seersucker

We’re getting ready for our third New Year’s Eve dinner. Above is a picture from last year. As crazy as the night gets, nothing will be crazier than our first New Year’s Eve. We lost power 22 hours before our first seating and Con Ed said power would be restored on Jan. 1st at 3 a.m. Not an option, Con Ed! With a lot of sweat, tears and phone calls, power was restored two hours before our first guest arrived. Dramarama.

Collard greens! We’ll be serving lots of collards and Hoppin’ John at our 3rd Annual New Year’s Day Southern Brunch. If you’re Southern (or happen to hang with Southerners), you know it’s good luck to eat both of those dishes on New Year’s Day. We won’t be tempting fate. If you’re in Brooklyn, stop by and hang with us. We’ll be open from 10 to 5.

Here’s a peek at our New Year’s Eve menu!

It’s Small Business Saturday! Spending money in your own backyard is always a good thing. Support those who make your neighborhood a better place to live. We have so many favorite small businesses it’s impossible to mention them all. There’s Foxy & Winston down in Red Hook. Shen Beauty and Butter by Nadia on Court Street. Smith + Butler and the Bird boutique on Smith. Up on Atlantic, there’s Consignment, Goose Barnacle and Holler & Squall.

Then there are the bookstores we love. BookCourt on Court Street, Greenlight Books over in Fort Greene. McNally Jackson, the best bookstore in Manhattan. If you happen to be in Nashville, swing by Imogene + Willie or Third Man Records, where the photo above was taken. In L.A., our friends Andy and Rose have a great design shop called A+R Design on Abbot Kinney Boulevard.

Think twice before shopping online or running to a big box store, not today, but everyday. You might save a few dollars, but how is that adding to the quality of life in your community? Thanks to American Express for getting behind such a meaningful program!

Stop by Smith Canteen on Saturday to meet America’s best barista, Katie Carguilo. From 3 to 5 p.m., she will be crafting expertly pulled espresso drinks and two specialty drinks of her own creation.

First, her winning submission from the 2012 U.S. Barista Championship, a mix of naturally processed Ethiopian espresso from Counter Culture Coffee, jasmine green tea, lemon juice, nectarine mash, simple syrup, vinegar and soda water. The second is a macchiato of sorts—Ethiopian espresso with goat’s milk that has been infused with roasted beets and sugar then steamed.

Smith Canteen Pastry Chef Stephanie Alexander will create complimentary pastries for each drink. There will be a mini pain au chocolat, with jasmine chocolate, to complement the jasmine fruit espresso and a lemon Shaker tart to go with the beet macchiato.

At 5 p.m., Carguilo will sit down with New York Times coffee columnist Oliver Strand to talk about her championship win, how to make the perfect cup, East Coast versus West Coast coffee and more. The Q&A and reception that follows will be open to the public.

Smith Canteen is at 343 Smith Street. Hope to see you on Saturday!

Tonight is our Red Hook Initiative fundraiser. Details here. Stop by if you can. If you can’t make it, but would like to donate to RHI, here is the link to their site.

Thanks,
The Seersucker and Smith Canteen Teams

Stephanie Alexander, the pastry chef at Seersucker and Smith Canteen, will be the visiting chef at the Carroll Street Greenmarket this Sunday. She’ll be making an apple upside-down cake with apples from the market. Stop by between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., say hello and try some cake! (You can follow Stephanie on Twitter at @pbklyn.)

Calling all NYC college students! Seersucker is looking for a social media intern. If you love food and know your way around Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and more, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at seersuckerintern@gmail.com and tell us something about yourself. Maybe you can join the Seersucker team this fall.

Someone painted! Cheerful paint job on lower Smith Street, down the block from Seersucker in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. It’s nice to walk past this every morning.

In the past few weeks, Seersucker has been home to a few cooking workshop “school trips,” led by our staff and attended by students from PS 58. Since Seersucker is sponsoring the P.S. 58 student vegetable garden, we’re also helping to teach the students about different uses for their ingredients. The fifth graders participated in a pickling workshop, where they tasted pickled carrots, cucumbers, ramps and cherries, while the second graders put together a big salad containing lolla rossa and romaine lettuces, dill, basil, mint, and some of their own garden-grown radishes. We dressed the salad with a roasted garlic vinaigrette — here’s the recipe!

Every Friday, the lovely folks from BK Farmyards bring us part of their bounty. Yesterday we received some absolutely gorgeous lettuce mix — full of greens with a slightly spicy and peppery kick such as arugula, red mustard, and sorrel. The produce is being grown at the Youth Farm, which is a partnership between the students at the High School for Public Service in East Flatbush (where the farm is located) and BK Farmyards (the folks that run the operation). We love the things they are growing, and are excited to be getting more and more from them as the season continues. Rob is using this spicy mix in the raw vegetable salad, which comes with a variety of chopped and shaved market vegetables. 

We’re looking for a pastry assistant. Interested? Email us a little about yourself and send your resume to seersuckerjobs@gmail.com. And if you know anyone, tell them to get in touch!

The restaurant’s new chairs from Room & Board, made by Newport Furniture in Newport, Vermont. It’s the Afton chair in walnut. They’re sturdy and look beautiful in the dining room. We’re also happy to have chairs that are made in America.