Brooklyn Laundry: Escape to Thailand

Photo by Adam Cathro

For my hot mama’s birthday this year, my brother Nick and I decided to take her out for dinner—while taking her out of her element. I’ve known about Brooklyn Laundry for a few years, but I knew this occasion would be the perfect time to try it out. My (all too) frequent visits to my favorite bar, Botanica, resulted in a nice friendship with bartender/ creative culinary master/ Americana folk musician, Fiore Tedesco, who started BL with the intention of creating a “spirited farm to table catering service, specializing in seasonal and sustainable food and events”. When I received the invitation to the BL dinner inspired by Fiore’s honeymoon in Thailand, hosted in a beautiful apartment with a roof-deck on the Lower East Side, I knew my worldly eco-chic mother would be as excited about it as much as I was.

Two words: Great Success!

The food. Was. Unbelievable. Tomato salad in red curry sauce, local blue crab and coconut gelée ravioli, a twist on spicy peanut noodles, and a sticky rice desert with coconut gelato were my favorite parts of the 6 course meal, paired all the way through with organic wines.

And lets not forget about the company; the dinner party had 15 guests, a perfect number for my brother, mom, and me to mingle and engage in intimate conversation. I was thrilled to meet Ben Flanner, the Brooklyn rooftop farmer I recently read about in New York Magazine (whose farm supplied the fresh produce for the evening), Abena Koomson, currently performing in Bill T Jones’ broadway show Fela, and Gabrielle Mendola, owner of the Inizii boutique in Brooklyn.

Nick, mama, and I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner- as an alternative social and culinary experience. I recommend Brooklyn Laundry to anyone who has something special to celebrate, or to those who are simply looking for a different kind of dinner. I am anxiously awaiting the next invite… I’ve heard it’s inspired by Hemmingway’s A Moveable Feast!

Read more about BL in Daily Candy's review!