For those who are mourning the closing of Brewed Awakenings and are looking for a place to kick back and grab a latte, remember that when one door closes another opens. That new door is The Shop.
The Shop officially opened for business at 219 Washington St. this week, just in time to show Restaurant Week-ers its trendy, loft-style decor and super hipster cuisine — seriously, I couldn’t pronounce half of the things on the menu, and the ones I could proudly touted “Made in Brooklyn.”
A bar, cafe, lounge and restaurant rolled all into one, The Shop is the brainchild of two vaguely European-sounding 30-somethings who prefer to remain nameless in print because they “don’t want it to be about our story, we want it to be about the story of The Shop.” Okay.
“The Shop is a place for the people who want to chill here,” said one of the owners. “It’s an environment to do your schoolwork, write your articles or whatever you need. It’s not home, it’s not work, it’s your third place to be.”
Walking in, my date and I were greeted by a gorgeous man-bunned waiter (so hipster, I told you) who brought us to our candlelit table next to the exposed brick wall and handed us our menus. For $18, we were offered a drink, a savory plate and a crepe to polish it off. Sipping on a pint from Brooklyn Brewery, I tried the smoked pork charcuterie, manchego, baguette and red pepper eggplant whip, which in layman’s English means salami, cheese, bread and … eggplant whip. My date had a similar meal, though hers was pork and a different kind of fancy cheese; both were delicious and not something I’ve seen in a Binghamton eatery before. The eggplant whip was light and peppery and complemented the smoked meat, which tasted like they had just pulled it off the smoke-pit, or whatever it’s made on.
For dessert, I got a lemon sugar crepe that filled the large plate entirely, and had an aesthetically and palate-pleasing honey whipped cream adorning the side. The crepe was tangy, sweet and creamy all at once: I was really impressed. My date, who had gotten the berry compote, didn’t even offer me a bite as she ate it with a look of pure euphoria on her face. So I’d say to skip that sketchy looking “Crepe Heaven” next to Nirchi’s on Main Street and check out The Shop instead.
After eating (and ogling the waiter a bit more), we walked to the back to check out the lounge area: leather seats and tables for work, chatting or the like. A graffiti-style mural depicting the Astoria N train station in Queens filled a wall, a tribute to the neighborhood where the owners once lived. Their travels across Europe and America had inspired their decor, they said, and had a huge influence upon the decor and vibe of the place, saying they melded all their experiences to create a place that they would also “want to be.”
A place I’d suggest you want to be, too.