It’s been well over a decade since the publication of Melissa Vaughan and Brendan Vaughan’s The New Brooklyn Cookbook. Featuring dispatches and recipes from 31 restaurants throughout the borough, the cookbook offered a memorable snapshot of notable eateries at that point in time. I’ve had a copy of the cookbook in my apartment since not long after it was first published, and a few years ago I began to wonder: what happened to the 31 spots featured in here?

I knew that a few of them had shuttered — Dumont and Dressler in particular, which are still sorely missed. And I know that not every restaurant closure is necessarily a bittersweet story; some are overwhelmingly sad, while others have bowed out with grace or changed into something new. 

So: here’s a quick look at 31 restaurants that represented a distillation of one borough’s culinary scene over a decade ago, and where they are today.

Al Di Là: Open and accepting reservations as you read this.

The Grocery: Closed in 2015.

Saul: Moved to the Brooklyn Museum; became The Norm in 2016.

Rose Water: Closed in 2020.

Convivium Osteria: Open to this day, and taking reservations.

Locanda Vini e Olii: Open and accepting reservations.

Dumont: Closed in 2014.

Aliseo Osteria Del Borgo: As of the writing of this Brooklyn Paper article from 2013, it “morphed into a tapas place.”

Marlow & Sons: Open all day, and taking reservations for dinner service.

Franny’s: Closed in 2017.

Ici: Reopened as Maison May in 2016.

Applewood: Closed in 2016.

Egg: Closed in 2020. (A successor restaurant, Little Egg, has since opened elsewhere in Brooklyn.)

Northeast Kingdom: Closed in 2016.

The Good Fork: Open (as The Good Fork Pub), though their website notes that they don’t take reservations.

Dressler: Closed in 2013.

The Farm on Adderley: Closed in 2022, though no one seems to have told its website.

Flatbush Farm: Closed in 2017.

Palo Santo: Open, accepting reservations, and taking part in NYC Restaurant Week.

Lunetta: Closed in 2014. 

Beer Table: Closed in 2013. (Their offshoot in Grand Central is open, as far as I can tell.)

James: Closed in 2023.

The General Greene: Closed, with the last reviews here from 2017.

Five Leaves: Open and taking reservations.

Char No. 4: Closed in 2015.

No. 7: Open to this day, albeit in a new location. (That said, I miss their Greenpoint sandwich shop tremendously.)

Buttermilk Channel: Open and taking reservations.

Roberta’s: Open with a fair amount of expansion in the years since 2010.

Vinegar Hill House: Open and accepting reservations.

Prime Meats: Closed in 2018.

The Vanderbilt: Closed; the last post on their Instagram is from 2019, and the restaurant’s url now takes you to a gambling website.

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