Not since Patois in 1996 has the New York press corp. fanned so much positive energy onto a Smith Street restaurant as is happening with Battersby, a cozy little restaurant making big waves with its American/Italian nuevo fare (someone dubbed it New Brooklyn cuisine, and that is apt), located on Smith between Douglass and Degraw in half the space once occupied by the pioneering Patois, the place that started it all in the restaurant scene over here.
Most recently New York Magazine proclaimed Battersby’s Thai-influenced Kale salad is the best salad in New York City. Just a few days earlier, The New Yorker gave Battersby a stunning review, saying the romantic little eatery is serving “some of the borough’s most accomplished and exciting food.” The menu runs from foie gras pate and cauliflower soup appetizers to pappardelle with beef ragu and octopus with chick peas and chorizos on the second course to striped bass and stuffed rabbit on the third.
The restaurant opened quietly in October, with nary a sign out front and hardly a peep, by former Anella chef Joseph Ogrodnek and his business partner Walker Stern from  the Vanderbilt.
I visited recently on a cold weekday night and there was a 45 minute wait. I met a friend and had a cocktail at Jolie Cantina while we waited for our table. The food, especially the house-made pasta, was quite nice. Let’s see if Battersby can breath some life onto Smith Street restaurant scene, which does seem to be limping along.
Read The New Yorker review.
Check out the menu. http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/battersby/menu
Battersby, 255 Smith St., nr. Douglass St.; 718-852-8321
