A First Look Inside Faro, a Bushwick Pasta Spot from Northeast Kingdom’s Kevin Adey
Kevin Adey spent the last five years of his career as executive chef at Northeast Kingdom, crafting hyper-seasonal dishes out of foraged black locust blossoms, bouquets of velvety lamb quarters, and clusters of crimson beauty. And with his very first chef/owner venture, Faro (located right down the block from his old Bushwick stomping grounds), Adey’s remained every bit as locally-focused and hands-on—outfitting his 2,500-square-foot space with reclaimed wood from the neighborhood, and featuring gorgeous ceramic dishware by Greenpoint artist Sarah Ritz, cradling chewy squiggles of house-made pasta, culled from New York State einkorn wheat.
But in contrast to the tiny and moody NEK, Adey’s new glass-walled eatery is sun-drenched and uncommonly spacious. While zoned to seat 70, the Michelin-minded chef has elected to serve only 50 at a time, in order to maintain total quality control over his food. That also means, instead of diluting its efforts with lunch, Faro will offer dinner service only—save for the weekends, when the restaurant will open from 10am-10pm, for all-day brunch and a special Sunday Supper. The menu is similarly, thoughtfully edited, structured around five seasonal starters, seven pastas and four proteins (happily, none exceed $20), produced from an open kitchen anchored by a wood-burning stove and lined with stools—which, in a year or so, will function as a tasting menu-only chefs counter.
Originally slated for January, hold-ups with construction mean it will still be a month or so until Faro opens its doors. But when it does, Adey will get to strut his stuff with ideal April produce (obtained through longstanding relationships with suppliers like Brooklyn Grange, Hamlet Organic Garden and Autumn’s Harvest), instead of debuting with root vegetables and ragu. In fact, Adey’s original menu has already gotten a major seasonal makeover, swapping fennel sausage and black trumpet mushrooms for fiddleheads and favas in a plate of fat lumache, offering twists of casarecce piled with English peas and prosciutto, instead of mounds of braised short rib, and eighty-sixing wood-fired monkfish with kuro squash in favor of small, mild porgy, sprinkled with bottarga and lemon.
We may have name-checked Faro as one of our most eagerly anticipated winter openings, but we truly can’t think of a nicer way to welcome spring.
436 Jefferson Street, Bushwick
[metaslider id=29790]