Brooklyn Blend
Our dining-out philosophy trends toward: “I’m here for a good time, not a long time.” (Extra fries, please.) At Brooklyn Blend, a Bed-Stuy juice bar serving healthy sandwiches, salads, shakes and smoothies — which are also some of the neighborhood’s most fire provisions — we don’t have to choose. “We wanted to introduce a healthy alternative to communities that didn’t have access to it,” says co-owner Keishon Warren, 37, who opened Brooklyn Blend in 2016 with his father Ralph Warren, and friends Ali Coutard and Edson Cooper.
Born in Trinidad and Tobago and raised in Flatbush since age eight, Keishon also reps BK to the fullest with menu options named after streets and neighborhoods from all ends of the borough. “I’m a native here,” he says. “Our concept encompasses different parts of Brooklyn and brings them together. We’re able to have people from anywhere in the world come into our space and understand how iconic Brooklyn is.”
As a physical manifestation of the Brooklyn Blend name, Keishon and his team constructed the restaurant with wood sourced from different parts of Brooklyn, including planks from the Coney Island boardwalk and water tanks, and beams from renovated and demolished buildings in Bed-Stuy. The reclaimed materials were lovingly transformed into the space’s polished facade, flooring, tables and expansive bar.
And with regard to the food: the ingredients are not only incredibly fresh (the sandwich bread is baked in-house daily), they are creatively spiced to reflect the owners’ Trinidadian heritage (said bread is also seasoned with turmeric). On a recent visit, we devoured the Brooklyn Reuben sandwich of turkey pastrami, tangy sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and homemade Russian dressing; the Park Slope Salmon salad with a generous, cooked-to-order fillet; roasted fingerlings; a marlin fish patty; and refreshing carrot and beet-forward juices.
“ We wanted to introduce a healthy alternative to communities that didn’t have access to it.”
Crowd favorites include the DeKalb Avenue breakfast sandwich with eggs over easy, turkey bacon and avocado; the Vanderbilt Veggie Burger made with chickpeas and lentils; and the Brownsville Nut shake (peanut butter, oats, nutmeg and cinnamon). You’ll basically want one of everything here.
194 Tompkins Avenue, 718-484-2247, bklynblend.com
