The Diner

This is The Diner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. David took me and Caitlin there for dinner on our last night in New York. It's a slightly deceptive restaurant. The Diner is housed in an old, 1920s dining car -- low ceiling, the walls lean lightly. Servers are dressed in t-shirts and cut-off jeans. The hostess sits on a stool by the lunch counter chatting with someone who's come in for dinner. Booths run down one side of the dining car -- with parchment paper standing in for tablecloths. Behind the steel lunch counter -- where I'm sure a guy once stood flipping burgers -- is now the restaurant's bar. When our server seated us at one of the booths, we received simple, one sheet menu listing burgers, 1/2 chicken, fries, roasted potatoes, soup and greens. I was a bit disappointed, because I didn't want my last meal in NY to be diner food.
But then our server came to our booth and asked us if we wanted to hear the specials. She slided herself down beside David in the booth and pulled out a pen. She began to list of the specials, starting with the starters. The first one was a crostini with goat cheese, topped with a braised vegetable (that I can't remember). She wrote down the word "crostini". Then she kept going. She recited item after item, writing as she went along. She paused a moment and said "Now for the entrees". It was amazing. She listed off monkfish, sea bass, pork belly, a squash soup, two different types of salads. a cheese plate. Those are the ones I can remember. David got the monkfish, Caitlin the pork belly and I ordered the brazino, or striped sea bass.
My brazino came whole, and pan-fried. It had been stuffed with lemon and rosemary. And it came with a side of string beans that had been lightly tossed with dill, cilantro and a vinegrette before being chilled. (Dill and cilantro works well together -- I'm going to make the dish in future for BBQ's or something.) I really liked David's monk fish. It came on a bed of spiegel, bacon and vegetables that was buttery delicious. For dessert, we shared a mint pot-au-creme -- served in a diner-style cup. On the side were two chewy, chocolate cookies. It was creamy but light at the same time. And not too sweet.
Reviews of the restaurant that I've since read seem to suggest that people think the food at The Diner has gone down somewhat in recent years. I dunno. I enjoyed The Diner. It was simply prepared, quality food. Writing the menu on the table emphasizes the point that the menu changes regularly - though part of me wishes that the menu came to us on paper because it was difficult to get a handle in my head of what the server recited. I think what endeared me even to the restaurant in the end is the fact that it tries to take the pretentiousness out of good food by serving it in a down-to-earth setting.

NYC

Got back last week from New York. I love going to NY. Walked a lot. Shopped. And ate. The trip didn't start very well. I forgot my passport at home so I missed my flight. Was put on the next plane and got into New York about two hours late. And very hungry. Had a late dinner at a restaurant/bar a block away from my cousin's home. I don't think I could ever get mini-burgers and a cobb salad at 12:30 am in Ottawa. I’ve been to New York about half a dozen times. But it was on this trip that I discovered my favourite New York restaurant. It’s called The Diner. It’s in Brooklyn, in the hipster borough of Williamsburg. I think I took more of photos at the restaurant than the Museum of Modern Art. Trying to figure out how to put them onto my computer right now...