Andrea, where should I eat this week?

Two new restaurants calling me.

Happy Monday my friends,

It’s a cold week and things feel very somber in the world. Let’s make time for gatherings with good food and good friends. I’ve got a long list of places to try — still have to get to Bridges and The Snail, and recently went to Heroes and LOVED it — but these two are top of my list. Enjoy!

Wayward Fare

First on my list for 2025 is Wayward Fare from my friend, chef Akhtar Nawab. Sure, I am biased because we have known each other since his days at Craft and we even wrote a cookbook together but even if we had never met, I’d love his food. The guy is wildly talented, and if you have spent any time at Alta Calidad in the past decade, you know it too. He’s been busy consulting and opening food halls, developing that niche, but when the space next to Alta Calidad opened up, he grabbed it and late in December opened a wood-fired Mediterranean spot called Wayward Fare (544 Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn).

The menu travels here and there around the Mediterranean and Middle East – the flavors feel vaguely Persian-ish – and it gives you everything you want from a night out in Brooklyn. Things begin with wood-fired bread and assorted mezze from eggplant with roasted peppers and garlic, to something I’d never heard of called brouillade – a soft scramble of eggs with chiles, cumin and cilantro. Making that today for breakfast here I think.

Beyond the mezze from the wood-fired oven, there small shareable plates of roasted squash dressed in cashew yogurt, with a hit of harissa, and a sprinkle of pomegranate and pumpkin seeds), a frilly salad of chicories nestled with persimmon, olives, and shallots, tossed in a spicy vinaigrette, and cabbage done agrodolce, topped with puffed freekeh and a dazzling herb salad.

Larger plates stay on the warm Middle Eastern vibe – a swordfish with stewed chickpeas and saffron aioli, a porgy from the wood-fired oven dusted with baharat spice, a wintery roasted chicken with mushrooms, apples, and walnuts. There are wonderful cocktails too — I have my eye on the spiced sour with apricot, turmeric and cardamom — and the space is as cozy as that roast chicken, all decked out in warm sunset hues. I hope you love it.

Mango Bay

I also want to check out Mango Bay (271 Adelphi Street, Brooklyn, NY), a modern Afro-Caribbean restaurant that just opened on two floors of a beautiful brownstone in Fort Greene. I hear the food is fantastic, that it's an excellent spot to go with the family, and that the chef, London Chase, is not only a talent, but super charming.

This is London’s first restaurant on his own – he trained at Essential by Christophe, and Manhatta – and he’s doing food from his native West Indies – flavor-forward, fun and delicious. There are starters like Ackee and Saltfish Egg Rolls with callaloo and scotch bonnet peppers, a Panko Fried Cornish Hen with micro herbs, and tangy Pomegranate Glazed Pork Ribs.

If you love oxtails go for his with rice and peas, and stay for a dish of Mango Curry Australian King Prawns in vadouvan curry. There’s also something called Bush Fowl that’s marinated in jerk sauce and served with housemade Mango Bay sauce, and a dish called 'Swimmas' — a broiled branzino garnished with heirloom tomatoes, charred asparagus, Thai sauce, and chive oil.

There’s a Jerk Burger with pineapple bacon jam and truffle aioli, and Ras & Pasta, a unique take on a beloved Brooklyn Jamaican-American dish.

Cocktails come from Shamah Levy, who pays homage to his native Caribbean roots with tropical spirits and ingredients, which kind of makes the place feel like a holiday in a glass with a paper umbrella. There’s a Calypso Fashioned, made from toasted plantain fat-washed Hennessy, miso, and bitters; an Agua de Roselle, a hibiscus chili concoction with tequila, mezcal, and lime; and The London Chase, an ode to the executive chef, mixed from clarified rhum agricole, gold rum, lemon, and black tea. Cheers!

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Happy eating and gathering.

Andrea