Fall-off-the-bone ribs with grilled zucchini and corn bread display chef Ted's skills with meat, Southern-style.
Photo by Joshua Kristal
At Cobble Hill’s Ted & Honey, no ingredient is an afterthought, whether it’s the house-made mango ketchup or fried capers or the just-right poached eggs atop a mountainous chef’s salad.
The neighborhood has enjoyed chef-owner Chris “Ted†Jackson’s passion for perfection at breakfast (homemade blueberry-lemon scones) and lunch (Dines Farm smoked turkey club) since June 2008 (Ted’s sister,  Michelle Mannix, is co-owner). But only recently are people discovering the many delights of Ted and Honey’s romantic, casual, inexpensive dinner.
A chill dinner scene
Known by its red facade and cozy spot next to Cobble Hill Park, on Clinton Street, locals around Ted & Honey are hip to the new candlelit dinner scene, featuring a good wine and beer list, great music and friendly, attentive service, from Thursday to Sunday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The pricing is a welcome relief from the current Brooklyn infatuation with the $12 salad and the $16 burger. All menu dishes at Ted & Honey come in at under $12, yet the atmosphere is rich with romantic lighting, exposed brick walls, a white tin ceiling, and intimate two-top wooden tables. There’s also a communal table for group or shared dining. Sidewalk seating at a few small tables is also available.
Jackson says the expansion was a natural progression for a restaurant that’s made its name on local sourcing of all ingredients and a chef who makes just about everything from scratch, including baby food (Jackson is debating making his own root beer, and admits he’s “a little bit of a freak†about his everything-homemade mantra). Now armed with a beer and wine license, Jackson has been playing with the dinner menu.
Chef Jackson dresses the plump and satisfying shrimp and grits.
The chef started ambitiously, butchering down an entire guinea hog, but the menu also features cheese and charcuterie plates, daily sliders and a seasonal soup. A hearty and satisfying house salad with crunchy garnishes of pecans and croutons and a Caesar–in my mind, the best in the neighborhood–are dinner versions of the lunch offerings.
Jackson launched some more ambitious fare this summer, including a delectable BBQ rib plate, featuring ribs crisp and well-seasoned on the outside, and moist, fall-off-the-bone on the inside. The stacked tower of meat was accompanied by a grilled zucchini, grilled piece of cornbread and coleslaw. Another fanciful entree featured sweet, steamed-just-right shrimp atop cheesy, firm grits.
The ever-popular tomato soup accompanies a cheese panini on homemade focaccia bread, with a melty-warm mix of shoulder bacon, cheese, sliced avocado and roasted tomatoes.
On one visit the sliders were filled with sweet pulled pork, house-made pickles and slaw that had me dreaming of the south.
It would be a mistake to skip an order of the fried calamari–enough for four, although two can polish it off without too much trouble. The tentacles are included and the crispy deep-fried squid arrive mounded on a plate with dabs of lemon aioli (I wanted more) and pepper coulis.
For parents wondering about Ted & Honey’s organic, homemade baby food program, Jackson says he plans on picking it back up in late spring once the local harvest starts coming in.
Ted & Honey
tedandhoney.com
Dinner: Thu-Sun 6 p.m.-10 p.m.
264 Clinton Street
(718) 852-2212
