Food & Drink Openings Round-Up
Brooklyn Wok Shop
It’s time for your regular food & drink openings round-up which includes healthy Chinese food, a dumpling shop, an alien cafe, Latin American small plates and a few new places to drink (!).
Brooklyn Wok Shop: Chef and owner Edric Har and his wife Melissa wanted to open a healthy take-out Chinese food in North Williamsburg that had “a menu of standards incorporating hormone- and antibiotic-free meats, as well as stocks and sauces made from real bones and scratch, not powders and bases”. Brooklyn Wok Shop is currently only open for dinner, but will open next month for lunch, delivery, and a dim sum brunch.
182 N 10th St. Brooklyn, NY 11211, 347.889.7992
c/o Flickr user Maggie Hoffman
Vanessa’s Dumplings: East Village favorite Vanessa’s Dumplings has arrived in Williamsburg with an expanded menu including veggie items like “noodles sautéed with vegetables or a four-mushroom roll in tofu skin.”
310 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11211, 718.218.8809
Alien Cafe
Alien Cafe: We are not a huge fan of the name, which is a bizarre choice, but Alien Cafe actually offers a pretty good selection of American Traditional dishes such as eggs, sandwiches, and a variety of meat, fish, and vegetarian options for dinner. Alien Cafe is owned by Robert Sandoval who also owned the former Grand Street Grill space. He decided he wanted to re-invent the place, and brought on L’Artiste menu creator-chef Luis Santos. The result is a varied menu with prices that aren’t hard on your wallet. Blue Bottle coffee is also served at brunch, which is always a plus.
812 Grand St. Brooklyn, NY 11206, 347.294.4288
Cayler
Cayler: “The owners of Anella in Greenpoint put one of their chefs, Gabriel Moya, in charge here. He adds touches of his native Puerto Rico in small plates like salt cod with a Scotch egg and plantain chips. Wines are from Spain and Portugal.” We’re also looking forward to their new brunch menu which launches this weekend “which features such creative hangover-busting fare as a Southwestern Benedict riff made with masa cakes and shaved veal tongue, a duck confit tostada, or a steaming bowl of caldo gallego, with pork belly and root veggies in bacon broth.”
92 Calyer St. Brooklyn, NY 11222, 347.899.6323
c/o Zagat
Basik: Opened in the former Phoebe’s Cafe space (RIP) by alums from Gallery Bar & The Breslin, Basik serves 40-oz cocktails as well as “individual-sized tipples—like the Poppa’s Pride (bourbon, ginger, mint, lemon, soda, Angostura bitters) or the Mea Culpa (tequila, Punt e Mes, Velvet Falernum, lime). There are also a variety of dishes made with seasonal ingredients, including a roasted beet salad with Greek yogurt and a Wisconsin dog with house-made mustard and aged cheddar, which form the menu of elevated comfort food.”
323 Graham Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11211 347.899.7599
The Shanty
The Shanty: Cheers to Brooklyn’s first cocktail bar–distillery hybrid: the Shanty. “The 40-seat saloon looks onto the manufacturing floor of the newly operational New York Distilling Company through a large bay, and brings some hard-to-find spirits to the American market, like the once defunct Rock and Rye, a young rye whiskey flavored with rock candy. The laid-back joint is decorated with a 19th-century moonshining still and hanging wood-and-metal lights carved to resemble old whiskey bottles.”
79 Richardson St. Brooklyn, NY 11211 718.412.0874
