Brooklyn, once an affordable refuge for restaurateurs and diners creating and seeking culinary adventures, is losing its down-home charm.
And Queens, long known for its cheap ethnic eats, is filling the gap. For the first time ever, four of its restaurants have won a coveted Michelin star, and there are plenty more contenders.
“Manhattan is no longer for regular people, the rents are insanely high — and Brooklyn is becoming like Manhattan,” says Jeff Teller, chef de cuisine at Queens’ M. Wells Steakhouse.
“It cripples you. You have to be a Daniel Boulud or Danny Meyer that can support losing money for a year. The next logical thing is to look in Queens.”
Chef Danny Brown was way ahead of the game when he opened Danny Brown Wine Bar and Kitchen in Forest Hills eight years ago, and until now, had been the only eatery in the borough to earn a Michelin star.
This year, for the fifth time in a row, Danny Brown Wine Bar and Kitchen won a single star.
The honor, which denotes “a very good restaurant in its category,” was also awarded to newcomers M. Wells Steakhouse, Casa Enrique and Zabb Elee.
“It’s great to have company,” Brown says of the newly starred restaurants. “It’s great for the borough, and it’s great to establish Queens.”
So if you don’t feel like getting in line for a pie at Roberta’s in Bushwick, try Houdini Kitchen Laboratory in Ridgewood.
Or, you’re interested in a dozen raw oysters to go with your bourbon, but can’t stand Williamsburg? Head to Mar’s in Astoria.
Yes, everybody, now’s the time to get on the train to Queens.
Casa Enrique
5-48 49th Ave., LIC; 347-448-6040
“It’s been crazy,” says chef Cosme Aguilar, recalling the moment he found out about the Michelin star. “I was cooking, and I received a phone call from my brother [and partner, Luis]. Everyone was looking for me.”
And the phone’s been ringing ever since, from eager customers to the most famous newspaper in Mexico.
When they came to the US 17 years ago, the Aguilars worked at the Village’s now-shuttered Bar Henry, creating French food. But when they opened Casa Enrique (named after another partner’s 15-year-old mixed Maltese, Henry) two years ago, they returned to their roots.
“These are things we ate in Chiapas,” says Luis.
And that includes everything from pozole, a traditional pork-based stew made with hominy, radishes and avocados, to the popular braised lamb shank and their mole, which takes eight hours to perfect.
Bunker Vietnamese
46-63 Metropolitan Ave., Ridgewood; 718-386-4282
Borough pride runs deep at Bunker, a humble Vietnamese cafe in an out-of-the-way location in the already out-of-the-way neighborhood of Ridgewood.
“Queens to the bone,” says Bunker general manager Roy Zapanta, who grew up in Elmhurst.
After Hurricane Sandy destroyed their fish distribution company, he and his partners, including his childhood skating buddy and chef Jimmy Tu, stayed.
“I wanted to elevate Vietnamese food,” says Tu, an alum of Eleven Madison Park who’s self-taught when it comes to his family’s native cuisine.
Though business was slow at first, they persevered, publicizing by riding bikes and dropping off menus within a few miles’ radius.
Eventually, word of their food — incredibly fresh and crispy bánh xèo stuffed with shrimp, bacon and fresh herbs; the suon nuong xa, a fried-egg-topped grilled pork loin; or specials like the uni fried rice with lump crab and Sun Gold tomatoes — got around.
Soon enough, Zapanta says, “It looked like people were trying to get into a club.”
And the party is only getting started.
Mar’s
34-21 34th Ave., Astoria; 718-685-2480
On a quiet corner in Astoria, Evangelos Roumeliotis holds court inside Mar’s, his gastropub that evokes old Viennese cafes and seems more fit for the cocktail-slugging, oyster-slurping hipsters of Williamsburg.
Billie Holiday plays over the sound system while bartenders meticulously prepare Manhattans and guests dine on plates of steak tartare and Mediterranean fare like wild sea bass prepared by Pasquale Froilic, a former customer who lived down the block and has worked as a chef all over the world.
“Queens is the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in the world — it just wasn’t hip,” says Roumeliotis, who has lived in Queens since he was 2.
“What’s happening now, we’re seeing restaurants catering to a younger crowd, not so much to a specific ethnicity.”
Tacuba
35-01 36th St., Astoria; 718-786-2727
By 8 p.m. on a recent Saturday night, Tacuba, a spacious cantina that opened a few weeks ago in Astoria, is packed — with waits for tables up to an hour.
But the customers haven’t flocked to the restaurant for mediocre guacamole and enchiladas — this is the latest venture from acclaimed chef Julian Medina, who owns the more sophisticated Toloache and Yerba Buena restaurants, both in Manhattan.
“We were a little afraid to open here, but Queens needed a bigger, upscale, fun Mexican restaurant,” says former Astoria resident Medina.
“Not just the taco joints I used to go to, but something more new and fresh and exciting” — which translates to mezcal-based cocktails, a variety of ceviches, guacamole made table-side and flavor-packed entrees such as mariscada en molcajete.
Mu Ramen
1209 Jackson Ave., Long Island City; 917-868-8903
“We could barely boil water,” says Joshua, a former wine director for David Bouley and chef at Per Se. “We would get up at 2 a.m. and go off-site and cook broth, so I was averaging an hour or two hours of sleep a night.”
Now they’re about to open a brick-and-mortar nearby, making room for 22 customers per seating to indulge in what is arguably the best ramen in all five boroughs.
The menu will also be expanded, to five ramens, about 14 appetizers, including old-favorite tebasaki gyoza, a boneless chicken wing dumpling stuffed with foie gras and brioche — and a full bar.
“If I can make a really great ramen, people are willing to come here,” Joshua says. “But the biggest factor is no matter what I make, I want it to be the best it can be.”
Houdini Kitchen Laboratory
1563 Decatur St., Ridgewood; 718-456-3770
Housed in the former Diogenes Brewery, and named for the famous magician, the Houdini Kitchen Laboratory showcases 15-foot-high ceilings and several thousand square feet.
“For a space like this in Manhattan, it would cost $40,000 to $50,000 [a month],” says Bologna, Italy, native Massimiliano “Max” Bartoli. “I don’t have that overhead. Queens allows you to have a more human approach with your business — it’s less fake.”
In 1998, Bartoli had the prescience to open since-closed Miss Williamsburg when there was barely a neighborhood.
Now, he’s followed suit in Ridgewood with a menu of Neapolitan-inspired pizzas topped with rum-aged Gorgonzola and wine-cured sausage, and made with dough that takes a week of prep time.
Danny Brown Wine Bar
104-02 Metropolitan Ave., Forest Hills; 718-261-2144
When chef Danny Brown first opened a corner space on Metropolitan Avenue in Forest Hills, it was a basic wine and tapas bar.
“The first year, we had all these people [asking], ‘What is a topless restaurant?,’ ” says Audrey Brown, his wife and general manager.
But as their customers’ palates developed, so did the menu, which is now rooted in a blend of classic French-bistro and Italian trattoria-style cooking.
“We arrived as a fine-dining restaurant together,” she says.
Today’s menu includes dishes such as sea urchin pasta with shaved bottarga di tonno (above), roasted skate with red wine risotto and Spanish mackerel crudo with trout roe and caper berries.
As for that Michelin star, it “gives you a little opportunity to try something a little different because it brings a new customer base,” says Danny.
M. Wells Steakhouse
43-15 Crescent St., LIC; 718-786-9060
“Why did I stay?” asks Sarah Obraitis of remaining in Queens.
She opened M. Wells Steakhouse with her husband/executive chef Hugue Dufour after a successful run with their original Long Island City M. Wells restaurant. “There was never really a reason to leave . . . I came here because I was here already. I live here.”
Though known for its sumptuous portions of Quebec-influenced steakhouse fare, the restaurant has more to offer, including stacks of grilled pork chops; the truite au bleu, a live trout fished out of the cement tank built into the front counter of their open kitchen, dipped in vinegar that turns its skin blue, and poached; and their surprising “bone-in” burger, made from a blend of aged brisket and chuck that’s grilled around a randomly chosen bone.
Zabb Elee
71-28 Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights; 718-426-7992
Zabb Elee is a modest Thai eatery along Roosevelt Avenue, located just under the continually rumbling tracks of the E, F, M and R trains.
The decor is modern and white, the menus laminated in plastic, and the food?
“You can’t find this anywhere else in New York, only Thailand,” says manager Mong Somchai Pratham. And since the restaurant was awarded their Michelin star, business has tripled.
Though many items are familiar, Pratham says the cuisine is Isan style, a region in northern Thailand between Laos and Cambodia where he and chef, Tony Therdthus Rittaprom (right), hail from.
And though they have a sister restaurant in the East Village, Pratham says the Manhattan menu carries only about 80 percent of the original location’s items — like papaya salad and spicy noodle soup.
In Queens, they also have specials like traditional ant-egg salad, made with raw insect larvae imported from Thailand.
Eat local, think global
By ANDREA LYNN
Nothing celebrates the diversity of Queens more than its ethnic restaurants. And new dining options — restaurants that add new twists to ethnic cuisines — are constantly opening. From Chinese to Colombian to Cypriot, Queens offers a menu that can’t be found anywhere else. Here are a few of the best:
Arepa Lady
77-02AA Roosevelt Ave., Elmhurst; 347-730-6124
Fueled by the success of an insanely popular street cart, the Arepa Lady recently unveiled her first Colombian restaurant.
In a snug space, expect a wait on weekends for the ooey-gooey, mozzarella-filled arepa de queso ($4); arepa de chocolo, stuffed with meat like chorizo ($8); or tender shish kabobs with potato chunks.
The sweetness of passion-fruit or mango juice cuts the buttery goodness.
Bao Shoppe
30-66 Steinway St., Astoria, NY; 718-777-1883
Traditional Asian steamed buns with far- from-traditional spins: Colonel Bao has fried chicken, cole slaw, and pickles ($3.75); crispy tofu with daikon slaw and kimchee for the Hungry Buddhist Bao ($3.75); or the Smokey Pig Bao, with pulled pork and coleslaw ($3.75).
Add one of the amped-up fries options, like Hangover Fries ($6), with pork belly sauce, melted mozzarella, scallions, and the optional fried egg ($1.50 extra).
Dumpling Galaxy
42-35 Main St., Flushing; 718-461-0808
Dumpling-palooza’s in full force, with this spot’s selection of northern Chinese-style dumplings, fried or steamed: beef with tomato; lamb and string bean; hot and spicy beef; and mushroom with eggplant, to name a few.
The adventurous can go for selections like dried octopus, or pork and bitter melon.
Kopiaste Taverna
23-15 31st St., Astoria; 718-932-3220
Take a culinary tour of the Mediterranean country via the Cyprus Meze ($22 per person), with taramosalata, an airy fish roe; the Cypriot sausage sheftalia; afelia, red wine-and-coriander-marinated pork; cracked wheat pilaf (Pourgouri) and more.
Or try an entree of stifado kouneli ($16), a rabbit-and-onion stew braised in vinegar.
Andrea Lynn is the author of “Queens: A Culinary Passport” (St. Martin’s).