After a year turning out delicious breadwiches in the back of Brooklyn's Crown Inn, Black Tree now has a place to call their own on the LES. This one's got a farmhouse/less-weird version of Twin Peaks' vibe thanks to colored-glass windows and tons of raw wood, and they'll be working up sandwiches meant to evoke flavors and techniques of fine dining, but without breaking the bank/your balls about not using utensils
The constantly rotating sandwiches feature hyper-fresh goods, like this Spring Pig with hard cider-braised pork belly, mint & brown butter apple jam
Thought up when the chef was eating a Vietnamese sandwich and thought "Holy crap! This would go great with duck", the house-smoked duck banh mi is working with duck leg, duck breast, and duck liver mousse, plus pickles and spicy aioli that for some reason is made with zero duck
And yeah, they've got brunch sandwiches. This yolk volcano has got a core of white wine, plus herb-marinated 'shrooms, sauteed kale, onions, garlic, and Landaff cheese, which has nothing to do with wizards, but does have a nice earthy/woodsy taste
Having their own space finally gives them an opportunity to show off their cocktail game at the bar area
They concoct their own bitters in house -- the "Tree & Bush" is a celery & mint joint rocking some seriously vegetal and herbacious notes
Said bitters get dropped in the (very stiff) Keep It Green along with muddled cucumber, Dorothy Parker Gin, and Atsby vermouth, which Baz Luhrmann is currently turning into a really long movie
The Under the Tree is a "drink on your front porch kinda thing" with vodka, lovage syrup from Brooklyn, cranberry tonic, cherry tree bitters, and soda. Under the Tree. Under the Tree!
The bathroom is also a highlight.