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“Flatbush Farm”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	Brooklyn	Moderate	Good

chef Eric Lind, formerly of Bayard’s, serves a terrific menu of bar snacks that is vaguely Prune-esque—buttered radishes on baguette and deviled eggs, alongside more standard bar fare: chicken wings, burgers and tempura onion rings.

Through a narrow walkway you’ll find the restaurant and main dining room, a smart, low-lit urban bistro with espresso toned wainscoting, chocolate leather banquettes, and stained wood tables topped with butcher’s paper. This is a room that you walk into and feel good—the vibe is cozy but cool. It’s more Landmarc than Home.

Once seated at a long table near the door to the back garden, our waiter, a handsome, earnest, corn-fed boy we eventually learned was named Dirk, brought over our cocktails ($8). Jamie and Michelle were into the Mo’ Stormy, a gingery rum drink, and I was all over the Gin Fizzy, a tall pour of gin topped with limonata, while Alison and Adrienne went for wine. As we sipped, he started to tell us about the specials. He described a salad and concluded by telling us that it was topped with mache, which he explained, “is sort of like Clover that you would nibble on in a field.” I started to laugh. “Clover you’d nibble on in a field? I asked, smiling. “Do we look like cows to you?” I laughed. “No, not at all,” he said, smiling apologetically. “I just, well, I’m from Vermont and you know, when you go on a hike you take a break and nibble on fields of Clover.” I smiled. How sweet. “Well, we didn’t hike much in Queens, but thanks for the heads up for the next time I am hiking in Vermont,” I said. “And just so you know, I’m just teasing you. I know we don’t look like cows. Well not yet at least. Wait till you see how much we are going to eat.” And eat we did.

The menu at Flatbush Farm is rustic and right, a seasonal American read that aims to, and for the most part does, please. A salad of fresh fluffy escarole ($9) was great, plated with wedges of roasted beets, heavy hunks of ripe blue cheese, slivers of tart apple, and dressed in soft walnut vinaigrette. Sautéed spaetzle ($11/$15) was tossed with a generous dose of earthy wild mushroom ragout and Parmesan cheese. The dish was a huge hit, but it was not quite spaetzle as I know it and have been taught to make it by Katy (Sparks). These were not sparrow-shaped dumplings, but rat ... [more, click below]

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Posted: January 8, 2007

Other restaurants in Brooklyn :
+ Chickenbone Cafe-- Closed   + Pier 116-- Closed   + Chestnut   + Lunch at Peter Luger's   + 360   + Palo Santo   + The Good Fork   + Porchetta-- Closed Now   + Bocca Lupo   + Flatbush Farm   + DuMont Burger   + Dressler   + Farm on Adderley   + The Grocery   + Saul   + Black Mountain Wine House   + The General Greene   + Char No. 4   + James   + Chestnut   + No. 7   + Vinegar Hill House   + Motorino   + Buttermilk Channel   + Buttermilk Channel   + Vutera   + Watty & Meg    + Prime Meats   + Aqualis Grill   + Jack the Horse Tavern   + Roman's   + Fatty 'Cue   + Thistle Hill Tavern   + Broken English   + Trix, by Dara Pollak   + An Ode to New Orleans in Williamsburg: Maison Premiere, By Dara Pollak   + Brooklyn Wok Shop by Dara Pollak   + Arthur on Smith   + La Vara   + Gran Electrica   + Pok Pok Ny   + Ganso    + Reynard   

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