A lot is different with Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, compared to more traditional fine dining restaurants. If you are lucky enough to secure one of the only 18 seats available you will have an extraordinary dinner experience far beyond what you are used to even if you are an experienced diner. The dinner experience reminds most of having a dinner at the best sushi restaurants in Japan, with a single bar counter and the sushi master behind it just on the opposite side of his few guests. Another similarity to the best Japanese restaurants is the chef’s massive focus on the very best ingredients, not too many of them for each dish and focus on purity.

It is obvious that the Chef is inspired by Japan, but a dinner at the Chef’s Table is more than Japanese food. The cuisine offered is a lot about French and some Italian as well. You will have plenty of time for all sorts of cuisine during your marathon dinner at the Chef’s Table which easily can consist of 19 dishes, so do arrive hungry even if most of the dishes are small.

Chef César Ramirez was born 1972 and raised in Chicago, of Mexican origin. He is mostly selftaught even if he has had a great mentor in Chef David Bouley who also was the reason why Chef Ramirez moved to New York, when he was offered a job for him at his former Danube and at Bouley. The Chef worked at praised Tru in Chicago before David Bouley offered him a job in New York. César Ramirez married a Frenchwoman when he was 19 years old and they used to travel to France. The Chef learnt a lot about the French cuisine and cooking techniques during his trips to Europe and he also learnt a lot about the Japanese cuisine during his extensive travelling in Japan. Before he started Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare he worked at Bar Blanc in New York City. All his diversified experiences resulted in what today has become one of the absolutely best restaurants in the world when it comes to flavours and how delicious a dinner actually can be when it is only about the taste of the food and nothing else. Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare hits almost our highest score when it comes to the flavours and texture as well as the amazingly high quality of the ingredients, but a dinner today is more than just the food. It is also beverage and so far it is too early for us to say anything about that since no liquor licence has been acquired up till now. So far you simply have to bring your own.

There are few persons in the business with more integrity than Chef César Ramirez. The shy chef who stands in front of his expectant guests every evening and excuses himself for each dish he is about to present and serve you which will take your taste buds and senses to paradise – yes it is that delicious! The Chef thinks that his food speaks for itself and he does not even like to be called a Chef. He prefers to be called Craftsman just as the Japanese cooks. No problem for us – we are more than happy to call him Craftsman Ramirez as long as he continues to cook some of the best food in the world!

Written by Andy