Enter RISBO. No burgers. Great vibe. Terrific layout, outstanding food. A place you want to hang for more than just a meal - maybe stick around and head out to the garden for an after-drink. Just five days into what is sure to be a very successful run, the place is oozing with cool. Not hipster cool a la Billyburg, but real honest-to-goodness-I-can't-place-it-so-it-must-be-foreign cool. European cool. South American cool. French cool, with some Caribbean cool, and a Cosmo-Euro playlist with the music just a tad too loud and yet just right to ensure your conversation doesn't travel. Sorry. I don't want to hear about your love life or problems at work. I really don't. Not that I can't sympathize of course.
Address? 701 Flatbush btw Parkside and Winthrop. I know, right?
The emphasis of cuisine is on carne of various types, but the vegetarian sides and salads are delicious as well. As in really, really good. Garlic good. If you're allergic to garlic you may struggle here. And let's talk about the super sweet ordering style that seems to have caught on Stateside. Order here, pickup there, sit wherever. Not that it feels like a cafeteria. But the kitchen is so central to the proceedings you feel like at any moment chef Boris might ask you to toss him an onion. And you would. It feels communal that way.
The deep menu of yore is replaced by a few items done well. Yesterday I got the sliced lamb and it came with (get this) FIVE sides. Perfectly spiced and complementing one another. And the complementing didn't end there. My entire group of five parents-of-a-certain-age couldn't stop complimenting the owners/staff. A complement of compliments.
Cash only is a bummer, but I'm sure they'll take cards soon. The system is still being worked out. I liked the non-alcoholic offerings, and the winos seemed satisfied with the list. For now you pay and order from the host, then you bring your slip to the bartender. I got some sort of sorrel drink called bissap that was super righteous. I feel very cool having ordered and enjoyed bissap. Bissap.
But what impressed me most was the vibe. Great mixing of cultures and people. Didn't feel too pretentious, even though every detail has been considered. Thumbs up, y'all. Thumbs up.
4 comments:
"Address? 701 Flatbush btw Parkside and Winthrop. I know, right?" - what's that supposed to mean?
If you've lived in the neighborhood for more than a minute you know that this is one of the last places you'd expect a little bourgie restaurant row. Addicts, drunks, fights, public pissing...actually, all of that is still happening just not as much. You can still buy a TV in that mid-block bodega with your WIC card. I saw a lady (swear to god) taking a dump between two parked cars on this block. I shit you not.
In other words, if you didn't get the joke, maybe it wasn't written for you.
I'm sure the food is awesome, but the speaker near the front playing music reminds me of every other cell phone store on the bush cranking music out to the sidewalk. I'm old, just cannot stand the constant noise and marketing thrown in my face everyday. Listen, I stop in churches from time to time on my commutes just to have some quiet time even though I'm not a religious.
- josh
That's awesome Josh. This is definitely not the place for you!
I gotta say as far as the music itself, it's very curated and not nearly as, er, confrontational as they typical MetroPCS playlist. That is, it's intentional, and in my not expert opinion, everything about a restaurant should be intentional. You're selling an experience as much as an entree.
Post a Comment