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!

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.)

Introducing our new dessert cocktail—Good Morning, Lebowski. Berkshire Mountain Distillers Ragged Mountain Rum, Counter Culture Coffee, milk, mole bitters and ice with a housemade mint marshmallow and a rim of ground coffee and salt. You’ve been warned!

Ezra, our in-house gardener/server extraordinaire, is putting her green thumb to use out back. Pictured are a variety of plants she’s growing — red bell peppers are in the white enamel wash basin and the tall spindly plant in the back will one day produce delicious cherry tomatoes. To the right are a couple bunches of swiss chard, and mint and basil are front and center. Nothing’s been fruiting quite yet, but we are all keeping our fingers crossed.

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.

There’s a great photo essay on Seersucker in the new issue of Brooklyn Magazine, out now. Pictures by Rory Gunderson. “In a borough obsessed with provenance and proximity, Carroll Garden’s southern-inflected Seersucker is a locavore’s dream,” the editors wrote. We love Brooklyn Magazine, so we’re thrilled to be in there. Check it out.

Last night, we participated in the Bon Appetit Grub Crawl, a tour of four restaurants in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. We served mini biscuits with salted molasses butter and rhubarb jam, pimento cheese and cracklin’ crackers, Surreyano ham and boiled dressing, New York’s best fried chicken, and buttermilk panna cotta with strawberries and orange flower water. We also served two wines on tap, rose from Lieb Family on the North Fork and dry riesling from Thirsty Owl Winery in the Finger Lakes. Good times and lots of nice peeps!

GoogaMooga, Day Two! We’ll be serving up more asparagus/homemade ricotta tarts and lemonade in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. If you’re a vegetarian or just looking for something tasty, stop by. And bonus—today big concert is Hall & Oates! 

Today was Day One of the GoogaMooga food and music festival in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Crazy beautiful weather, blue skies, tons of people. Thanks to everyone who lined up for our asparagus-ricotta tart and lemonade. Looking forward to Day Two.

Our friend and former guest barista Nicolas has opened his own coffee shop in Paris in the first arrondissement called Telescope. We were lucky to visit last week and it’s definitely the best coffee in Paris. If you find yourself in Paris, tell him Seersucker sent you!