When David Schneider opened Harvest on
Court Street four years ago, he wondered how he would draw customers.
"It was a kind of scary neighborhood
back then," he told GO Brooklyn. "Not much going on
at all." Since then, Cobble Hill has flourished and the
restaurant, which serves American fare with Southern accents,
has flourished. In fact, it’s done so well, Schneider decided
to start a smaller cafe and takeout market just down Court Street
at Baltic.
"It was sort of dumb luck that got
me this far," claims Schneider, who worked as a bartender
in Manhattan for 15 years. "I made a lot of money, then
thought about owning my own place. I’d been living in this neighborhood
for seven years and couldn’t find a good place to eat, so I opened
my own."
The restaurant business at Court and Warren
streets has been booming ever since, and Schneider branched out
with weekend brunches. Then, he opened Harvest Market.
Schneider also took on a partner, Jeremy
Pollok, who moved to Brooklyn from Washington, D.C., six months
ago, and is now his partner in both businesses. Armando Monterrosa
is the chef at Harvest Market which to date "is a one-man
kitchen," as he put it.
Harvest Market offers a selection of items
to carry out or to eat at the front cafe area where there is
also a prix fixe dinner menu.
Monterrosa studied at Johnson and Wales
and has worked at Union Pacific, Peacock Alley and Aquavit in
Manhattan. He has a clear vision that he applies to his cooking
style.
"I believe in clean, simple food,"
he said. "I like to allow good quality ingredients to speak
for themselves. I have a healthy style, using broths and reductions
rather than lots of butter." The result is a high-quality,
ever-changing selection of deli-type foods – more than a dozen
types of sandwiches, seven different pizzas (all baked in an
on-sight wood-burning oven), baked goods, cheeses, desserts and
non-alcoholic beverages.
Overall, the food I sampled scored high
marks, particularly on flavor. The extremely generous sandwiches
are heaped with no-nitrate meats and organic produce, and served
on fresh bread of the customer’s choice (from Amy’s Breads of
Manhattan – prosciutto, semolina and black sesame, potato onion
and dill, sourdough boule, tangy sourdough, rosemary rolls and
organic whole wheat).
Harvest Market pizzas are built on a foundation
of tasty, thin crusts. Toppings include both a notable barbecue
chicken with big chunks of tender white meat in a spicy homemade
sauce, topped with smoked gouda, and a trio of wild mushrooms
over asiago and parmesan cheeses – both slightly unusual, tasty
and elegant.
You can design your own pizza with the
wide variety of toppings (spinach, pepperoni, roasted vegetables,
anchovies and olives) or your own sandwich with the broad selection
of fillings (gravlax, herbed turkey, pastrami, salami, mortadella,
serrano ham and roast beef).
Monterroso is interested in building a
good selection of cheeses, too, though he’s still experimenting
with suppliers and varieties. As with the rest of the menu at
Harvest Market, he assumes the selection will vary with availability
and quality.
"We want everything here to be fresh
on a daily basis," said Monterroso. "I want the menu
to be driven by the clients as well as the markets, availability
and freshness." Monterroso says he welcomes clients’ requests
for favorite dishes or specialties. He sees the menu as always
evolving and changing with both seasons and requests.
The prix fixe dinner menu, which started
just last week, offers four courses for $27. There are four choices
for each of the courses. Diners can bring their own wine, and
the menu suggests wines that might go well with the different
dishes. While the atmosphere of the market is very relaxed –
small wooden tables adorned with simple pots of wheat grass and
candles – the food is upscale and sophisticated.
For instance, last week, one of the choices
for the first course was the trio of salmon – salmon with pastrami
served with cucumber jelly and julienne cucumbers; gravlax with
an avocado and mustard-espresso sauce; and poached salmon with
roasted beets and an apple glaze.
Main courses available this week include
duck, lamb, fish and vegetarian choices, and, while the menu
will change weekly, there will always be a similar variety, including
one vegetarian option.
The three dessert choices were panna cotta
(an Italian custard), a chocolate cake and another of Monterroso’s
trios, this time called "Pear Three Ways." This highly
imaginative dessert includes a poached pear, a roasted pear and
a thinly sliced raw pear, topped with whipped blue cheese and
a fruity syrup.
Harvest Market also sells high-end oils,
olives, barbecue sauces, pates and teas as well as a particularly
rich coffee, Torrefazine Italia, which you can sample there as
drip coffee, espresso, latte or cappuccino. (A perfect cup to
sip with a friend over scones in the afternoon or in the morning
with a popover straight from the oven.)
Harvest Market is the kind of place anyone
would welcome to their neighborhood.
Harvest Market is located at 242 Court
St. at Baltic St. in Cobble Hill. For more information, call
(718) 923-9077. The market is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9
am to 9 pm; Friday and Saturday, 9 am to 10 pm. Visa and MasterCard
accepted.
