A Look Around Runner & Stone

Chris Pizzulli and Peter Endriss opened Runner & Stone last week on Third Avenue in Gowanus. Peter Endriss, former Head Baker at Per Se, is responsible for everything coming out of the upstairs bakery. Apple turnover, cheese danish, brioche, and cannele are some of the pastries that accompany an array of croissants at R&S when the doors open at 7am, and buckwheat pear, hard cider spelt, bolzano rye, and mixed flour miche are some of the breads on offer. Chris Pizzulli is the former Chef de Cuisine at Park Slope's Blue Ribbon. His menu (currently 13 items) is made in the downstairs kitchen and none of it costs more than $19.

About 30 bottles make up the wine list and, with the exception of one Champagne, everything falls below $70. House-made cocktails are $10 each and have an Italian lean (Runner & Stone Negroni and the Base Stone Spritz with prosecco, Aperol, and limoncello).

The restaurant takes its name from the two stones used to grind grain in a traditional mill: the runner stone and base stone. On the back of the menu, guests are informed, "Runner & Stone's interior was designed by Latent Productions and focuses on the synergy of prime materials coming together to be much more than their individual parts, mirroring the philosophy behind everything we make in the bakery and kitchen." Runner & Stone opened Wednesday and Thursday for breakfast only, with dinner commencing on Friday, the 21st. We got to sneek in for a few pictures before it did.

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Red Gravy Opens Tonight; Runner & Stone to Open Wednesday

The paper is still on the windows at Red Gravy, Saul Bolton's third Brooklyn project (after Saul and the Vanderbilt), but that'll come down within the next couple of hours. Red Gravy opens tonight at 5pm. The restaurant will be in "soft opening" mode through the weekend, but you can expect the crowds to start showing up to 151 Atlantic Avenue very soon.

A handful of antipasti, a few primi, segundi, contorni, and charcuterie make up the menu. There's also piatti del giorno that run Monday through Sunday. Sunday's special is "Sunday Gravy." Something tells us it's going to be pretty, pretty, pretty good. The full menu is available online.

Red Gravy | 151 Atlantic Avenue | 718.885.0051 | www

Runner & Stone is another from the BK Taste of Tastes to Come list and they're opening next Wednesday, the 19th, at 7am. For that Wednesday and the following Thursday, the 20th, the restaurant/bar/bakery from ex Per Se head baker Peter Endriss and Blue Ribbon chef de cuisine Chris Pizzulli will be open from 7am - noon. Dinner will kick off Friday, the 21st, at 5pm.

The dinner menu is about a dozen selctions deep, with a few pastas and entrees following apps like grappa-cured striped bass and short rib soup. There's a red cabbage gnocchi with smoked sausage and grana padano and spaghetti alla chitarra with a conch ragu. The mains are pretty straight forward: "Braised Lamb Breast," "Pancetta-Wrapped Blackfish," "Roasted Chicken," and "Grilled Ribeye." No prices online, but we're expecting them to be similar to the Pines across the street. Endriss put his touch on the dolci, so you probably don't want to skip dessert here. The breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus are all available online.

Runner & Stone | 285 Third Avenue | 718.576.3360 | www

A Taste of Tastes to Come: Brooklyn Edition

Last week we posted A Taste of Tastes to Come, in which we brought you pictures of storefronts in Manhattan that will become home to exciting restaurants by the end of the year.  A few chefs, Andrew Carmellini, Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi, Michael White and now Gabe Stulman, have two projects in the works.  It's a busy time of year in Manhattan for restaurateurs and chefs, but there's some action on the Brookln side of the East River too.  Here's a look at a few Kings County developments we're psyched about.

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