Bartender's Choice: Tim Cooper and Justin Noel from Bleecker Kitchen

Turns out, brunch is no longer limited to Saturdays, Sundays and the occasional holiday Monday! Aside from the brilliant fact that Bleecker Kitchen & Co. serves brunch seven days a week, they also have an approachably impressive cocktail selection and a food menu that’s nearly impossible to navigate without negotiating “share-sies” with someone else at your table.

Thankfully for my fellow indecisive diners and me, co-partners Tim Cooper and Justin Noel took a break from managing, bartending, hosting, and planning to give me the inside scoop on their new menu which has many diner inspired items. As the restaurant’s Beverage Directors, these two gents have been tasked with creating a cocktail menu that pairs with down-home, comfort food and showcases American spirits, local ingredients, and phenomenal flavors. Needless to say, they know what they’re talking about.

Starring down at the brunch, lunch, dinner, cocktail and dessert menus, I asked Justin and Tim to do the impossible and design one, full meal that best showcases what they love about Bleecker Kitchen & Co. Challenge accepted.

If Justin invited someone in for the perfect Bleecker Kitchen & Co. experience, it would start with the Damson Plum Fizz paired with Yellowtail Crudo (“the flavors are fresh and bright, not too heavy.”), followed by a crisp Sixpoint Sweet Action Amber Ale and the signature Crispy Chicken & Waffles, all washed down with a Cacao Manhattan, which is apparently “how every meal should end,” and a Chocolate Souffle.

Tim’s “winning scenario” at Bleecker Kitchen & Co. is the Roasted Beets salad with the Concord Mule, then the Line Caught Striped Bass, and a grand finale of Bread Pudding and an Apple Walnut, which is Tim’s favorite cocktail on the menu. As he so eloquently shared, “put quite simply, I like pie. Quote me on that.” Consider it done, Tim.

With a prime location on the corner of Bleecker and Broadway and floor to ceiling windows along the sidewalk, Bleecker Kitchen boasts some of the best people watching below 14^th Street. Stop by during your next Soho shopping spree, meet old friends for brunch, or simply cozy up to the bar for an after work drink. My personal favorites? New York Sour paired with a couple BBQ Pork Buns.

Though Bleecker has only been open for a few months, Tim and Justin have already started working on their next adventure, Sweetwater Social (a basement bar opening next month). Stay tuned!