The Castello Plan
1213 Cortelyou Rd.
Ditmas Park
(718) 856-8888
What is it: The snazzy, woody bar and restaurant is a pillar of “the new Smith Street,” as Marty Markowitz has described Cortelyou Road.
Why we love it: Rustic but not pig-farmy, trend-conscious but not precious, Castello Plan is highbrow modern Brooklyn but not achingly so. Castello’s wide-ranging menu has an adventurous side (gazpacho with white peach and seared squid) but doesn’t thumb its nose at updated classics (tagliatelle with tomato pesto and pecorino.)
Who to bring: Dates, for sure. Old friends you want to catch up with while feeling like you’ve done well for yourselves. Uninformed people who ignorantly equate your fantasy of moving to gorgeous Ditmas Park with words like “finished,” “suburbia” and “Queens?”
What to order: All-you-can eat mussels on Monday nights ($11), oysters for $1 on Saturday afternoons, the charcuterie platter any time. Choose from 16 beers including seven European craft labels. At daily happy hours from 4 to 8, beer is $4 and cocktails and wine are $6. Also, brunch.
Castello Plan Fun Facts: The name refers to Jacques Cortelyou’s first map of lower Manhattan. Delightful owners Ben Heemskerk and Mauri Weakley also own the richly curated Collyer Mansion home store on nearby Stratford Road.
View Comments (1)
omfg they charge $4 for a Mexican coca-cola at brunch? That is ridiculous. The menu looks good and fairly reasonably priced otherwise, so that markup is quite shocking.