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| The Village Voice The Hook Cooks: Annabelle's, Le Bouillabaisse, and More New restaurants in the city's most remote neighborhood By Sarah DiGregorio Wednesday, October 8th 2008 You won't find shot-and-beer combos at Tini, which looks like a wine bar crossed with a Pottery Barn living room. Overstuffed white couches and a few communal tables host a jocular, friendly bunch that seems to be made up of the owner's best friends and neighborhood regulars. Tini is everyone's secret restaurant dream: Open a comfy little place, uncork the wine, invite your friends, and voila!—the instant good life. Usually, it doesn't work that way in the real world. But Red Hook is still insular and close-knit enough to support a very small operation. The food is simple but very worthwhile, running from cheese and paté plates to thick toasts topped with Gorgonzola, figs, and honey to a fantastic caramelized- onion ham tart. |
Snail of Approval
http://slowfoodnyc.org/programs/soa/award/tini
Tini Wine Bar Café
This is a neighborhood joint that serves food
fresh from the local community with love and
care. The recent addition of Red Hook eggs
(whose deep orange yolks urban chicken
farmer Declan Walsh bragged about—rightly—
at a recent Slow U seminar) makes their
weekend brunches even more of a draw. They
source their ingredients very locally using
Added Value Farm in Red Hook for their
seasonal produce. And, they serve beer from
Dogfish Head and cider from Warwick Valley,
NY.
Brownstoner
Tini
"Its single small room is probably the size of most Manhattan studios,
but instead of cramming it with booths and tables, they devote one
entire side to a large white couch... The other side is lined with
minimalist metal tables," writes Nick Kindelsperger for Gothamist of this
Red Hook wine bar and cafe.
"The food is simple but very worthwhile, running from cheese and paté
plates to thick toasts topped with Gorgonzola, figs, and honey to a
fantastic caramelized-onion ham tart," writes Sarah DiGregorio for the
Village Voice. And Metromix adds, "Most of the dishes are made from
locally grown produce (from neighboring Added Value-Red Hook Farm)
and the eggs in your brunch come from nice local hens." Tini's locally
sourced brunch gets a thumbs up from Chowhound MShapiro: "Our
food was good; three of us had egg dishes and they were all very tasty,
w/ home made potatoes and grilled toast and not tini portions at all."
It's also worth mentioning Shecky's recent report that "Leisah Swenson
and Monica Byrne, the owners of Tini, are converting their furniture
shop Home/Made into a furniture-shop-cum-restaurant, and they joke
that someone will be able to buy your chair out from under you."
Tini
"Its single small room is probably the size of most Manhattan studios,
but instead of cramming it with booths and tables, they devote one
entire side to a large white couch... The other side is lined with
minimalist metal tables," writes Nick Kindelsperger for Gothamist of this
Red Hook wine bar and cafe.
"The food is simple but very worthwhile, running from cheese and paté
plates to thick toasts topped with Gorgonzola, figs, and honey to a
fantastic caramelized-onion ham tart," writes Sarah DiGregorio for the
Village Voice. And Metromix adds, "Most of the dishes are made from
locally grown produce (from neighboring Added Value-Red Hook Farm)
and the eggs in your brunch come from nice local hens." Tini's locally
sourced brunch gets a thumbs up from Chowhound MShapiro: "Our
food was good; three of us had egg dishes and they were all very tasty,
w/ home made potatoes and grilled toast and not tini portions at all."
It's also worth mentioning Shecky's recent report that "Leisah Swenson
and Monica Byrne, the owners of Tini, are converting their furniture
shop Home/Made into a furniture-shop-cum-restaurant, and they joke
that someone will be able to buy your chair out from under you."