Brooklyn Bread
May, 2011
Page 25
My Perfect Brooklyn Day By Catherine Saillard, owner of iCi
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“A perfect day in Brooklyn will always start with a bike ride,” says Catherine Saillard. Photograph by Justin Nunnink
n the early 90s when I moved to New York City, I lived in Manhattan first. I remember my (few) Brooklyn friends would call me a car service at the end of the evening when I would leave their house. They would say, “Hey Carlos, I need a car at 92 Coffey Street… My friend is going back to the city.” I felt then that I had been in a different world for a few hours, and was going back to the real one… I have been living in Clinton Hill for the past 15 years now, and I understand what my friends meant back then: Brooklyn is not Manhattan. Or I should say, Manhattan could never be Brooklyn. A perfect day in Brooklyn will always start with a bike ride. If it is a school day I will ride with my two sons, Theo and Lucas, to their amazing little public school (PS 8) at the edge of Brooklyn Heights. We will go through Fort Greene, across the Navy Yard, Vinegar Hill and Dumbo. I like the contrast of the ride. Within 35
minutes, we will cross four incredibly different and stunning neighborhoods. If it is a weekend, we will go to Prospect Park. The boys will speed on their bikes and I will run a few laps. I started running in 2004 shortly after having opened iCi in Fort Greene: the park is really close, beautiful and peaceful, and after an hour of exercise I feel like I have left town for a week! After the run, there is a traditional stop at the Greenmarket: the fluffy brioche from Hot Bread Kitchen, the juicy sausages from Mike at Flying Pigs, the creamy milk from Ronny Brook, the delicious eggs from Nestor Tello, the cheese from Cato Corners… In the summer, we might even bike down to Red Hook, have an impromptu picnic at the Valentino Pier, then stop by to see Ian at Added Value, the Red Hook community farm. He’s growing the most delicious (and local) vegetables in Brooklyn! His greens have been on iCi’s menu since day one. We’d make a last stop at Choice Greene
around the corner from our house to grab pickled Serrano beans from Brooklyn Brine and chocolate from Mast Brothers, then we’re ready to head home. It is wonderful to come back home tired and energized, with two happy boys and amazing, locally grown food for the week. I like seasonal and local food, clean and natural wines: this is what I am committed to serving at iCi every day, whether for an intimate dinner for two or for a wedding for 100. This is also what I am looking for whenever I eat out or shop. It can be sushi beautifully made by Osamu at Geido on Flatbush Avenue, a bottle of Chenin Blanc from Rene Mosse with Fisher Island Oysters at Marlow & Sons or clams at Rondazzo in Sheephead’s Bay after a winter Polar Bear Plunge in Coney Island… And then it is the end of a perfect day in Brooklyn. Don’t call a car service, I am not going anywhere. Brooklyn is The City.