The Q at Parkside

(for those for whom the Parkside Q is their hometrain)

News and Nonsense from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Lefferts and environs, or more specifically a neighborhood once known as Melrose Park. Sometimes called Lefferts Gardens. Or Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Or PLG. Or North Flatbush. Or Caledonia (west of Ocean). Or West Pigtown. Across From Park Slope. Under Crown Heights. Near Drummer's Grove. The Side of the Park With the McDonalds. Jackie Robinson Town. Home of Lefferts Manor. West Wingate. Near Kings County Hospital. Or if you're coming from the airport in taxi, maybe just Flatbush is best.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Who Knew? Did You?



How is it that the Q, of all people, is last to know that the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is opening a new restaurant? Yellow Magnolia. A proper sit-down-and-talk-about-nothing-of-consequence restaurant! I love, love, love the current cafe; will it still be there? I would be heartbroken, because I've been consuming its Chunky Chicken Salad since I moved to the borough 26 years ago. (Wait, is that why I'm a FWF? Hidden calories!) And those sub-continental guys! They've been there forever, and working their butts off. I'll hold off the tears til I hear for certain...I wrote to their press office today.

Okay, I just got the official word. Longtime cafe operators Charles Sally Charles are out. Time for a last visit before the end of an era? I'm astounded about how melancholy I just got.

But this is like big big news to those of us within spitting distance. Er, walking distance. Spitting is prohibited in the Botanics.

From le website de BBG:

Coming in Fall 2014!

Named for the remarkable flower developed by Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Yellow Magnolia Café is a project of Brooklyn chef Rob Newton (owner of Nightingale 9, Wilma Jean, and Smith Canteen), who will oversee the seasonal menus and overall creative vision of the Garden’s food service starting in fall 2014. Newton’s focus on regional foods from small farms and purveyors is in keeping with BBG’s longstanding interest in sustainable practices. The new, vegetable-focused restaurant is committed to offering the freshest local and organic ingredients possible, with a changing menu sourced from local farmers' markets and the Garden itself.

Visitors will have the option of dining in a brand-new interior space (Yellow Magnolia Café) or ordering from a convenient outdoor kiosk (Yellow Magnolia Canteen). The family-friendly restaurant will be open Tuesday to Sunday, offering such treats as Brooklyn-grown lettuces and greenmarket vegetables, barley risotto, and fried-chicken sandwiches. 

Yellow Magnolia Café is slated to open in late October—watch this page for updates!

1 comment:

Kimplicated said...

Oh, that cafe had BETTER be staying. I'm all for flowers, but their food is half the point of a membership.