Friends,
There are a number of big picture restaurants I want to try – the Upper East Side’s French starlet, La Veau D’or, and the latest Brooklyn darling, Bridges. I’ll get to these, for sure, but my heart often leans in to lesser-known players; I’m the sort that falls for the scruffy guy off in the corner, not the loud hot one front and center. With that in mind, I am sharing two restaurants that you may not have heard of that I cannot wait to get to as soon as humanly possible: The Snail and Third Falcon. They are chef-driven gems waiting for you to find them and fall in love.
The Snail
I’m already in love with this restaurant and I haven’t even walked inside. First, I love the name – The Snail! It’s cute, cozy and quirky with a nod to slow food gastronomy, it makes me feel like everything I eat will be delicious. Given that the chef and owner is former Saraghina chef Austin Baker, who also spent four years cooking at Le Bernardin, chances are everything will be. (Also, if you haven’t tried his wife Cristy’s Onino Crispy Chili, you need to, immediately. It’s the best and I put it on everything. I use so much of it I actually have a subscription so it comes monthly.)
Anyway, Austin’s new American bistro just opened this weekend across from McCarren Park, with a menu that’s got a little bit of everything you crave; it could feed a nervous couple on a first date, a frustrated Hinge swiper at the bar, a group of old friends, sleep-deprived new parents, or a family of four, you get the idea.
He’s doing a lot of off menu specials every night, but the regular menu includes delightful choices — small plates of chips and ham, a crudo of the day, steak tartare toast, octopus gilda and shrimp cocktail. Bigger plates include a gorgeous double decker cheese burger, a flatiron chicken with confit garlic, and steak frites au poivre. For dessert, there’s ice cream, chocolate tiramisu and at the bar, there are Martinis, Old Fashioneds, a Lion’s Tail (my favorite cocktail) and more classics to drink. Who’s in?
The Snail is located at 544 Manhattan Ave., 5-10pm Thurs-Sun, www.thesnail.nyc
Third Falcon
I’ve also been hearing dazzling things about Third Falcon from Crown Shy and Eleven Madison Park alum chef Cali Faulkner. Serious food friends cannot stop raving about her food (looking at you Jen and Beau), and the press has also been quite positive already, so this is top of my list.
Cali’s Ft. Greene restaurant is dedicated to Northern France, an ode to the time she spent in the region while cooking in Paris. She has summarized the menu as mostly “cooking fish in butter,” which is as good a reason as any to pop over, particularly for her Sole Meunière for two. Also I’ve heard about a dish called “greens of the moment,” a salad stocked with local seasonal leafy things, with veggies cooked in duck fat. Yes, please. Animal fat also crowns her roasted chicken breast with crab butter.
There’s naturally a raw bar, where she served oysters from the North Fork and local tuna crudo, alongside bigger critters like langoustines with smoked sauce gribiche and prawns with kari gosse, a warm spice blend from the region.
I can’t wait to try the Crispy Livarot, a cheese from Normandy that gets breaded in crumbs from her brioche, made in house, and baked. Oh, that brioche also comes in thick pillowy slices, with imported butter from the region, displayed like a piece of artwork in a large crock. (Far better art than a banana taped to the wall if you ask me.)
If you can’t score a reservation, the front is reserved for walk-ins, while the back room is where you can tuck in for a more serious meal food situation like that sole for two or the kouign-amann with caviar and côte de veau with apples. So good! Can’t wait to go. Hope you can make it over and let me know what you think!
Third Falcon is located at 360 Myrtle Avenue (Adelphi Street), Fort Greene, Brooklyn, 929-545-1324, third-falcon.com.
Yay!
These both sound great!!