There is a new French brasserie in South Williamsburg with a 25-foot mahogany bar, nearly 1,000 spirits behind it, and a 1930s Art Deco look done up in black and gold. It is called The Sparrow, it sits at 185 Broadway just south of the Williamsburg Bridge, and it comes from the team behind Citroën, the shuttered restaurant a lot of Brooklyn diners still miss.
The opening was covered by New York Trend, which pitched the room as a date-night alternative for people who do not want to schlep into Manhattan for a nice night out. That is basically the whole idea here: fine-dining touches, warm amber lighting, cocktail dresses not out of place, but a menu of brasserie classics rather than anything that needs explaining.
The bar is the centerpiece. Twenty-five feet of mahogany stocked with close to a thousand bottles, which gives the bartenders a lot of room to freelance if you tell them what you like. The drink list leans on refined versions of the standards instead of trend-chasing. The most talked-about pour is the Virus Killer, a hot rum drink that has become the house signature in cold weather. In its review, The Infatuation clocked the cocktails at $18 and said it would take the Virus Killer over the cold-and-flu aisle any day.
The food is brasserie by the book. You start at the raw bar, which runs oysters, shellfish and seafood towers built for sharing, and a Montauk shrimp cocktail that both New York Trend and The Infatuation single out for the creamy sauce and the tender shrimp. The steak frites is the marquee entrée, cooked well and served with crisp golden fries. The kitchen is not reinventing any of this. It is cooking the familiar version and cooking it carefully.
The Art Deco styling is the sell. Rich black-and-gold accents, polished finishes, soft lighting, an intimate dining room that The Infatuation compared to peering through old film stock. It is upscale without being stiff. The Sparrow suggests you dress up a little, and the room rewards it, but nobody is turning you away for skipping the jacket.
Citroën, the earlier project from the same team, closed before The Sparrow opened. The new spot occupies a historic building on Broadway on the edge of the neighborhood, a few blocks from the foot of the bridge. You can see the menus on The Sparrow’s site.
Featured image: Courtesy theinfatuation.com
