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“Char No. 4”

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

Nobody said life was fair.

Matt’s also making his own pork and sage sausage, served at brunch with poached eggs and wonderfully creamy grits and at dinner in a rustic fall plate that includes Swiss chard, sweet onions, and prunes ($16). But the grilled hanger steak was my favorite dinner entrée because it shows off perfect technique. The steak is seared so it’s ruby red and juicy in the middle and nice and salty and charred on the outside, with a hill of crispy pork fat fried potatoes cut in little cubes and a sweet-tangy-spicy barbecue sauce that needs a home on a shelf in Fairway. And it’s not just at night that the menu works its “eat me” magic.

Craig and I have had brunch at Char No. 4 every weekend for the past three weeks. Eggs Benedict are served with a twin set of fluffy biscuits and perfectly poached eggs all sitting on top of a thick slice of house-smoked Kentucky ham soaking in—yes, you guessed it—bacon gravy! The chocolate chip pancake, run as a special (you have to ask for it), might bring you to tears. I have rarely been moved this way by a breakfast food. The pancake is miraculously light and fluffy (thanks to whipped egg whites) and weighted down only by a generous amount of semi-sweet chocolate bits. As if this were not enough, the pancake comes in at the size of a Frisbee, and gets topped with pecan butter and a softball-sized scoop of butter pecan ice cream. Yes, Char No. 4 is that kind of place. Excess is seen as the baseline.

On a more recent visit, I decided I’d try to eat light. And surprisingly, this can be done (sort of). Matt’s most memorable salad involves golden beets, fresh and spicy arugula, and a generous sprinkling of nutty toasted pecans all dressed in a zesty warmly spiced vinaigrette made from pickled peaches. This dressing is amazing—pungent and sweet, it’s also destined for a bottle on a shelf in some fancy gourmet shop. I also had the smoky eggplant stew ($6), which was slight disappointment because it’s not really a stew at all. It’s a cold eggplant salad, and while it’s not bad, it’s not what I expected. It’s more like a Texan’s version of a babaganoush that might be served with Texas toast. But something called a stew brought to mind a hot bowl of smoky eggplant chili, which is not what they’re serving. The clam chowder ($9) is also a weak link. It’s richly flavored wit ... [more, click below]

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Posted: October 5, 2008

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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