It's that time of year again—starting next Monday, Dine In Brooklyn will be offering up a smorgasbord of tasty treats and deals, with some 200 area restaurants serving prix-fixe dinners for $28 and lunches for $20.13.
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who is set to bow out of the hosting gig after this year, had nothing but praise for his hometown. "Here in Brooklyn, we've got it all. And one thing is for sure: there are no bad eggs among us. Every one of these restaurants is superb," he said today. Besides gushing about Brooklyn's food scene, Markowitz asserted that "the greatest compliment young Parisians give to food is [calling it] 'tres Brooklyn.'"
The year's crop of eateries features both returning players and new faces. Park Slope's Kiwiana, which participated last year, is happy to be back. "We cherish these events [because they] get the buzz going," said chef Mark Simmons, whose New Zealand-based menu will include dishes like mutton and mushroom pie and buttermilk fried chicken. You'll also be able to get one of our personal favorites: the lamington, a pink, coconut-covered confection filled with raspberries and jam. Other places to look out for: Piramide, whose bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers had us tearing up (in the best way possible) and Okeanos, which was dishing out samples of its juicy lamb burgers at the event's press conference and tasting this morning.
Markowitz also emphasized the industry's economic benefits, and its importance in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which left some restaurants scrambling. Brooklyn Crab of Red Hook, which was hit hard by the storm, told us that it's been "a difficult fall and winter." Valerie Chisholm, the head bartender there, said that she hopes Dine In Brooklyn will lead to a boom in business.
Dine In Brooklyn runs from March 11th through March 21st, and you can check out the full list of participating restaurants here—be sure to take a gander at this year's new addition: a collaboration with Google to map out exactly where each place is located.
