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Colonia Verde Reopening with New Backyard Garden After Kitchen Fire

By Janet Upadhye | June 22, 2015 3:34pm | Updated on June 23, 2015 7:12pm
 The DeKalb Avenue eatery was closed for five months after a devastating kitchen fire.
Colonia Verde Reopening
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FORT GREENE — A popular restaurant forced to shutter five months ago due to a devastating kitchen fire is reopening Tuesday — just in time for patrons to enjoy the summer weather in its new backyard garden.

Colonia Verde is celebrating its grand reopening with newly minted cocktails like the Bawdy Limerick made with Pisco, orgeat, lemon and angostura bitters, or the Patient Extra, made with rosemary-infused cachaca, Luxardo maraschino, grapefruit and lime.

The backyard space has also been updated with a new garden, where herbs and peppers are grown and included in the menu.

There is also a wood-burning grill underneath a 1970s "Liquor Store" sign that used to hang on the property's facade, before it was found dangling from one hinge and had to be lowered to the ground by the Fire Department last year.

The new menu features categories labeled “For The Table,” “From the Garden,” “From the Fire” and “From the Land." Dishes include charred octopus with grilled pineapple, cilantro and onion escabeche; grilled razor clams topped with cilantro, garlic and butter sauce; and Carimañolas, which are Colombian yucca hand-pies stuffed with a creamy rajas sauce made from poblano peppers.

Owners Tamy Rofe and Felipe Donelly are happy to be reopening in the neighborhood they love.

"We want to continue to be a part of this neighborhood for a very long time," Donnelly said.

Colonia Verde is located at 219 DeKalb Ave.