WILLIAMSBURG — McCarren Hotel's new restaurant Oleanders — helmed by popular local restaurateurs Joe Carroll of Fette Sau and Franceso Panella of Antica Pesa — opens Friday with its "nostalgic," fern bar-inspired decor and food.
Dishes like coq au vin, a red wine-braised chicken with bacon lardons, and beef Wellington with mushroom mousse and foie gras are intended to be upscale versions of American food that fern bars used to serve in the '70s and '80s, Carroll and Panella said.
And the dining room — flush with vines, ferns and other greenery — should remind guests of the old school pub-style bars, too.
"It's been gone so long now that enough people haven't experienced it," said Carroll, who's also behind St. Anselm and Spuyten Duyvil. "There are also people who did, but it's been so long, it's just nostalgic for them."
Entrees by Chef Kevin Chojnowski range from $21 for a trout almondine with charred bean salad, toasted almonds and green grapes to a $32 Lobster Thermidor with cognac cream sauce and gruyere cheese.
Fern bars were common in the 70s and 80s as singles bars filled with a lot of plants.
They didn't always have the best meals, with "schlocky" frozen food or cocktails made from a mix, Carroll said.
"It was junky because it was so ubiquitous," he said. "It was sports bar-ish."
But Carroll and Panella, who met as restaurateurs and eventually realized they lived in the same building, hope that Oleanders is a "comfy, cozy" place with great, familiar food.
The restaurant's decor includes brass on the bar and greenery on the walls. And Panella fell in love with "goofy" portraits of animals in formal wear, which are plastered all over the bar to make the place more playful.
"We want people to leave happy and satisfied and having experienced something really cool and fun," Carroll said.
"And be ready for the next time," Panella added.
