Photo courtesy of Danny Brown


When Brian and I first visited Danny Brown Wine Bar & Kitchen, not long after it opened in June 2006, we immediately recognized it as a place with passion, vision, and a desire to serve really good food. 2007 has brought more consistency in quality, yet the menu itself continually evolves. Indeed, here in Forest Hills, where most restaurant menus remain static year in and year out, Danny Brown's thoughtful, seasonal cooking stands apart.

This past Sunday, in the bowels of his eponymous restaurant, I sat down with Danny Brown to get his thoughts on food, Forest Hills, and his personal culinary journey—which led, ultimately, right back home. (Yep, he's from the neighborhood.) I'll be publishing the interview in two installments, so check back next week for the second half.

 

Please note: the interview has been edited for length.


First off, can you fill us in on your professional history?

I started cooking as a prep cook at Bridgewaters at the South Street Seaport.  I went to Mannes College of Music, I was living with my parents, and my father, who's in the wine business, said "I think it's about time you get a job." He had a client at Bridgewaters. I found myself doing a lot of carrots, onions, peeling, and before long, I was doing prep and receiving. One day, this gentleman didn't show up for the line, and they kind of plugged me into that job. And that's what started me cooking on the line and putting dishes together.

Then I got away from cooking—I waited tables and was playing rock music at different venues in the village. I became the wine waiter at the Cub Room, and about five months into it, they made me a manager and wine purchaser.

Then they got a new chef de cuisine, Craig Samuel, who came from Picholine where he was a sous chef. After a year, I asked "Do you think I could work in the kitchen?" So I worked with him for a year, and then we ended up traveling. My mom arranged for a stage at Michel Rostang [Paris], so we both worked there for a little bit. Did a little stage at L'esguard right outside Barcelona and then the last stop was in Modena at Osteria Francescana.

Coming back from Europe, I worked at the Cub Room for another few months, but I wanted to do the wine bar. I fell in love with the wine bar in Barcelona . . . in Paris, the bar a vin is everywhere. And that's really what it was supposed to be—charcuterie and wine.


You mentioned to me once that you originally planned your place for Brooklyn, but weren't able to find a suitable space. Did you think you had a better chance of success in Brooklyn than in Queens?

I knew that everyone was going out to Smith Street. It was like 2000, it was a hip, up-and-coming area with a lot of young people. What I ended up doing was thinking about Park Slope because there was Al Di La. I bounced around on Fifth Avenue [looking for a space], then September 11th hit, and ironically landlords wanted more money. I then went to Prospect Heights, that didn't pan out, and I moved on to looking in Bushwick or East Williamsburg.

I sealed up a deal to do a wine bar—a couple of small plates, a large cheese program, and a large charcuterie program. Big problem there is no one had a variance for landlords—all the commercial usage was for manufacturing. It was not going to be a possibility. So after drawing up plans for that project, I walked away from it in 2005.

At the end of 2005, I see [Danny Brown's current space] is for rent. I'm driving up the street, I'm saying, why not Forest Hills. I mean, I'm from here, why do I keep going to Brooklyn? I moved back to Forest Hills in 2002, but I wasn't really paying attention to what was going on here. I thought, if Dee [of Dee's Pizza] is willing to rent it to me, maybe we can do this here. I took over in January 2006, started building, and opened in June.


Now that you've been open for over a year, how has your actual experience matched up to your expectations?

To be perfectly honest with you, I wasn't looking to open a restaurant. I was really looking to do this wine bar/tapas stuff which I'm so fond of. I was given a lot of advice by parents and friends that it's Forest Hills, and it's a little questionable that you're going to run ten to fifteen cheeses, a bunch of prosciutto, and artisanal salamis and expect that people will want to come out for that. So maybe you need a few bigger plates.

We started out with our charcuterie and cheese side of the menu, and our small plate and bigger plate [side of the menu] and I think it was a little confusing . . . people were like, can we have more options, more choices? So we started expanding the right side of the menu—the small plates and big plates. It's definitely flattering, it's definitely more work than I anticipated. What started out as a small concept turned into a bigger concept.


Right now, do you feel comfortable with where you are and where you're going?

I do. Sometimes it's a little difficult because I may want to do certain things, but you have to work in the confines of what the people want as well. So I'm doing what I want to do, no doubt about it, but sometimes I'm a little confused—some people want change, some people want to see the same stuff. It's kind of a balance.


Your location on Metropolitan Avenue is a bit of a walk from Austin Street, the main dining and shopping drag of Forest Hills. How much do you think this has impacted your business? Has it made it more difficult to get noticed?

There's no doubt about that. On Austin Street, there are pluses there. There are minuses—it can get pretty crazy on the weekend, crowded. I think people enjoy the fact that they can park and [Danny Brown Wine Bar] is kind of removed. [But] from a business standpoint, when you're closer to a subway, you're reaching a lot more people and I think people notice you a lot faster. But maybe it's better that you have a chance to work on something for a while before people come knocking on your door.


Next week: Danny Brown on his aspirations for the future, inspiration, where he eats out on his (exceedingly rare) nights off, and more!


Danny Brown Wine Bar & Kitchen
104-02 Metropolitan Avenue
Forest Hills, NY 11375
718-261-2144
http://www.dannybrownwinekitchen.com


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