The most difficult part of dining in Brooklyn
is the sheer volume of choices. If our own neighborhood can’t
supply us with the crepes we desire or decent linguine with white
clam sauce, well, we can just whip out the MetroCard and find
ourselves a neighborhood nearby that can.
Of course, being lucky has its down side. The problem (if we
choose to see it that way) may be committing an entire evening
to one cuisine. Who hasn’t found themselves midway through a
Middle Eastern meal – warm pita bread poised over a plate of
hummus and baba ghanoush (chickpea and eggplant dips) – while
we imagine a bowl of bouillabaisse beckoning to us from that
little cafe across the street.
Well, the sixth annual Brooklyn Eats tasting festival, sponsored
by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and held on Oct. 21 in the
New York Marriott Brooklyn, was the premier food event for polygamous
eaters who can’t eat just one.
Held in a room many times the size of most banquet halls, about
50 Brooklyn restaurants, caterers and specialty food purveyors
were joined by 10 local wineries, microbreweries and other beverage
merchants in a display of excess as yet unchallenged in the world
of Brooklyn food events.
While Studio Stu and his band serenaded guests with jazz and
blues "unstandards," hundreds of apparently ravenous
diners from our borough and beyond, hit the tables, giddy with
the pleasure of multiple dining options.
Seafood soups scored high points with Brooklyn Eats revelers.
Chef Russell Guarneri of the legendary Lundy Brothers [1901 Emmons
Ave., (718) 743-0022] in Sheepshead Bay, served an elegant bisque
that tasted like the pure essence of lobster distilled into a
shot glass.
Cobble Hill restaurateurs Michael Brack and Mark Gregorski of
Smith Street Kitchen [174 Smith St., (718) 858-5359] offered
simple seafood chowder, stocked with clams and scallops, that
possessed the kind of heady broth that’s hard to find south of
New England.
Beside a barbecued sirloin of lamb perfumed with coriander,
cloves and five different kinds of peppercorns, Mark Lahm, of
Brooklyn Heights’ Henry’s End [44 Henry St., (718) 834-1776],
presented a deeply satisfying turtle soup with a similar herbal
perfume.
I watched a man gobble one, then three, of Lundy’s chef Guarneri’s
seared tuna wedge over potato "gaufrette" (a paper-thin,
waffle-cut potato chip) – the buttery texture of the tuna against
the saltiness of the chip with a squirt of sesame-flavored mayonnaise
proving difficult to resist. Anthony Ruggiri of the Brooklyn
Heights newcomer Isobel [60 Henry St., (718) 243-2010], served
his signature dish: sea bass with morel mushrooms in a light
creme fraiche that left the diners, swarmed around his table,
sighing.
Those in search of Italian specialties were in luck. Charles,
Sally & Charles Catering [1000 Washington Ave., (718) 398-2400],
caterers for The Palm House in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, served
a square of three-cheese risotto napped with a veal reduction
that came as close to a perfect risotto – cheesy, creamy and
toothsome – as any I’ve had recently.
Another high-calorie pleasure was the fettuccine from chef Francesco
Insingo of the Marco Polo Ristorante [345 Court St., (718) 852-5015]
in Carroll Gardens. Insingo tossed house-made spinach fettuccini
with an earthy, truffle flavored virgin olive oil in an actual
wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano, scraping a healthy helping of the
cheese into each serving.
Chef Hugo Amador of Tavern on Dean [755 Dean St., (718) 638-3326]
served a four-cheese sauce over perfectly al dente rigatoni.
It would have been overly rich if he had not lightened the dish
with a topping of ripe, chopped, balsamic vinegar-marinated tomatoes.
Enjoying something of a home-field advantage, chef Carlos Gomez
of the Archives Restaurant at the New York Marriott Brooklyn
[333 Adams St., (718) 222-6543] also came up with a winner. Carnivores
would return home happy after sampling his perfectly cooked lamb
chops – rare, and with an edge of crusty fat. Ditto for Cocotte
chef Manuel Ruedal’s ideal autumn dish of smoky Mouland duck,
sweetened with a puree of yams and candied ginger.
Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Akwaaba Cafe [393 Lewis Ave., (718) 455-5958]
featured chef Mohammedou Fisiru’s moist rosemary-roasted chicken,
fragrant with the piney scent of the herb. The chicken made a
delicious duet with African stewed okra in a tomato-based sauce;
both sat atop nutty brown rice with pigeon peas.
I was breathing fire after downing one of the smoking hot jerk
shrimp, a specialty of chef Errol Beckford of the Footprints
Cafe [5814 Clarendon Road, (718) 451-3181] in East Flatbush.
A glass of sorrel punch from Denise Daily of Dee Dee Dailey Catering
[2315 E. 14th St., (718) 615-1654] in Gravesend came to the rescue.
The Caribbean drink, served iced, is brewed with hibiscus flowers
flavored with cinnamon and ginger.
The Waldorf roll, a creation of chef Claude Solliard of DUMBO’s
Kino restaurant [1 Main St., (718) 243-9815], proved to be a
refreshing antidote to some of the heavier dishes served at the
event. Tart green apple slices cut the richness of lobster, while
wasabi (a hot, grated Asian root) gave the entire mouthful a
feisty kick.
Congratulations to Donna Cryne, Sarah Fagan and Fermin Martinez,
of the New York City College of Technology in Downtown Brooklyn,
who were awarded the first-ever Brooklyn Eats scholarships for
outstanding academic and community service. The three developed
the City Tech Chocolate Tart named in honor of their alma mater.
Served in bite sizes, each taste of these sophisticated tarts
– with their crumbly almond crust, light almond-flavored filling
and bittersweet chocolate mousse topping – was evidence of the
talent of the young chefs.
Pastry chef Christine McDonald of the Cranberry Cafe [9506 Fourth
Ave., (718) 833-7979] in Bay Ridge served an old-fashioned, black-bottomed
chocolate mousse pie that was surprising light and not overly
sweet; perfect with a cup of Puerto Rico Clou du Mont Vintage
2002 coffee from Dallis Coffee.
Ice cream maker Mark Thompson of the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
at Fulton Landing excels at making custardy ice cream. His choice
of three flavors – chocolate and coffee in the mocha java ice
cream and cinnamon in the waffle cone – made for an unbeatable
combination. Cake Man Raven’s [708 Fulton St., (718) 694-2253]
red velvet cake, in a true bordello red, was sweet with a capital
S, yet enjoyable, as was his lemony apple cake with its crumbly,
brown sugar crust.
My favorite dessert of the evening hailed from the kitchen of
India Ennis of Cobble Hill’s Panino’teca 275 [275 Smith St.,
(718) 237-2728] . Her deceptively simple vanilla-flavored panna
cotta (a molded Italian cream dessert) served with a puree of
boysenberries was ethereal yet creamy, and the boysenberries
added just a touch of fruity sweetness.
And there was so much more: fabulous wines, barbecued ribs,
seafood salads, crab cakes, cookies and cheesecakes. Too many
choices, even for a serial-eater used to saying, "yes, yes
and yes."
