Quick Bites: Today is opening day for Lonnies, the long-awaited Boerum Hill sister to Ingas Bar — brick chicken, prime rib, and Basque cheesecake from chef Sean Rembold and Caron Callahan. Meanwhile, the Health Department had a busy week across Brooklyn, with 11 spots shuttered over pests and temperature violations. Here’s the May 20 snapshot.
Opening today
Lonnies (112 Bond Street, Boerum Hill) — Opens today, May 20. Married duo Sean Rembold and Caron Callahan — the team behind Ingas Bar in Brooklyn Heights — open their second restaurant on Bond Street, right at the Pacific Street corner. The kitchen runs entirely on induction (no gas), and the menu leans on a few things done carefully: chicken under a brick, a daily prime rib special, burgers, and a Basque cheesecake for dessert. The space is Art Deco-leaning, designed to feel cozy and a touch nostalgic. The name is a tribute to Lonnie Lanham, a Vietnam vet and hairdresser who shaped Rembold’s early years in Kentucky.
Still riding this week’s opening wave
Bar Susanne (6 River Street, Williamsburg). Designer Matthew Maddy (Lilia, Oxomoco) teamed up with chef Jackie Carnesi (Kellogg’s Diner, Nura) on a 75-seat waterfront seafood-and-martinis room. Long Island purveyors, raw bar plates like scallop crudo, and a cocktail list built around martinis and agave drinks. The room — amber light, marble, reclaimed wood — is one of the prettier patio scenes in north Brooklyn this spring.
Six Coasts by Smorgasburg (146 Carder Road, Governors Island). Smorgasburg’s new 32,000-square-foot waterfront concept opened May 9. Chef Scotley Innis leads a Pan-American seafood menu that pulls from Nova Scotia, Baja, Bahia, and the Caribbean. Snapper tiradito with soursop leche de tigre, blue crab and plantain croquettes, and a 100-seat outdoor bar with Lower Manhattan harbor views. Take the ferry from the Battery Maritime Building.
Sendo (43 West 8th Street, Greenwich Village). Chef Tsuyoshi Takahashi, formerly of Sushi Noz, runs a budget-friendly omakase counter with sets starting around $34. Edo-era nigiri and handrolls, Hokkaido rice, fish from Tokyo’s Toyosu market. It is one of the most accessible serious sushi rooms downtown right now.
Closings to know
Brooklyn Health Department sweep. A list circulated May 19 names 11 Brooklyn establishments shut down by the NYC Health Department: Coffee With Milk, 333 Lounge, Jay & Son Latin Flavor, Crown Fried Chicken & Pizza, Chilo’s, Pati’s Bakery, Tasty Bites, Nonna’s Pizzeria, John’s Donut & Coffee Shop, Al Reef Bakery & Restaurant, and Gyro Express. The most common citations were pest evidence (mice or roaches), plumbing or sewage issues, and hot or cold foods held outside safe temperatures. Coffee With Milk drew 88 violation points, the highest in the batch.
Closures from a Health Department order are not always permanent — many spots reopen within days after correcting violations and passing re-inspection. But it is always worth a quick call or Google Maps check before you make the trip.
What to do with this
If you want the most novel meal of the week, Lonnies tonight is the play — a true opening night with a kitchen that has been workshopping for months. If you want a longer evening with a view, ferry over to Governors Island for Six Coasts before the weekend crush. And if you want the “new New York” energy without crossing the river, Bar Susanne’s waterfront patio in Williamsburg is built for exactly the slow May golden hour we’re in right now.
We will keep tracking openings, closings, and Health Department actions all week. Bookmark this column.
