Fire Season: Brooklyn at Its Wood-Fired Best
Photographs by Jane Bruce
Speedy Romeo: There are literally no gas lines in the Speedy Romeo kitchen, meaning that everything, from the provel cheese, pickled pepper and Italian sausage topped pizzas, from the charred tentacles of octopus smeared with almond romesco, to the especially smoky Caesar (yes, they even grill salad), is cooked over crackling wood flames.
376 Classon Avenue, Clinton Hill
Cow and Clover: At this brand new South Williamsburg spot, chill winds blowing in from the waterfront are kept in check by the residual heat from their duo of 90-degree brick ovens, used for baking off flat breads, searing jalapeños to flavor vodka, slow roasting beer-soused mussels, simmering hearty, vegetable-based stews, and cooking up hulking, family-style roasts, priced by the pound and served with two seasonal sides.
291 Kent Avenue, Williamsburg
The Gorbals: Tongue-in-cheek, contemporary gimmicks aside (think bacon-wrapped matzoh balls and Cool Ranch hummus), Ilan Hall actually harkens back to the Paleolithic era with a slew of wood-fired dishes at The Gorbals, such as spicy shishitos paired with eggplant, lamb ribs strewn with cranberries, swordfish slicked with bonito butter, and rabbit and apples in an oven-smoked sauce.
98 N 6th Street, Williamsburg
Colonia Verde: Don’t miss the pistachio and coconut cream-stuffed brook trout, charred langoustines, grilled halloumi salad or lomo al trapo; a beef tenderloin for two encased in a salt crust, deposited on a wet cloth, and cooked directly over a flickering wood-fire.
219 Dekalb Avenue, Fort Greene
