You know the feeling you get when you walk
into an apartment and you know you’re going to rent it? Or you
meet someone and after a few minutes you’re friends?
That’s how I felt in City Lighting, a bar and restaurant on Flatbush
Avenue. I’m not a bar person, and City Lighting is a bar – one
with pretty good food – but, still, a bar. It’s only nine months
old and already has some of the flavor of those seedy bars on
the Lower East Side where people start drinking at 11 am. (Not
the fashionably seedy, the really seedy ones.)
And, yes, the look is intentional. The owners, Scott Fredrick
and Andrew Benedict, who designed the space in the former City
Lighting store, got the inebriated, "let’s hang out and
drink more than we should" ambience down pat.
The food, described by the restaurant’s chef, Kevin Walker, as
"pan-American" or American with Caribbean influence,
is light years ahead of the swill found in the sort of bar-restaurant
I’ve described. It may be the one thing that makes City Lighting
inauthentic.
I doubt there’s a dish on the menu that someone hasn’t tried
as a child and now craves. Walker piles plates church-supper-style
with delicious ribs, great potato salad and hefty sandwiches.
Here and there you’ll find an upscale touch like salads composed
of interesting mesclun greens, and chipotle sauce on his crab
cakes instead of tartar – additions that are commonplace in other
eateries but noticeable with such simple fare.
Take his tomato soup with mini grilled cheese sandwiches appetizer.
Humble? Yes. But, if your boyfriend dumped you or you lost your
job, a bowl of Walker’s garlicky bisque with its cheddar-on-white
side sandwich will sooth you like a warm embrace. His overly
bready crab cakes have a nice crab flavor, and the chipotle mayonnaise
adds rich smokiness.
Good American-style ribs aren’t easy to come by in Brooklyn,
which makes Walker’s thick, man-sized ribs such a pleasure. These
are ribs with plenty of fat. He cuts the meat himself, and will
slice them lean if that’s what you request, but if you’re ordering
ribs, why not admit that you want fat and just go for it? The
ribs are marinated in a light tomato, Worcestershire and mustard
sauce that could be a little spicier, but has a pleasant sting
from vinegar. The ribs sit near a big mound of perfectly seasoned
potato salad with the crunch of onions and the sweet crispness
of apples. It’s a hearty plate of food that I barely made a dent
in, but liked just as much reheated the next night.
For his catfish entree, Walker hits the Fulton Fish Market at
2 am to handpick the fish. His blackened catfish are moist and
lightly seared with the peppery, Cajun seasoning adding a subtle
spice. The fish lies atop a pillow of organic spinach sauteed
with lots of garlic and hand-cut sweet potato fries that are
crisp and just salty enough.
The dessert roundup is an ode to Brooklyn and Walker’s sweet
tooth. Dense Junior’s cheesecake is an option, as are a spicy
carrot cake and chocolate mud pie. Each evening he offers a seasonal
cobbler. The apple is too sweet, as is the whipped cream, but
the simple dessert’s crumbly topping is lusciously buttery.
Because there’s nothing better with beer than a burger, Walker
has dreamed up a few between-the-bun novelties for fall. His
Jamaican jerk chicken burger gets a gussied up topping of pineapple
relish and mango ketchup, and for fish lovers there are salmon
and red snapper versions. All are sided with Walker’s crisp,
hand-cut, sweet potato fries.
What’s de rigueur attire at City Lighting? Jeans and a T-shirt,
but I doubt anyone would notice if you wore a flannel nightgown
and Mickey Mouse ears. Friends gather around the tables eating
and drinking, or singles absorbed in a good book enjoy a drink
alone or at the bar.
That’s the kind of scene you’ll find at City Lighting. That and
very good ribs.
City Lighting Restaurant & Bar (307
Flatbush Ave. between Prospect Place and Park Place in Prospect
Heights) accepts Visa and MasterCard. Entrees: $7-$14. The restaurant
serves lunch and dinner Monday through Friday; brunch is served
Saturdays and Sundays, from 11 am to 4 pm. For information, call
(718) 230-3321.
