Alan Harding is back!
One of Brooklyn’s most prolific — and kookiest — chef/restaurateurs is now the top toque at Littleneck, a soon-to-open clam shack in Gowanus.
“Alan was always stopping in to check out how we were doing,” said Littleneck co-owner Aaron Lefkove. “We had just split with our former chef [Ten Vong, of the Fat Hippo and Mercer Kitchen], and were kind of drifting listlessly. Alan offered to mentor us. We gave him a 100 bucks to take a stab at our menu, and obviously, his food really won us over.”
Harding is more than used to being in the limelight, a man who helped open over a dozen seminal Brooklyn restaurants — Patois, the Gowanus Yacht Club, Pacifico, Café Enduro, Sweetwater, The Farm on Adderley — and has recently dabbled in the world of food trucks (the Hot Bird, Four Pi R Squared rice balls), television (“Chopped,” “Cooking in Brooklyn”), and even lawsuits (he was sued in August by his estranged wife for allegedly shortchanging her on the sale of their home).
His rebirth is going to be huge.
“Alan’s given us some much needed guidance at a time we really needed it,” said Lefkove. “So far, it’s been working out.”
Littleneck [288 Third Ave. at Carroll Street in Gowanus, (718) 522-1921].
