The Newbies: Promise and Warnings

This past week two places opened up in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, Cornelius the new scotch/bourbon/vodka bar in the old Noona space and Cataldo's the Italian-American, red sauce spot next to Le Gamin. Both very different, targeting different locals and only days old. I've been excited about both, seeing a new watering hole and a hopeful step up to the poor slice joints (Antonio's and Gino's) within a short walking distance from my home.

First stop, Cornelius, the handsome bar/restaurant on the corner of Pacific and Vanderbilt. Formerly the home of Noona, a modern Korean spot from the owners of Soda and Le Gamin. With a few decorative and structural details remaining from the previous restaurant Cornelius is a very warm, inviting, comfortable space. A long bar extends through more than half of the restaurant with banquets and a rear, slightly elevated, space rounding out the seating. More importantly, the bar is a drinkers dream. Stacked with bottles upon bottles of all varieties of scotch, bourbon, whiskey and vodka you could go for months without trying the same bottle twice. Our final count was 90 whiskeys, scotches and bourbons, but that didn't even include anything below the counter or in storage. A cocktail menu is also impressive, not as much as the neighboring Weather Up, but these drinks still hold their own and at $10 they are reasonably priced for the quality. A booklet with all of the drinks appears endless and prices for the most part stay under $16 for everything, but the super high-end pours and flights are available for everything on the menu.

When it comes to food I had high expectations. Former sous-chef from Freemans, Michelle Hanna, offers a menu originally clad with fried chicken, burgers, pulled pork sliders and more. I saw a new weekly spot in the making. Much to my dismay not only did they change the menu right before opening, but the food was just not executed that well. I ordered the burger ($10) which came with cheddar, housemade pickles and fries, but what I got was sadly embarrassing. A brioche bun (housemade and quite dry) hid my burger from sight and was coated with the thinnest piece of yellow cheddar, so thin I was able to see right through the cheese. It is a pet peeve of mine when a bun is bigger than the burger. I do not order burgers for bread, but for meat, so why would someone give me more bread than meat? Fries were matchstick, fast-food type fries that were just boring. A salad of roasted tomatoes, goat cheese, figs and arugula was simple, pleasing and more satisfying than the burger, which by the way was over cooked. Although my first food experience was disappointing I will give the food another shot, perhaps the pulled pork sliders or mac and cheese, and even if the food fails I know there is now a new watering hole, one with an amazing amount of unique, well-priced alcohols that will surely keep me busy.

Just a few yards away is Cataldo's, a new Italian-American red sauce joint next to French spot Le Gamin. Cataldo's was a welcome addition in my eyes, a new option for red sauce that won't run my wallet dry. They don't sell slices, but when you want a chicken parm or other similar sandwich or platter it's always good to have a solid option, especially one that delivers. Walking in I was a bit caught off guard. The restaurant is rather small when it comes to seating, but more importantly a giant counter full of hot steam trays contains the pasta's, meatballs, lasagna and more. I was a bit confused, not expecting to see this outside of a dining hall, cafeteria or even hole in the wall joint with a lack of retail space. Here we have a rather large restaurant that has a huge steam counter taking up valuable seating. Oh well, I don't know the details, or blueprints of the place so moving on.

I was immediately deterred from ordering any pasta or chicken/veal/meatball variety as it appeared nothing was made to order so pizza it was. A wood-fired pizza oven, decorated with a unique stone pattern rests in the back. Pizza's were pulled out every so often and they looked quite large. Ordering up two pizzas, an artichoke, mushroom and olive pie, and the sausage and broccoli rabe pie. Excited for both, that excitement quickly faded when the pies were brought to the table. The first pie, with the artichoke and mushrooms, was full of canned vegetables. Canned artichokes, canned mushrooms (seriously?!), canned olives and what tasted like a canned sauce. It was bland, limp and overall a disaster. The sausage and broccoli rabe pie was a bit more enjoyable, but still fell quite short of being good. Low quality sausage topped extremely bitter broccoli rabe (a little acid would have gone a long way here) and again the bland sauce and limp crust appeared. Making it half way through the two pies (each are 12") we gave up, no longer hungry or enjoying the pizza. Disappointing, very, but I hope the place does well. In these troubling economic times I wish every restaurant success. Even if I did not enjoy my experience, others may, but I will be taking my money elsewhere.
Cornelius: 565 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 718-398-6662, Reservations - Not Needed, Price - Inexpensive/Moderate ($15-30/person)

Cataldo's: 554 Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 718-857-6700, Reservations - Not Needed, Price - Inexpensive ($10-20/person)