I loved everything about Brooklyn Fare (the pop-up restaurant attached to a grocery store), starting with the sign on their window, “Our Kitchen is Bigger than Yours…” It’s just a wonderful feeling to sit in the chef’s kitchen and eat as Cesar Ramirez (formerly of Bouley) prepares the food in front of you, being the only group in the kitchen, knowing that undivided attention is gifted to you for several hours.
It takes a while to get reservations (718-243-0050) at Brooklyn Fare, especially if you want to book the whole space, but I really enjoyed having my friends be the other 9 people. It also helps when one is a fabulous photographer. You’ll see the ones marked “Edmund Song Photography” are superior pictures to mine.
It’s BYOB so we all brought and shared a wonderful variety of wines. It’s a relaxing atmosphere where you can ask Cesar (the chef) questions and really get to know him. It’s a priceless experience.
For one, he’s got a thing for dishes, which are lined up before dinner starts. He imports most of them from France and each one shows off a different canapes, 11 before the formal dinner even starts!
Before I forget, there’s several baskets of fresh bread on the table for you to grab as you wish.
Cesar started by dividing a butternut squash soup into glasses with a high-tech funnel.
A rich dab of yogurt foam added tang to the sweet fall butternut squash.
The smoky foie gras macaron is the perfect amuse. One bite that is full of lightness and richness that dissolves in one bite.
Anchovy sitting on bread with a thin crisp of caramelized sugar. This had Angie, a non-anchovy fan, completely turned around, while I was just plain in love with the freshness of the fish, and the genius of the slim candy coating that only added a drop of sweetness. This was the first to get exclamations of “favorite” from several people.
The Baccalau fritter was the most perfect sphere, sitting in a tartare sauce.
The Sardine and Sage tucked into a potato crisp shows off such refined detail workmanship. This macro picture is deceiving because it’s only really about 1.5″ long. How did they ever tuck the fish and herb into that potato?
The crab dumpling wasn’t distinctly crab, but the kataif added a nice light crunch, while the creamy dill sauce rounded out the Greek inspired flavors.
Kumomoto, Uni, and Watermelon is both briny and refreshing. Like many of these canapes, the one bite wonder was gone before you really knew what you just ate. The fleeting moments left us all wanting like hungry monsters.
A disk of salmon topped with Roe, sat on some apple and celery root, drizzled with Vanilla Sauce. So unique, it was the next to get cheers of “favorite”.
Blue Fin Tuna Belly, Foie Gras, Mustard Mayo, a fat party going on! This was yet another “favorite”.
The Veal Fritter was probably my least favorite. It actually tasted a tad fishy.
We can’t remember what the layers of cream were in here but you can see the generous pile of black truffle. which of course riled up another round of “favorite” screams. The serving dish was also a “favorite” which works with a magnet to hold the cup at that angle.
We were now ready to start the main courses, five of them, starting with Kampachi, Beluga Caviar, and super thin whisps of fried leeks.
A seared day boat scallop is under that beautiful garden of chestnut crisps (baked) and pea shoots.
A perfectly cooked Medai on top of black trumpet mushrooms and endive.
The giant langoustine was paired with a veal ravioli. We all watched as they assembled this gorgeous plate. (Pictured here is Juan Leon, the sous chef.)
…and painted with a parsley sauce.
I got a perfect piece of medium rare Ribeye, while some others got somewhat tendonous pieces. Chef Cesar broak down his thought behind this, calling it so simple: Steak is often served with parmesan and black pepper so instead here is a parmesan cream underneath with a parmesan foam on top and the peppery-ness come from the baby watercress. Yea, not so simple.
Lon asked is he could have the bone.
By the end, you feel like you know Chef Ramirez, and it is undeniable that he puts himself in his cooking. It is such an honor to eat at the chef’s table and such a treat to be served by such a talented chef.
We ended with a beautiful dessert, a Chocolate Tangerine Torte with Raspberry Sauce and Vanilla Bean Semi Freddo. Lon and I are not fans of the chocolate and orange combo but others were happy to eat my portion, while I was completely satisfied with the concentration of flavor in the berries and creamy vanilla.
We all had so much fun. I got many thank you’s for planning this event, and for that I have to thank Chef Cesar Ramirez and his staff, which made this an evening to remember. For $95, Chef Ramirez said that there is no better deal in town, and I couldn’t agree more. I called for future reservations the next day. BTW, sometimes you can catch cancellations so just try. Heidi, who coordinates, is wonderful, making this whole experience better as well. Lastly, my friends all begged me not to post about Brooklyn Fare, wanting to keep this a secret, but I couldn’t do that. My mission is to spread good food everywhere and this is damn good food.
What a lovely evening… The bread itself looks to die for… and the rest… omg!!
Wow, sounds like a perfect meal here! Everything looks outstanding!
Love your photos! The food looks (and sounds) divine.
How fun! What a wonderful experience.
That looks like a wonderful place to visit!! Too bad it is soooo far away but if I am ever in the area I might want to try and get a place too. Lovely photos too (from the both of you!!)
I urge everyone to go to Brooklyn Fare!
No!!! Don’t urge anyone. Keep it on the DL. I don’t want to wait months to get a reservation. I can’t wait to go back. Sorry about being selfish, but a place this good and that’s so much fun and such a reasonable price is hard to come by.
What a grand place!! The food looks extra good,… superb!!
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM,….. Lovely pics from the both of you too!
Nice account of your meal and nice photos (can you tell me what kind of camera you used and, assuming it is a digital SLR, what setting you used?).
We enjoyed a very similar meal at Brooklyn Fare in November and walked away with the same sense of having been privileged to eat in Cesar’s kitchen. We, too, booked for a future visit. The combination of good food, a charismatic chef, a table of close friends and great wine made for a memorable evening.
I’ve never had an anchovy, but I would try that one!
$95! French Laundry on a budget? (Per Se):)
famdoc, I used Canon 7D. Each picture has a slightly different setting, but go to my flickr page, and when you click on each picture, the right side will have a section called additional information. Click on “more properties” and it will tell you the setting for that picture.
The pictures that are marked Edmund Song Photography were taken by Eddie. I’ll let him answer about his pics.
Jai, it is such a steal at $95. I hate to compare it FL because there are too many differences, but Brooklyn Fare was more enjoyable to me.
Famdoc, I used the 7D (I was actually one of the first in the country to own one as I had it preordered the day of announcement.
The lens I had at the time were:
EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
All settings were done in 100% manual.
ISO ranges were anywhere from 400-800 (majority at 640). Shutter times vary but most of them were generally follow the 1/focal length rule after taking a quick look at a few of them
Thanks for the photo tips. Just received my first digital SLR as a Chanukah gift, so I’m chomping at the bit to do better food photography.
Anyway, Jessica, you might want to check out Talula’s Table, in Kennett Square, PA. They pretty much originated the farm table dinner and, if you can reserve a table (they’re currently booked 365 days in advance), it’s worth the trip and serves as a nice comparison to Cesar’s kitchen table dinner. Kennett Square, PA is the mushroom capitol of the US, so many courses served there incorporate local ‘shrooms. Plus, chef sources most ingredients locally, including some fantastic cheeses from farms in PA and MD.
http://www.talulastable.com/dinners.shtml
Famdoc, Talula’s Table sounds great but not only is it 365 days in advance, they only take one reservation per day! This is from their website”
“Reservations are accepted by phone for the first caller each morning beginning at 7am, for exactly one year in advance to the numerical date. When reserving the table, you will host the evening and fill the table with all your own guests.”
For something that’s not in NY, I don’t know if I can get that many people to go either. =(
Anyone out there who has a reservation want to invite me?
I sued Brooklyn Fare Supermarket in small claims court on December 31, 2009 for not refunding money owed me for returning purchases not opened. Secondly, a complaint against the attending cashier who cussed me out at the counter.
My first court date was February 8, 2010 which I attended however, the owner of Brooklyn Fare Supermarket never appeared in court.
I had to reschedule another court date for February 22, 2010 & again the owner never showed up.
An arbitrator heard my case and ruled in my favor and awarded me the money I sought. The owner of Brooklyn Fare Supermarket was sent a letter explaining the company had thirty days in which to pay me the money owed. As of 3-25-2010 Brooklyn Fare Supermarket has defaulted on the judgment. Abide by the ruling that was handed down by the court and “Pay Up”. I Want My Money Now.
Index Number S.C. K 8284/09
I also filed a complaint with the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Retail Store Complaint: Service Request #C1-1-533-102-249