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MUSICAL GRAB BAG

There’s something for everyone at Downtown’s Cafe 111 as the restaurant-club struggles to create an identity

By Ed Beeson
for The Brooklyn Paper
The Brooklyn Papers / Gregory Cross
Variety show: Tony Scherr belts out a song at Cafe 111 in Downtown Brooklyn while bandmate Tim Luntzel supports him on bass guitar during June 15 show.

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Signs of life may soon creep into the nights of Downtown Brooklyn, and a local restaurateur wants to be the first to push and prod it into being.

Nando Ghorchian, who owns Cafe del Mar, Balzar, Caffe Buon Gusto and the soon-to-open El Cubanito in Brooklyn Heights reinvented another restaurant of his, the critically maligned Acqua on Court Street, into Cafe 111, an eatery by day and free live music venue by night.

"We did it for the future, really," he says of Cafe 111, which opened last December. "The neighborhood is really changing."

He points to his soon-to-be neighbors, the dormitories and apartment towers opening this fall on Atlantic Avenue, as proof that even this part of Downtown Brooklyn, which traditionally has been shuttered and empty by sunset, could support nightlife.

At the moment, Ghorchian’s ambitions appear to be modestly successful. The cafe boasts a full calendar of three or four performers nightly, most of whom play for tips and pleasure alone. Employees, musicians and customers all agree that Cafe 111 has steadily drawn bigger crowds since it opened, thanks to well-connected management who bring noteworthy musicians from the surrounding neighborhoods.

"Nando’s given us free reins," says Aaron Whitby, the music curator at Cafe 111, whose own credits include his own record label, Blackfeet Productions, which released the acclaimed debut album of Brooklyn Heights soul singer Martha Redbone last year.

Whitby says diversity is his goal, and by booking artists of all styles, from R&B and soul to folk and rock to hip-hop, he hopes to draw audiences from all backgrounds. Those styles are loosely organized by the night of the week. Mondays and Wednesdays are dedicated to jazz. Tuesdays and Thursdays are for singer-songwriters. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays seem to offer everything else.

Whitby talks about other plans, too - live comedy, midnight sets six nights a week and a "Bush Bashing Day" when the Republican National Convention visits the city in late August.

The strategy is to draw three established crowds: Smith Street diners; moviegoers leaving the cinema across the street; and those Manhattanites fearless enough to venture one subway stop into Brooklyn.

Of course, the real treat is for Brooklynites tired of trekking into the city for music.

"It’s all the same bands that play at the Living Room," says Teddy Kumpel, a guitarist who plays here as Teddybut on Tuesday nights, referring to the Lower East Side lounge. "Might as well come here."

Live music at Cafe 111 is loud, but not overbearing. And partly because the place is still in its infancy, crowds are light. On a recent Tuesday night, the cafe’s slowest according to Whitby, customers rarely numbered more than a dozen.

"I did back flips when this place opened," says Pete Harris, a London-born promoter who runs harrisradio.com, an Internet radio station, from his Brooklyn Heights home.

"It’s civilized. You’re not coming here to stand up in a dark, dingy basement," Harris says. "You can bring your mum."

Mum may approve, but the crew of Cafe 111 will need to untwist a few kinks before they can reap her reward.

"It’s a hard situation. We have lunch with lawyers and judges, so it can’t look like a bar," says Marta Blaszczak, the general manager of Cafe 111. Still, she is trying to tweak the environs to appeal to night owls.

Inside, the atmosphere is bordello red, from the painted walls and the red velvet drapes that decorate the deeply recessed stage. Candles and white Christmas lights dangling like moss set the mood.

Detail is otherwise lacking. A random jumble of empty wine bottles that decorates one precipice should be recycled. Most of the bite-size paintings on the wall fail to evoke description.

Cafe 111 is privileged to have a back patio, but to get to that coveted piece of real estate, one must walk a tight passage through the kitchen.

"It’s OK. We have nothing to hide," says Blaszczak. True, from all appearances, the kitchen is exceptionally clean. But on a busy night, that corridor must be a nightmare. Try not to startle any waitresses ladling cream of mushroom soup on your way in or out.

Lastly, too much diversity can be messy.

"Part of their problem is they haven’t settled on a format of music yet. People aren’t sure what they’ll get," says Sean Fitzell, of Carroll Gardens, who came to watch the saxophonist Michael Blake.

That night’s lineup seems to confirm that sense of schizophrenic booking. The four acts included a world music combo; Teddybut, who sings hokey, pun-laden songs by himself; a bluesy trio led by Tony Scherr; and Jamaican reggae led by Blake.

In many ways, the booking is like the Cafe 111 burger. That sandwich, a signature dish judging by its name, consists of a dense patty awkwardly topped with fried onion rings, mozzarella and portobello mushrooms. Fine ideas on their own, but not as tasty taken together.


Cafe 111 is located at 111 Court St. at State Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Entrees: $6.95-$15.95. All performances are free, and there is a two-drink minimum. Cafe 111 accepts American Express, MasterCard and Visa. Open daily. For more information about upcoming performers, call (718) 858-2806 or visit the Web site at www.cafe111online.com.

©2004 Community Newspaper Group

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