Keep on Rockin’: Installment 5
After our visit at Mast Brothers Chocolate, we moved onto Marlow and Daughters butcher shop. This chock-full-o-tasty meat shop was just the right size. The front display cases had all sorts of beautifully displayed cuts. The back of the shop had a huge butchering table where the butchers were doing a heck of a lot of butchering. In particular, they were taking apart a new cow they had just received. The butcher with whom we spoke marveled at the dark, almost-purple flesh. He said the steaks were so earthy and attributed it to that darkness of flesh. I couldn’t help but gawk at the display, but that’s all before he invited us into his walk-in. OH MY LORD! Every shelf was covered with cuts of meat, many in various stages of dry aging. Additionally, there were entire half-pigs hanging from hooks (see photo).
The most amazing thing, however, is that with all this gooey meat lying around, you could have eaten dinner off of the floor, it was SO clean. Not a drop of blood or a piece of steak out of place. After purchasing a t-shirt, I left Marlow and Daughters humbled by the excellence that surrounded me.
The next stop on our Brooklyn tour was right next door at Marlow and Sons. Sadly, we only had time for a cocktail at this beautiful locale. We ordered the most interesting sounding ones – all old fashioned recipes with Marlow and Sons’ own twist. Service was warm and friendly. Appearance was dark and cozy. Very brown in a snuggly sort of way. I felt as if I’d gone back in time, except that everyone in the place was dressed really hip. Wish I could have stayed for dinner. Next time!
Final stop after a LONG day in Brooklyn: dinner at Rye. Have you ever had one of those nights where all the stars just align and you wind up with the perfect melding of great service, great ambiance, and great food? This was one of those nights. Our lovely server, Catherine, made us feel so incredibly welcome and took care of our every need. The food was sensational, the steak for two being quite possibly the best steak I’ve had (and I don’t say that lightly).
The cocktails were perfectly crafted and the wine perfectly chosen. Such a beautiful, old-fashioned “joint”. When we got there, it was a little quiet, but when we left at about 9:30, it was slammed. Good for the folks at Rye!
All in all, Brooklyn was a sight to behold. I only wish the weather had been more forgiving so we could have roamed around more freely. But I guess that’s just my excuse to go back!