Please Pass the Porcini Popcorn: Inside Syndicated, Bushwick’s Cinema-Eatery
In a world when taking in a movie involves $15 tickets, soda-gummed floors and a high probability of contracting bed bugs, it’s no wonder that indie art houses have a major leg up on Regal and Loews in Brooklyn. Especially when in comes to a growing strain of full-fledged cinema-eateries, such as Williamsburg’s Nitehawk, Downtown’s forthcoming Alamo, and Bushwick’s recently debuted Syndicated—all of which have circumvented heat lamp hot dogs and cheese-pump nachos in favor of seat-side service, premium concessions, bespoke cocktail programs, and altogether restaurant-worthy fare.
In fact, $3 screenings of Mean Streets, Groundhog Day, and Predator actually read as more of an amenity at Syndicated; designed by the illustrious hOmE (behind some of the borough’s sexiest hospitality spaces), and featuring an enviable open kitchen helmed by a legitimate chef—Bret Macris, of Park Slope’s farm-to-table favorite, Rose Water. In addition to offering gourmet popcorn (sprinkled with pimenton, smoked salt, or porcini mushroom powder), locally sourced candy (such as Salty Road Taffy and Fine & Raw chocolate), beyond-cola beverages (including Coney Island IPA and Brooklyn Lager cans) as well as high-end bites like bacon-butter meatballs, duck confit nachos, and popcorn-fried oysters in the 50-seat theatre (boasting custom-designed banquettes with leather headrests, set at a 30-degree pitch for unimpeded sightlines), there’s also an entirely distinct menu for the adjoining dining room and bar.
The quesadilla at Syndicated
Running the gamut from small bites to sandwiches to full-fledged, carefully composed entrees, Syndicated might even end up taking a bite of Roberta’s dinner service action; imagine a pre- or post-show repast of lobster quesadillas, roasted pumpkin salad, and heritage porchetta, paired with fingerling potatoes and walnut rosemary jus. And then there’s the roster of film-inspired tipples from Piora vet, Kenneth Vanhooser—like a suitably rummy “Redrum” accented with cynar and aperol; the “Oolong Rouge” with cranberry tonic and Bombay Sapphire; and the foggy “Up In Smoke,” featuring orange blossom, egg white, crème de menthe, and a heady double-whammy of herradura tequila and mezcal—a vast improvement, to say the least, over 44-ounce tumblers of Fanta.
40 Bogart Street, Bushwick
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All photos by Jane Bruce.
