Four & Twenty Blackbirds, Now At The Brooklyn Public Library
To all you ruthless criminals who managed to steal more than 70,000 books from the Brooklyn Public Library in 2012: is delicious pie and coffee enough to entice you into returning your books?
If so, you’re in luck. (If not, you’re a monster!) On Wednesday, Grubstreet reported that Melissa and Emily Elsen, the sisters behind Gowanus pie spot Four & Twenty Blackbird, are officially opening an outpost at the Brooklyn Public Library. A temporary café is already up-and-running, but the full-fledged café won’t open its doors until March 14.
The siblings are teaming up with John and Mike Poiarkoff who’ve put in time at The Pines and Vinegar Hill House and while the Brothers Poiarkoff will put together a mouthwatering list of sandwiches, the Elsen sisters will dish their famous pies.
At the moment, you can only pick up Stumptown coffee, fresh fruit and banana bread, but here’s what you can expect once everything’s in place:
Poiarkoff is particularly excited about a roast-beef sandwich that will appear on the opening menu come March, topped with house-made kimchee and horseradish mayonnaise. To appease Brooklyn’s vegetarian and vegan crowds, on the other hand, the brothers will serve hummus based on the seasonal availability of vegetables. The kitchen will start off with a sweet-potato variety with harissa and marinated cucumbers, for example, then move on to a sweet-pea version when spring vegetables come into season.
The café will also head up a reading-incentive program for children, put together educational programs about food, sustainability and cooking classes and become another location to pick up whole pies once the holiday season starts.
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