A recent commercial interiors shoot for Superpages led me to the ghoulishly-named neighborhood of Gravesend in Brooklyn. Much to my masochistic dismay, Gravesend is home to more Chinese restaurants and Kosher markets than haunted houses and fog-shrouded cemeteries.
A ten-minute walk east from the Q train on Avenue U will lead you to a well hidden Brooklyn gastronomic tradition which has recently been outed on an episode of Man v. Food.
Established in 1938, Brennan & Carr is a wood-stained, brick-walled, Irish-named eatery serving up pub grub from a bare bones menu posted to the wall and printed on the placemats, doing so in the vaguely musky ambiance of a turn-of-the-century Bavarian hunting lodge.
What you come here for is the roast beef the hot beef sandwich, dunked- bun and all, in au jus. If you’d like, you can have another ladleful poured over top, at which time the sandwich becomes a soggy, beefy, salty, fork-and-knife-only affair.
I manned up for my inaugural Brennan & Carr experience and ordered the Gargulio burger- the hot beef sandwich plus hamburger patty, sauteed onions, and gooey melted cheddar cheese. And yes, the whole sandwich was dunked in it’s own broth.
The plating, the idea and the execution are simple. The resulting sandwich is an epiphany for carnivores, and for your taste buds.
Next time you find yourself in Gravesend (because I know you always go there, you know, for the Kosher markets, the Chinese takeouts, the tanning salons, and the Russian nightclubs) make sure you stop by Brennan & Carr for a hot beef sandwich. Have it dipped. If you’re daring, go for the pour.
I’m ready for seconds.
