Buttermilk Channel serves very thoughtfully prepared, well executed foods, elevating dishes by simplifying them instead of relying on fancy techniques and ingredients. The dishes are comforting, tasty, and sophisticated in the most unfussy way. The name of the restaurant is a reference to the strait between Brooklyn and Governors Island. Dairy farmers used to cross the strait by boat to sell milk in Manhattan and the currents were said to be so strong in the channel that it would turn the milk into butter. It’s a charming legend and the fact that the restaurant is so named is telling of its own demure whimsy.
The space is simple, but lovely, one medium-sized dining room with a bar at the front. At night, it’s dimly lit and very cozy, always bustling, but never frenetic. Reservations are strongly encouraged, but they always reserve a few tables for walk-ins. It strikes a great balance between being a neighborhood restaurant and being a destination restaurant. It’s rare that a restaurant is both, and that speaks to its sophisticated simplicity. Simple enough to be a comforting mainstay, but sophisticated enough that it is still a treat.
They do two services a day, lunch (or brunch on weekends) and dinner. No matter when you dine, you can’t go wrong, but I think dinner in particular creates a nice atmosphere for a quiet, calm, elegant meal. It’s genuinely hard to choose what to order, almost as though they crafted the menu to make you come back over and over again. You would think that every restaurant would aim for this, but few achieve it as, at many restaurants, people usually have just one or two options they are actually choosing between. At Buttermilk Channel, it’s a struggle, even within the same course. Should you order the white bean and fennel soup to start with or the squash tart served with house-made buttermilk ricotta and a pomegranate brown butter vinaigrette? I mean both sound incredibly tempting, don’t they?
For an entrée, though, I’d highly recommend the lasagna. It’s a vegetable lasagna with eggplant, squash, kale, and tomato sauce, topped with the aforementioned house-made buttermilk ricotta. It’s rare that restaurants make their cheese in-house and this one is not to be missed. Lasagna is a polarizing dish and it tends to scream comfort food, but that’s often because of its extremely rich, fat-laden, meat and grease heavy presentation. Here, the lasagna layers are incredibly thin and light, with at least 7 layers, none of which are over-stuffed. The vegetables are not heavy, and it isn’t drenched in tomato sauce or cheese, unlike many lasagnas where you have to dig through a pool of sauce and oil to find the pasta itself. The edges are crispy, the flavor is delicious, and it’s an amazing dish.
Their veggie burger is also a lovely option. Whereas most veggie burger patties are either bean or soy protein heavy, and also breaded and pan-fried, this one is made almost entirely from barley, making it substantial without the extra breading or frying. This makes it much more wholesome, but still very dense and filling. You can see the individual grains of barley throughout and it’s accented mostly by mushrooms and onions. The veggie burger is served on a brioche bun, but consider swapping it out for their amazing spelt and rye toast that they get from Hot Bread Kitchen. The toast is amazing and essentially makes it such that you are eating a whole grain burger with more whole grains. It’s maybe the heartiest healthy meal out there. It’s served with thin, shoestring fries, house-made pickles, and coleslaw that is not at all heavy, but adds a very nice crunch to the dish.
Other options to consider are the market vegetable bowl that’s served with heirloom grains (farro, barley, and quinoa) with whatever vegetables are in season, beet tahini, feta, and za’atar. Or the duck meatloaf (bet you’ve never seen that before!), served on top of apple and celery root puree, sautéed greens, and duck jus.
And if you’ve saved room for dessert, an incredibly popular choice is Doug’s Pecan Pie Sundae (Doug being the very gracious owner), which is essentially a deconstructed pecan pie a la mode. It’s served in a tall milkshake/sundae glass with layers of pecan pie and ice cream alternating.
Overall you’ll end up loving the place, the food, the service, and the atmosphere. You should go sooner rather than later, so that you can look forward to your return.
