Of all the Brooklyn restaurants I’ve reviewed,
the Williamsburgh Cafe may be the most puzzling. From the outside,
the restaurant resembles any other eatery in the neighborhood,
with a few locals drinking beer at tables on the sidewalk.
Open the door, and you’ve stepped into a generic saloon-style
restaurant on steroids.
To be seated in one of the dining areas one walks through several
large, wood-covered rooms replete with old photos of the neighborhood.
Wheels and farm tools are suspended from the ceiling beside enough
plastic pots with hanging ivy to start a small nursery. Near
the raw bar are garden figurines of girls and boys that should
have remained in grandma’s backyard. The only thing missing in
this ode to suburban restaurants is a salad bar.
If the decor is an ironic nod to hipsters’ small town dining
experiences, then the intended audience isn’t getting the joke.
While a few neighborhood folk sit outdoors and dine in, most
of the clientele appear to be family groups from other neighborhoods.
The waitstaff, however, is culled from the most attractive, personable
area talent. Our waitress, Estelle, wore pigtails, a tattoo and,
she confessed, the swan pinned to her blouse was a bathroom decal.
With an interior design that references Middle America, one would
imagine potato skins and Alfredo dishes being de rigueur dining
here. And, there are enough familiar plates (although nothing
Alfredo), to please the masses. For the rest of us who prefer
more imaginative fare, Whitney Dane, formerly of Ammo, a casual,
market-driven restaurant in Pasadena, Calif., offers nightly
specials that are thoughtfully conceived and carefully prepared.
The restaurant offers a raw bar with oysters and clams that are
as sparklingly fresh as any you’ll find in a seaside cafe. Downing
those ice-cold oysters – a hefty Bayonet Point from Nova Scotia
with a bracing briny flavor and subtle, creamy smaller Hood Canals
from Washington State – gave me a shiver of pleasure. Dabbing
the shellfish with tart mignonette (made with champagne vinegar
and shallots) and spicy Bloody Mary sauces enhanced their clean
taste.
Dane uses rounds of creamy baby mozzarella in her cheese and
grilled red pepper appetizer. Each little mound is topped with
half a briny olive and scattered with big basil leaves.
Had this dish a million times? So have I, but with cheese so
pure and milky, fruity and tart olive oil and dabs of basil pesto
coloring everything – what could be better?
Dane gives fried rings of tender calamari a nutty crunch with
the addition of sesame seeds to the batter. A chili orange sauce
lent a pleasing citrus note. The squid is served with an imaginative
salad of strawberries, fresh peas and lettuce that needed more
lemon tarragon dressing to hold it together.
I had a moment of shock when the entree of wild salmon, surrounded
by a bright red sauce, was brought to the table. I was served
a similar-looking dish a couple of years back at a now-defunct
Downtown Brooklyn restaurant, when a drunken chef topped salmon
with sliced strawberries in a sweet strawberry sauce. Dane’s
version included a dull red wine butter sauce that scored points
for not containing strawberries. She uses wild white salmon,
which has a stronger taste than the farm-raised. It’s very good.
I wasn’t as thrilled with the hodgepodge of carrot and zucchini
slaw mixed with asparagus spears and string beans. Everything
was fresh and sauteed until just crisp, but the huge mound of
vegetables overwhelmed the plate.
I can’t find fault with a juicy half chicken infused with tart
lemon and garlic that sported a perfect, crisp skin. Cloves of
sweet, slow-cooked garlic topped the chicken. Grilled red and
green peppers and creamy polenta mixed with Parmesan made complimentary
partners.
If a special of lentils and beets, topped with a dollop of warm
goat cheese, are on the menu, try it. The lentils are delicately
seasoned with cinnamon, mixed with crisp fresh peas, chives and
slivers of burgundy wine-soaked beets that add an earthy depth
to the dish. The lentils make a plate to share for the entire
table.
To end your meal, Dane offers delicious seasonal fruit cobblers.
New for the fall are the pumpkin-hazelnut and roasted fig cobblers.
The Williamsburgh Cafe isn’t the hippest-looking restaurant you’ll
encounter in Williamsburg or any other Brooklyn neighborhood.
If eating in a cutting edge room is important to you, then look
elsewhere. But, if you’re out for the evening with your mother,
or just a friend or two, and you have a yen for big servings
of good American food, you’ll be pleased with the experience.
Williamsburgh Cafe (170 Wythe Ave. at
North Seventh Street in Williamsburg) accepts American Express,
Diner’s Club, MasterCard and Visa. Entrees: $10-$19; sandwiches
and pizza: $8-$12. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner Tuesdays
through Sundays. Gospel brunch, with live performance by the
Rev. Vince Anderson and his choir, is served Saturdays and Sundays,
from 11 am to 3:30 pm. Closed Mondays. For more information,
call (718) 387-5855.
