* Huckleberry Bar
image c/o NY Mag
588 Grand Street, Brooklyn NY 11211
between Leonard and Lorimer
PHONE: 718.218.8555
HOURS: 4pm-4am every day
CARDS: all major
MAP: Click Here
SUBWAY: L Train to Lorimer
WEB: www.huckleberrybar.com
MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/huckleberrybar
EATER SAYS: Bars are a dime a dozen in Williamsburg, but the pedigree of the team behind Huckleberry Bar sets it apart from the pack (two clichés in one sentence!). Owners Stephanie Schneider and Andrew Boggs and chef Seth Johnson have all done time in one or more of Danny Meyer's joints. They are offering, per Lady Strongbuzz, 'well-valued wines by the glass, inventive seasonal cocktails and carefully chosen imported and domestic beers' as well as small plates (natch). It all seems a bit fancy for East Williamsburg, but hey, if Wombat can survive over there...
NY MAG SAYS
The classic-cocktail movement has yet to make many inroads into Williamsburg, that hipster nexus where PBR and its ilk remain the sentimentally ironic quaff of choice. Sensing a void, and eager to deploy the mixology skills she honed at Hearth and Blue Smoke, Stephanie Schneider seeks to raise the neighborhood's mixed-drink-and-small-plate standards at the just-opened Huckleberry Bar. Schneider and her partner, Andrew Boggs, are both seasoned veterans of Danny Meyer Enterprises, so it's no wonder their speech is peppered with gastro-cultural signifiers like "seasonal," "high-quality ingredients," and "hospitality-driven."Apply those buzzwords to an ambitious, high-minded bar, and you end up with house-made grenadine in your Agave Sunrise, fennel marmalade on your homemade English muffin, and red and yellow beets pickled in gin and plated with Stilton and walnuts. A distinct southern accent is evident in chef Seth Johnson's boiled peanuts and hard-boiled eggs garnished with red-eye gravy or Winston-Salem hot sauce. The obligatory meat-and-cheese plates are on offer, too, as are desserts like chocolate cooked cream with huckleberry jam, and the plan is to keep the kitchen open late into the night. Classic and seasonal cocktails may take center stage, but the owners claim as much pride in their carefully selected wines and beers and invite you to enjoy them, as long as this temperate weather holds, in the serene garden out back.
CITY SEARCH SAYS
Though you might not expect much from its desolate Grand Street digs, Huckleberry Bar gussies up the neighborhood with a mix of modern style and throwback cocktails. With three main seating areas and a back garden, there are tables a'plenty, but the many specialties behind the bar--homemade grenadine and infused vodka, rum, and vermouth--tend to keep the crowd perched at the high-backed bar stools. The overall vibe of boozy warmth also persuades drinkers to sample the eclectic goods from the kitchen. Hits: Classics such as the sherry flip, sidecar, and Gibson ground the cocktail menu, but imaginative bartenders flex their skill with seasonal ingredients such as fennel, ginger, and lapsang souchong tea. Misses: Beer drinkers should find the back garden spacious and low-key, but the wood chip-strewn yard leads to wobbles that those with precious cocktails--or stiletto heels--may not appreciate.
Comments
Get over yourself anonymous. Your drink was delicious, so unless that perfect Manhattan made itself, some concern and attention must have gone into its preparation. Maybe you just weren't made to feel special enough for your thoughtful and evocative drink order. The real disappointment is your lack of a rational thought process.
Posted by: ohplease | December 10, 2007 07:30 PM
These people are way ahead of the curve. Delicious cocktails, super friendly and knowledgeable staff, plus they do food all night! Best new bar in Williamsburg hands down!
Posted by: J.Harris | November 6, 2007 07:43 AM
The space is beautiful, and while the perfect manhattan i ordered was delicious, the bar tender's flippant lack of attention or concern in making the drink was a real disappointment. at $10 a pop i would enjoy more friendly and attentive service. and i twould also be nice if the pour came a little closer to filling the already undersized glass.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 4, 2007 05:24 PM
Love it! Original drinks and a great cheese plate. Beer list is solid too.
Posted by: delighted | October 17, 2007 09:11 PM