If Williamsburg were Dalston, Fort Greene is every bit the Notting Hill; pricey brownstones and hip restaurants, but with just enough edge left to keep things interesting. Lulu & Po, named after chef/owner Matthew Hamilton’s wife and daughter, is a new addition to the neighbourhood’s thriving scene and rather lovely it looks too, thanks to local firm kaVa design.
Like a great song that doesn’t rewrite the rule book on chord progressions, all involved at this new Brooklyn eatery are doing the simple things well: as New York foodie site Grub Street points out, there’s nothing new in the “local-and-seasonal small-plates Zeitgeist”, but Hamilton pulls them off with style and inventiveness – I’m booking my New York flight on the back of bone-marrow tacos alone. The designers follow suit; we’ve all seen sustainable, reclaimed materials and the whole exposed-concrete/brickwork industrial vibe, but Kananshree Prasse and Sanjive Vaidya pull it off with a warmth and charm that befits the family-named venue.
Simple, honest, local, smacking pretentiousness in the face and showing it the door… Lulu & Po is a fine example of modesty overthrowing experimentalism for experimentalism’s sake.
Photography courtesy, Kananshree + Vaidya Design
