I have read and heard very good things about Glasserie for the past several months under the helm of Chef Sara Kramer. As some of us found out, Chef Eldad Shem Tov has replaced her but the food we had was excellent. The menu is tightly edited and filled with heavily Mediterranean inspired dishes that would satisfy the omnivores and the vegetarians.
My friends and I finally made it by driving over there by car. It makes more sense to drive (or cab it) over to Greenpoint, Brooklyn since the nearest subway stop (of the G train) to the restaurant is a half mile away and walking in the polar vortex is not an option. This restaurant is found in an industrial area – at a Superfund site no less.
When you walk through Glasserie’s doors, you’re in a maze-like dining space where a large area is a devoted to rectangular-shaped bar where most diners who want a quick meal with an interesting cocktail (or two). The dining rooms are filled with what looked like vintage and flea market finds that feels cozy and worn in, save for the uncomfortable rickety wooden folding chairs. I realized by 7 PM on a Saturday night, many diners who just walked in were waiting for a table at the side of the restaurant.
We started with beets with sunchokes, macadamia nut and pomegranate ($15), lamb tartare, olives, cucumber, mint with bulghur crackers ($19), and flatbread ($5). The beets were wonderfully sweet and roasted, the creamy swathe of labne and sweet-tart pomegranate arils and the crunchy bites of sunchokes and macadamia.
The lamb tartare sounds unusual but it’s delicious. It’s not gamy as the intense mixture of spices melded wonderfully with the very fresh lamb and the delicately crisp and nutty bulgur cracker added the needed crunch from the silky meat mixture.
The flatbread was served warm. The dessert plate sized disc, slighlty puffy flatbread was heavily coated in zesty za’tar spices and tasted smoky from the grilling. My issue is for $5, they should consider serving at least two of these flatbreads.
Moving on to the main courses, the quail, red rice, fennel and cara cara orange ($21) was fantastic. You’re actually served two large, juicy quails that had intense flavors of spice, sweet and tartness. The greens and slices of watermelon radish added some fresh texture to the dish.
The chicken with cilantro, root vegetables and almond milk ($18) astounded me completely. I normally don’t care for ordering chicken dishes since I know how to cook up chicken many ways at home. The flavors of the silky chicken were robust punches of spices with bright acidity lingering in the background and the cilantro just brought all of these flavors together.
The flat iron steak, purple barley, kohlrabi and almond ($19) was executed perfectly. Smoky, tender steak that’s perfectly medium rare. The nutty, tender barley added some substance to the dish and the crunchy bites of almond and kohlrabi made it completely great.
We skipped dessert as the food was incredibly satisfying and filling. Nevertheless, next time when I do dine here again, I would order the famed rabbit for two. I’ve seen platters of this dish sent to various tables and it looked delectable. Great meal at very reasonable prices.
To view more photos of this visit, please view the slideshow below (or CLICK HERE):
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Information:
Glasserie
Website
95 Commercial Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222
Phone:(718) 389-0640
Map
