Confidant Brings a Flagship Restaurant to Industry City

Roberta's alumni Brendan Kelley and Dan Grossman are set to debut their restaurant on March 19

Industry City has a lot going for it. The sprawling Sunset Park maker and creator space is home to wonderful craft distillers like Brooklyn Kura, Gun Hill Brewery, Fort Hamilton Distillery and Standard Wormwood; gorgeous cocktail bars like Bitter Monk, Oldie’s and Barrow’s Intense; food halls like Japan Village, a seasonal mini-golf and ice skating space, a music and dance performance stage, and one seriously fantastic game room (with a pool table, and old school games like Centipede and Ms. PacMan).

But what it has lacked is a noteworthy chef-driven restaurant. On Wednesday, that’s all about to change. Brendan Kelley and Dan Grossman, chefs who met while working at Roberta’s, are set to open Confidant on March 19th. The restaurant is an all-day affair that will play cameleon, changing up the vibe and the menu depending on time of day.

When the sun’s out, Confidant Luncheonette will channel New York City's iconic diner and deli culture, promising “a fine dining-level of attention to detail and inventiveness to midday fare in a bright and bustling, yet laid-back environment according to press materials,” according to its website.

By the time the sun sets for dinner, Confidant morphs into an innovative seasonal fine-dining restaurant— with an a la carte and chef table experience – that will spotlight the ingenuity and creativity of the Confidant team.

Word is you can expect sandwiches on housemade bread and seasonal plates and bowls with greenmarket vegetables for lunch, and for dinner, an innovative seasonally-rotating tasting and a la carte menu in the dining room and chef’s counter overlooking the open wood-fired kitchen.

Industry City had all sorts of distilleries and brewers but was lacking a flagship chef-driven restaurant, that is, until now.

I’ve heard wonders about the bread and butter service and the prawn pot pie from folks who were at Friends & Family, but when I visited on Saturday the menu wasn’t up, the talent behind Confidant tells you everything you need to know: Brendan has cooked at some of the best restaurants in the world – Amass and Kadeau (2 MICHELIN stars) in Copenhagen, Per Se (3 MICHELIN stars) and Aska (2 MICHELIN stars) here in New York City. He was most recently a sous chef at Roberta's and opened the famous pizzeria's new Domino Park location in October 2020. Daniel has been a mainstay in the kitchen’s of New York City's pizza royalty, including Roberta’s (where he met Brendan) and L’industrie. Most recently, he was at The Finch (1 MICHELIN Star). So, yeah, there’s a ton of experience and talent between the two. I’m very excited for this one!

Confidant opens March 19th at 67 35th Street (Third Avenue), Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Reserve here.