a bunch of their smaller plates. This, by the way, is my favorite way to eat out…small bites of many delicious things shared among friends..never a bad thing!
Welsh Rarebit: beer and cheese sauce on toast...beer, melted cheese, toasted homemade bread...really, what could be bad??
Burrata with marinated artichokes, olives, and homemade chili bread
Roasted pork with aioli, anchovies, capers, and homemade olive bread
Broccolini with dante cheese, shishito peppers, almonds...we needed one vegetable!
Left: Cured arctic char with potato cake, dill, capers, and homemade creme fraiche
Right: Sweet breads sautéed in butter with mint and snap peas
I really don’t think any comments are necessary…just look at all that deliciousness! But I will say the two favorite dishes were the pork and the char. That pork…I still think about it today. With the creamy aioli, salty anchovies, and homemade bread…it is that bite that keeps running through my head. I’m normally not a sour cream lover, but the homemade creme fraiche on the crispy potato pancake and silky smooth cured char was nothing like any sour cream I’ve had before. All is definitely well at Allswell!
The other Brooklyn dining adventure that week took me to a restaurant I’ve walked by maybe a hundred times and have always been intrigued. It was “Becoming Brooklyn’s” rave review that prompted me to immediately find a time to go and try the farm to table cuisine at The Farm On Adderley in Ditmas Park. A relaxed atmosphere with mis-matched wood chairs and tables, The Farm is such a warm and inviting spot, and the service only adds to the decor. The menu is simple, with a focus on the ingredients as The Farm lists exactly where their produce, meat, fish, and dairy products come from. No small plates this time…just good old-fashioned appetizer and main course dining.
Jerusalem artichoke soup with smoked apples
Carrots and ricotta with pine nuts, lemon, and olive oil
This was my first Jerusalem artichoke experience and will not be my last! The soup was super rich and creamy and the smoked apples gave it a sweet and almost bacon like flavor. So unique! My friends carrot and ricotta dish was as fresh as the picture looks and the ricotta was extra thick and had almost a hummusy flavor…and we love hummus so this was a good thing.
Poached farm egg with wheat berries, quinoa, butternut squash, kale, and parmesan...post breaking the yolk
Char with green lentils and roasted beets
Can we just pause for a moment and look at that beautiful, oozing, yellow yolk. That my friends, is what a perfectly poached egg should look like. I have to admit, I had a little bit of dish envy when my friends plate was placed on the table. But my char held its own. The flavors from the beets, garlic, and vinegar really went well together and the char was perfectly cooked to a medium rare. This dish was spot on. So give Brooklyn restaurants a try will you?
In some exciting blog news, my last recipe was featured on The Good Eats Daily…so check it out! http://paper.li/greenearthbazar/food-recipes
