New York Post - My Brooklyn: Roble Ali
Call him Chef Roblé. Call him Bleezie. But never, ever call him the Hip-Hop Chef. “I loathe that name,” groans Roblé Ali, the Poughkeepsie-born prodigy and star of “Chef Roblé & Co.,” airing Sunday nights on Bravo. But the 27-year-old foodie phenom has certainly earned his chef street cred, working next to mentor Chris Santos to open Stanton Social and Beauty & Essex, serving as executive chef at Avenue and acting as the youngest sous chef ever for catering company Abigail Kirsch. Roblé calls Bedford-Stuyvesant home and runs his high-end catering company — the centerpiece of his TV show and frequent battlefield for spats with big sister-business partner Jasmine — out of Crown Heights. “I love Brooklyn,” he tells The Post. This is his BK.
Clover Club, 210 Smith St., between Baltic and Butler streets, Cobble Hill
“If you want to talk fancy cocktails, then it’s Clover Club. You bring a girl there, that’s what you do. You bring someone there that you’re either dating or you want to date. You order a drink and the guy gets a workout making your drink. But it’s worth it. They have this version of a Dark and Stormy. It’s out of this world. But the first time I went there I didn’t know what kind of place it was. I sat there like an idiot and drank beer all night.”
Peaches, 393 Lewis Ave., between McDonough and Decatur streets, Bedford-Stuyvesant
“Peaches is a really warm and cozy neighborhood restaurant. You feel like you’re eating in somebody’s house. They have this chicken — the breast and the wing are bone-in and then the leg and thigh are still are attached, but it’s deboned. You have pretty much a deboned half-chicken. It’s really, really good. I’m not big on rum, but the rum punch at brunch is really good. You barely notice there’s rum in it, and then the next thing you know you want to go to bed because you drank too many.”
Fairway, 480 Van Brunt St., Red Hook
“I’m there all the time. They know me. They have a section just for olives. They have these big 5-gallon buckets of, like, 20 varieties. There’s stuff there that I can’t get anywhere else. I’ve bought black truffle cream, big chunks of Himalayan sea salt, different kinds of nuts and spices. Oh, and their cafe has one of the top, I would say, three cheesesteaks in New York. You can order your cheesesteak and go in the back, sit on the patio, and the water’s right there. There are ships going by — the Ikea ferry is going by. It’s sunshine. It’s chilling.”
Lucky 13 Saloon, 273 13th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, Park Slope
“It’s good cheap drinks, loud metal music and a really wild, raucous crowd. It’s a gangster, metal bar, straight up. The first time I was in there, I felt like I might have to go wash my face with holy water when I got home. The owner Jeff (left) is really cool, and has an epic beard.”
The General Greene, 229 Dekalb Ave., at Clermont Avenue, Fort Greene
“I’m very, very, very impressed with this place. I think it should get a Michelin star. I’m going to work my way through their entire brunch menu. Last week I had the hanger steak, eggs, then on the side they give you another one of those small skillets with Boston baked beans and also grits and a biscuit. It’s a lot of food, man, I barely finished it.”
Brooklyn Bowl, 61 Wythe Ave., between 12th and 13th streets, Williamsburg
“It’s the greatest bowling [alley] on Earth. I love bowling. It’s expensive as hell, but if you want to treat yourself to a nice night of bowling and food by Blue Ribbon, it’s here. You never know what might happen. Last time, me, my little sister Jessica, Kiku — the baker from my show — and a bunch of friends were all hanging out there and some guy was shaking his ding-dong in my sister’s face! I was like, ‘I thought this was a family place.’ One other time, Beyoncé showed up. You never know who’s going to be there.”
The Smoke Joint, 87 S. Elliot Place, between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street, Fort Greene
“I lived in Texas for eight years — I know barbecue; this is the real thing. We got the St. Louis ribs, the baby back ribs, the smoked chicken – insaaane! – and the mac ‘n’ cheese, which is solid. You ever heard of an Arnold Palmer? They call it the Tiger Woods. So yeah, there was nothing left. Once the smoke cleared, everything was gone.”
The Brooklyn Circus, 150 Nevins St., between Bergen and Wyckoff streets, Boerum Hill
“I have 20 of their T-shirts. They had this series of [T-shirts] with different warriors from around the world. There’s one with Shaka Zulu on it, then one with a British royal soldier. When I’m working, I’ll throw a chef jacket over whatever T-shirt I have on. That’s one thing I love about cooking — I don’t have to dress up to go to work. And I don’t have to iron. It’s freedom.”
Not Ray’s Pizza, 690 Fulton St., between Ashland Place and Felix Street, Fort Greene
“I remember when I first moved to NYC, I was crashing on my sister’s couch [in Fort Greene] and there was this place down the block called Not Ray’s Pizza. We would go there all the time for a slice. I remember thinking to myself, ‘Somebody must be pretty pissed at Ray.’ It’s a bunch of Eastern European guys making kick-ass pizza. There’s not an Italian in the building.”
[NY Post]