A New Formula for Dinner: Six Seats and a Photographer
6, from Kirk Love and Chef Nico Bouter, has opened in Carroll Gardens. Go now before you can't get in.
My feeling is that restaurants are always more than places to eat, right? They are places to celebrate, to reconnect, to share food and moments, to make memories, and be together. They make up so much of my social life – sure I go to the theater darling, but restaurants are my living room. They are where I go to see friends, to attempt to date again, to sit next to my mom and watch the world walk by on the sidewalk, to be with my kids without our devices in the way. Restaurants are what everyone is now calling a “Third Place,” the place beyond home and work where communities are built and people gather with the intention of nothing more really than just being together. Isn’t that the best?
Owner Kirk Love and Executive Chef Nico Bouter have opened 6 Restaurant in Carroll Gardens to fully embrace that sense of gathering and community, not just with an eight-course tasting menu, but with moments of gratitude, a complimentary welcome beverage and snack, and, are you ready for this, photography too.
Yes, photography. During dinner, you’ll have a portrait taken by a professional photographer – either alone or with friends, your date, whomever you're with. “I’m an amateur photographer and for me my favorite memories are found when I look at old photographs,” said Love, who has previously been a silent investor in restaurants like da Toscano. “I want to create this memory for folks coming into dine, a photograph of the evening they can look back on.”
The photography is just part of the intimate and intentional experience Love is hosting at 6, which has opened March 11th on the corner of Court and Nelson Streets in Carroll Gardens, in a long vacant restaurant restored to its former glory; legend has it Al Capone had his wedding reception here.
This unique home for hospitality is grounded on intimacy and community, a place where Love hopes everyone feels welcome. “I wanted to create a space that was warm and intimate, stylish but with no pretense, refined and cozy, a place where everyone feels seen,” he said. “During service, the team also pauses for a moment of gratitude: “a small ritual to slow down and appreciate the experience.
The food is in the hands of Bouter, who has quite a pedigree. He most recently chef’d at Faun, and previously ran culinary for And Sons, and cooked at Agern, Flora Bar and Eleven Madison Park. His eight-course Tasting Menu ($195 per person) takes cues from New American, European, and South American influences. Right now he’s serving a Tiger Bread, a gorgeous brioche-like loaf, with cultured butter and confit garlic that’s worth the price of admission, and beyond that, a Beef Tartare with Chili Crisp, Asian Pear, and Chicory, a Picaña, Lamb Guiso, along with Schnitzel, Dry-Aged Duck, Gnocchi, and more. Menus are also available for vegetarians, and folks who cannot eat gluten are welcome as well.
To complement the menu, they’re serving a well-curated, worldly selection featuring wines from top makers such as Hirsch in California, Oremus in Hungary, Momento in South Africa or By Farr in Australia. Breweries like Other Half and Threes are in for a rotating selection of craft beers.
As for why the restaurant only seats six at the chef’s table (a la carte tables are also available in the lounge), Love says it is the perfect number of people for a dinner party. “With a table of six, no one feels left out or on their own,” he said. “There is great cross-conversation and communication, and it just has the right energy.” You can book an a la carte table or a seat at the tasting table for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 people (seatings are at 6:30 and 8:30pm), and spend the evening meeting new friends. “We had two parties of two sitting across from one another and they ended up sharing a bottle of wine,” said Love. “Two complete strangers left as friends.”
6 Restaurant is located at 481 Court Street
info@6restaurant.com
718-766-1112.Tuesday — Saturday
5:30pm — 11:00pmReserve here.