Introducing the Newest Restaurant on the Island: The Brooklyn

When you first walk into The Brooklyn, you’ll instantly fall in love with the stylish interior. It’s urban, hip and welcoming. The lighting is perfect, with large windows on the left of the main dining area letting in natural light and lights with over-sized lamp shades hanging at just the right height above the crowd. There are also beautiful wood tables, cool distressed bar stools, walls in trendy colors, an amazing tin-style ceiling and lights that spell out BRKLYN on the ceiling off to the right in the smaller dining area.

When I walked in with a group of friends, we were greeted by a friendly host and were seated at a corner table with an awesome street-style painting poised directly above the table. The subject in the painting oozed style and confidence. We started off with a round of waters and then dove into the white wine and local beer selection.

We heard that pizzas were their thing, but the waiter assured us that the appetizers, pastas and entrees were just as delectable. I browsed the pizzas and saw specialty choices like the “Jammin'” pizza that featured jerk chicken and the “Fun Guy” that touted truffle roasted mushrooms as one of the toppings. They also had dependable favorites like Pepperoni, Four Cheese, Supreme and Meat Lovers.

Their pasta and entrees did look very appetizing, too. The pasta choices included the trusty Spaghetti and Meatballs and Chicken Alfredo and bolder choices like the Hearty Seafood Linguini that had four different seafood meats: clams, mussels, shrimp and salmon. Among the entrees there was a Roasted Chicken dish with mushroom marsala sauce, asparagus and mushroom truffle risotto (can you tell I’m obsessed with mushrooms?). I also spotted the Braised Beef Short Rib that came with garlic potatoes and a lemon and garlic-sautéed spinach.

I ended up going with the Jammin’ chicken pizza. Two of the other ladies ordered the Orchard pizza and The Brooklyn Wedge salad to split. Another friend ordered the Goat Cheese salad and the final order was the chicken Brooklyn Sandwich. While we were waiting on our main dishes the waiter brought us bread poised perfectly in a terra cotta planter. The volume of the bread sat right atop the planter, and we all agreed it was a cute touch.

When the orders came, we were ready to dive in! The blend of BBQ sauce, jerk chicken, mango and veggies on my pizza was a wonderful medley for the taste buds. I’d rate the spice at about a medium, so if you like spicy food but can’t handle super spicy then this will still definitely work for you. The small bits of mango really helped knock the spice down. I also bartered a piece of my pizza for a piece of the Orchard pizza. It was a savory pizza that included poached pear, prociutto, gorgonzola cheese, walnuts and a truffle honey drizzle (where is an OMG emoticon face when you need one?). It was so rich and delicious. The keepers of the chicken Brooklyn Sandwich and Goat Cheese salad had nothing but great things to say as well.

After taking what seemed like our 50th photo of the food, I felt the need to confess that we were taking photos for the Christopher Columbus blog for fear of being judged for the eccentric amount of photography. The waiter laughed and said not to worry. We chatted for a bit, and I discovered that he had actually moved to the island to take advantage of the new job opportunities with the opening of The Brooklyn and of course to enjoy this island which he had fallen in love with. The manager came over to check up on us, and we struck up a conversation as well. He told us that he stayed at Christopher Columbus Condos on one of his first trip to the islands for his honeymoon! The small world adage is definitely true on this intimate island.

After our nice chat, the manager sent over a dessert pizza-pie that was sinfully good. It was made with Nutella, fire-roasted marshmallows, caramel and had graham cracker crust sprinkled on top. It seemed we didn’t leave a single crumb behind. We left the Brooklyn feeling happy, trendy and full. We all agreed that it was an amazing meal and that we would enjoy the chance to visit again in the near future.

The Brooklyn is located on Market Street in Camana Bay. They also have outdoor seating if you’re in the mood for enjoying the beautiful Cayman elements. Check out their website for their full menu and dining hours: www.thebrooklyncayman.com.