Sailor

"On the restaurant-rich stretch of DeKalb near Fort Greene park, the September-opened Sailor has already found its sea legs. The neighborhood bistro from restauranteur Gabriel Stulman (Joseph Leonard, Fairfax) and chef April Bloomfield (The Spotted Pig, The Breslin Bar) manages to pull off a refined nautical theme—clock the glass diorama with a sailboat in it behind the bar, and the framed portraits of sailors unknown on the wall—with dishes that trick you into thinking they're simple but will make your eyes go wide. There's a toast topped with an herbaceous 'green sauce' and fluffy grated parmesan ($10); roasted fennel with goat cheese that you'll text at least one person about ($14); mussels cooked in wine and served on toast with a fennel aoili ($16); plus an ode to Zuni Cafe's anchovy with celery and parmesan ($10). What also stands out is how many items clock in under $15 (and frankly, those small plates were my favorites), including the house wines at $9 a glass. It feels like the kind of place you could go once a week—if it weren't so hard to get in.— Megan Spurrell, senior editor" - CNT Editors