From small plates to pit steaks to pinots to pizza, Park Slope’s in the limelight this week with a windfall of food-lovers gossip!
Rub the right way
Where’s the (barbecued) beef? All over Union Street! Fort Reno Provisions — a porky new project from Palo Santo’s Jacques Gautier — has settled its smoker into the spot recently vacated by Mama Rosa Latin Bistro. Expect whole hogs, brisket, and ribs by the pound from the jumping joint — all sourced from the socially conscious supplier Heritage Foods USA. This is Park Slope, after all.
‘Cue times two
Talk about a wealth of rib-sucking riches! Blogger Ben Popken reports that upstate import, Dinosaur BBQ, will also be bringing baby-backs to the same 600 block of Union Street. Big news for any smoked meat aficionado for sure, but for a Syracuse University alum-turned Brooklyn food writer, it’s Christmas come early. Go Orange!
In the mix
Holy guacamole! In a surprising quick-change act, Barrio — a Mexican eatery off of Third Street — has transformed into Mix, a globetrotting small plates place. Maybe we didn’t learn to share properly in Kindergarten, but we’re so not keen on this craze — if we’re plunking down $9 for a mini-tasting of crispy calamari, we’re eating the whole thing.
Thistle spill
It’s been an exciting few weeks for restaurateur David Massoni — he’s just anointed a new head chef at Slope fave Thistle Hill Tavern (good luck to Buttermilk Channel alum Jon Wallace — just don’t lose those salt and pepper fries!), his newest project, Talde, opened to critical acclaim, and he just let it slip to us that he’s got yet another restaurant in the works. If we’re still on the Top Chef collabo track, our vote is for Fabio Viviani!
Fran-fare
An abandoned Blockbuster at 348 Flatbush Ave. is about to get all sorts of delicious. Grub Street reports that come November, beloved pizza haven Franny’s will relocate into the doublewide space (they plan to transform their old place into a more traditional Italian restaurant called Marco’s). What to expect from the reboot? Two brick ovens, a private dining room, lunch and takeout service, and more clamoring hordes than ever before.
Land Ho
Eater confirms that an outpost of Terroir — a lauded Manhattan wine bar from accomplished chef Marco Canora — is moving into the old Great Lakes space on 284 Fifth Ave. Ok, let’s recap. Two spanking new ‘cue joints. A super-sized Franny’s. One Massoni resto opened and one in the works. And now a world-class wine bar? Park Slope is definitely having the Best.Week. Ever.
