Battersby Part Deux

Vinzee's Magic Fountain was open on Court Street for one year. The burger joint opened in May 2011, but in December that same year cut back to shorter "Winter hours," which left them open only Thursday to Sunday. Vinzee's called it quits after five months of shortened service. Rumors started to surface that Walker Stern and Joseph Ogrodnek, the brilliant chefs who've earned national acclaim at Battersby nearby on Smith Street, were interested in the space. One week ago from today, Stern and Ogrodnek were approved a liquor license from the Community Board – making the expansion rumors official.

We ran into the chefs on Court Street as we were heading to Vinzee's to get a picture for this post. Equipped with white T's and their morning coffee, Stern and Ogrodnek told us they're excited to expand in the neighborhood, are just starting to think about the menu, and hope for a fall opening.

Compared to the close quarters and bathroom-sized kitchen at Battersby, the former Vinzee's space, located at 412 Court Street (at First Place), is 2,800-square-feet and has an additional 600-square-feet of outdoor space. The new digs can also seat up to 75 guests, has a much larger kitchen, walk-ins, and an array of kitchen equipment.

Andrew Carmellini's The Library is Open

The Library opened on the mezzanine level of Lafayette Street's Public Theater Tuesday night at 5:30.  It's the first to open from our Taste of Tastes to Come list and the new collaborative project from Andrew Carmellini, Luke Ostrom, and Joe's Pub proves to be a modern, jazzy, speak easy with the help of a World War II era jazz soundtrack and $14 cocktails from Tiffany Short.  Six draft beers are on offer at $6 each and a three act menu offers food under the direction of Carmellini.  Act I gives you options like pizza popcorn with Parmigiano ($5), Peekytoe crab rolls ($10 for 2), and French fries with malt vinegar mayo ($8).  Act II has roasted beets, grapefruit, goat cheese, and pistachio ($12), and a kale salad that might join the ranks of Battersby and Northern Spy Co. in the world of supreme kale salads.  The Library's version has Vermont Cheddar and Marcona almonds ($13).  Act III includes Joe's Burger with carmelized onions, bacon, and cheddar ($17), and Catskill Moutain Trout with lentils and butternut squash ($24).

Three sparkling options, four whites, and four reds make up the wine by the glass options.  The champagne heavy sparkling section and white wine in the form of Sancerre, viognier, riesling, and Chablis provide a thorough tour of France while the eleven reds on offer cover five different countries and range from $45 to $110.  See the full food and drink menu here.

The Library | 425 Lafayette Street | 212.539.8777 | 530pm - 2am nightly | www

Pete Wells Hangs with the Governor

Remember that scene in Scent of a Woman when Al Pacino's (blind) character Colonel Slade tears it up behind the wheel of a red Ferrari?  That was all shot in DUMBO in '92.  Twenty years later, chef Brad McDonald and the trio behind Colonie and Gran Electrica opened Governor in the same Brooklyn neighborhood.  Today, Pete Wells gives their efforts two stars.

Tamer Hamawi, Elise Rosenberg, and Emelie Kihlstrom have opened three restaurants since February 2011, when they introduced their vision to the world via Colonie on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.  The restaurant received a star from Sam Sifton three months after it opened.  In March this year, the trio got their hands messy with masa and opened Gran Electrica on Front Street in DUMBO, serving their take on the cuisine of Mexico.  Governor opened in July four months later and two blocks east.

Wells finds the DUMBO neighborhood similar to Tribeca, "With its axle-shattering cobblestones leading to a river, its expensive lofts, its S.U.V.’s and au pairs and its acronym."  There was a heavy on the food this go round, as will likely be the case when you're talking about a chef who has Noma and Per Se on their resume, a fact McDonald is guilty of.  The celery root "pasta" was "cool, smart and unexpectedly seductive."  The flavors in McDonald's version of beef tartare "hit you right where they should," and McDonald's desserts are equally appealing, "A disc of chocolate ganache, outfitted with bits of cocoa Rice Krispies Treats, was dark and intensely brooding, and a flat macaron topped with cajeta was an ideal partner for macerated strawberries.

Restaurants in Brooklyn like Saul and Franny's are key players in the Brooklyn dining scene.  Newcomers like Governor, Battersby, and Gwynnett St share an ambition to elevate the borough's cuisine.  A growing presence of like-minded restaurants reflects a shift in the borough's dining trends.  While Governor may not be a fine dining restaurant, the fare is fine and the room is elegant.  These things come at a price and add to the fact that a meal in Brooklyn is becoming more likely to reflect the price of dinner across the river in Manhattan.  In his review of Gwynnett Street today, Ryan Sutton explains "Brooklyn fine-dining has become as expensive as Manhattan dining."  He encourages New Yorkers to, "Get used to it."

For more on Governor, check out our First Bite.

It's Not You, It's Me; Sometimes Restaurants Need Breaks Too

Every now and then restaurants take a break so owners and employees can keep their sanity.  Despite landing on Bon Appetit's Best New Restaurants of 2012, Battersby in Brooklyn is on vacation this week.  They shut things down on Sunday and will be back to 255 Smith Street Tuesday the 4th.

Sometimes restaurants close so they can undergo renovations, as we just saw last week with Pok Pok Wing.  Andy Ricker shut things down for the week of August 19th and opened Pok Pok Phat Thai in the former Pok Pok Wing space.

The Frank's got in on the morph movement back in March.  They shut down Frankies 17 on the Lower East Side and turned the once Italian place into a Basque restaurant called Francesca.

Signs up outside the Lower East Side 'inoteca reveal this week's renovating restaurant.  Jason Denton's 98 Rivington Street restaurant closed yesterday and will reopen Saturday with a reworked menu.