Last summer, Midtown brasserie Quality Bistro cobbled together a row of sun-shaded tables and chairs on the sidewalk along West 55th Street, called it an outdoor patio, and launched open-air dining for the first time. Come winter, sturdy, white tents were erected over the tables and chairs, chandeliers were hung, a checkerboard floor was laid over the sidewalk, some potted plants were added in the corners, and the outdoor patio transformed into a heated outdoor winter garden.
Now, in a third level-up that is “really bonkers,” as co-founder Michael Stillman puts it, the company installed a row of 14 private cabins covered in greenery in front of the restaurant, to add onto the tents, wooden benches and shaded tables for two lining the curb.
While everyone else in Brooklyn was busy nursing sourdough starters last spring, André Mack was shopping for a stone mill.
The founder of Brooklyn hospitality group & Sons and a nationally-recognized sommelier, winemaker, and author Mack is building a reputation for opening cozy, neighborhood spaces that are mildly fanatical about ingredient sourcing, like Ham Bar and adjacent specialty grocery shop Buttery. During the pandemic, as diners stuck closer to home and others relied exclusively on nearby shops for food, Mack saw more opportunities to build on that approach.
Now, one mid-pandemic stone mill purchase later, Mack is opening up a tiny, 50-square-foot breakfast taco spot called Mockingbird in Prospect Lefferts Garden this Saturday, at 469 Rogers Avenue, between Maple Street and Lincoln Road. It’s open four days a week, with four staple tacos on the menu, using tortillas made from flour that the company mills itself.