In New York, the leisurely midday meal that is brunch tends to come with a few unwanted additions: crowds, long waits and overpriced menus. But we want brunch to be something you can look forward to, and then actually enjoy. With that in mind, our weekend brunch is available on Saturdays and Sundays, and you can stroll in any time between 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

And the menu? It’s anything but ordinary. You won’t see basic eggs benedict or blasé pancakes, but you will find interesting takes on classics, and seasonal ingredients combined creatively–like our club sandwich topped with avocado and New York State goat cheese, for example.

Every week on the Brickyard Blog, we’ll highlight one or more of our brunch options to give you a better idea of what to expect. This week, we’re spotlighting a local summer corn salad served with delicate Witbier, because brunch doesn’t have to be heavy and greasy when it’s screaming hot outside.

As Cooking Light notes in this “Season’s Best” video, fresh corn reaches its peak in summertime, becoming “tender, juicy and sweet.” Our Roasted Local Corn Salad is a nod to the seasonal gem.  To it, we add grilled scallops, tender Peruvian Potato (that’s the purple variety), and sharp Cojita Cheese. A tangy lime-cilantro dressing finishes this savory dish, which we serve with a light-as-air Ommegang Witte from Cooperstown, NY.

Until next week, brunch fans, keep cool, and have a look at the rest of our weekend menu.

Yes, lobster rolls are on the tip of every New Yorker’s tongue this summer, and we don’t blame you for that. Take Luke’s Lobster, for instance, an East Village icon that sources the sweetest, most tender lobster meat from Maine harbors. One look at Luke’s lobster rolls and you’re likely to forget any other type of seafood exists.

Well, we’re here to remind you of another, equally delicious, summery and sustainable option: Prince Edward Island Mussels. At Brickyard, we keep the preparation simple: white wine, fennel and shallot, washed down with a Crispin Cider. Can you think of anything more refreshing on a hot, humid New York City summer night?

Before you answer that, consider our sources.

Minneapolis-based Crispin produces small batches of all-natural hard ciders. Fermented using fresh apple juice (never apple juice concentrate) from West Coast apples, the ciders are finished with natural sweeteners like organic honey and maple syrup. The resulting ciders are unusually rich and full, without sacrificing crispness. Crispin ciders are also gluten free, and contain no spirit alcohol or added malt.

Prince Edward Island’s are Canada’s highest produced and exported mussels. Rope-cultured by experienced local mussel growers, these delectable morsels are found inside their familiar blue-black, D-shaped shells. Prince Edward Island Mussels are “filter feeders,” which means all of their nutrition comes from their aquatic environment, resulting in a high-protein product that’s low in fat, cholesterol and sodium. Additionally, the mussels are held in suspended mesh sleeves, resulting in “cleaner shells and grit-free flesh,” according to the website of the Prince Edward Island Aquatic Industry.

Hungry yet? Our dinner menu Prince Edward Island Mussels appetizer, served with Crispin Cider, is available now for just $12.  Hope to see you soon.

Next week, an annual ritual will take place in New York City. Thousands of want-to-be lawyers from all over downstate New York (and many out-of-staters as well) will descend upon the Jacob Javits Convention Center to take the New York State Bar Exam. It is a grueling two-day, 12-hour test of knowledge of arcane laws, much of which they may never need to know again. But it’s essentially all that stands between these recent law school graduates and  a license to practice law, and they’ve been studying for months, and indeed years, to pass it.

Studying for the bar exam is so all-engrossing that most of the exam-takers have given little thought to what they’re going to do once it’s over. Fortunately, we’ve been thinking for them! And planning! And we’re pleased to announce that on Wednesday, July 28, we’ll host a post-Bar Exam celebration at the Brickyard Gastropub from 5:00 to 7:30. For a cost of $30, payable at the door, we’ll provide enough of our 24 craft beers, house wines and well liquors to help them stop thinking about that one essay they totally didn’t understand. Relax, no one else understood it either! We’ll see you after the Bar Exam.

Call us at 212-767-0077 or email us info@brickyardnyc.com with any questions.

Pat and Gavin

The word “gastropub” feels as familiar to many of us as “restaurant” or “cafe,” or even “pub,” the word from which it sprang. But the phenomenon is still quite young, and has a more complex past than you might expect from the simple, rustic fare it represents.

To put it simply: gastropubs are a result of Britain’s 1980s recession, when cash-strapped breweries were forced to turnover many of the pubs they’d held under lease agreements. Once such pub, according to The Washington Post, was the Eagle, a pub in the Clerkenwell neighborhood of London. When new ownership took over the pub in 1991, it decided to maintain a casual atmosphere, but to take the food up a few notches. The result was the first gastropub, and it sparked what has become a formidable culinary scene in Great Britain.

A porky incarnation hit New York in 2004, when outspoken British chef April Bloomfield, along with Ken Friedman, opened The Spotted Pig in the West Village. The place has been packed since day one, spawning new gastropubs around town, including Wilfie and Nell, The Clerkenwell and, more recently, Daniel Boulud’s DBGB and another Bloomfield-Friedman project, The Breslin at the Ace Hotel.

The gastropub’s reach now extends to an unlikely city: Beijing. The Beijinger describes Park Side Bar & Grill, which opened just in time for this summer’s World Cup, as the city’s very first gastropub. It features all the usual trappings, like dark wood, unpretentious food and plenty of craft beers, including Portland’s Rogue label.

At the Brickyard, you can expect a similarly laid back dining and drinking experience, but a serious devotion to craft beers. We’ve taken things a step further by pairing every dish on our lunch, dinner and brunch menus – from steamers down to our sweet potato burrito – with the perfect accompanying beer.  In the coming days and weeks, we’ll be blogging about these pairings, explaining how they’re established, and taking a closer look at some of the spectacular brews and equally impressive brewers behind each one.

We’re glad to have you along.

The informal opening of the Brickyard Gastropub came ominously on March 13, 2010. Yes, the night that a powerful Nor’easter toppled trees and power lines, shut down trains and subways, and flooded a good portion of the New York metro area.

Happily, it’s been clear skies ever since. We’ve been thrilled with the reception we’ve gotten from our neighbors in Hell’s Kitchen, many of whom discovered us through the crab cake sliders we grilled at the Ninth Avenue Food Fair in April. We’ve also become tight with the hard-working, uber-talented professionals in New York’s theater industry, for whom we keep our kitchen open till 2:00 a.m. and offer one of New York’s only post-theater Happy Hours.

And we’re beginning to welcome savvy  tourists who are discovering that, a mere block west of the theater district, there awaits a marvelous pre-theater meal that can be enjoyed in a less-rushed, more reasonably priced, and far classier place than their usual spot.

And now through this blog, we welcome, from all over the world, lovers of New York City, fine food, craft beer, and pubs that reflect the warm, inviting hospitality of their always-present owners.

We have so much to say and share , and of course we’d love to hear from you as well. Please stop by the Brickyard and say hello, or comment on any of our posts. We look forward to the dialogue!

Pat and Gavin