Nestled in a corner lot in the back of the 42 West building, Brooklyn Brine’s location might be quiet, but their flavors are anything but.
Owner Shamus Jones first launched the business in Greenpoint about 16 years ago. He discovered his love of all things pickled while working in various vegetarian restaurants across the city. When he abruptly lost his job, he decided to strike out on his own, convincing the owner of the now-shuttered Brooklyn Label to let him use the kitchen to make pickles.
The business took off and Jones has been pickling in locations around Brooklyn ever since (most recently, at the vegetarian restaurant Pickle Shack, which closed in 2020).
The West Street storefront marks a long-awaited neighborhood homecoming.
“We have a very unique secret pickle shop location with a bunch of entrepreneurs as neighbors,” Jones told Greenpointers. “Greenpoint to me is a neighborhood small and mighty, filled with creative and unique weirdos, and that’s what our company DNA is made of and from.”
The sun-drenched store houses the business’s wholesale operation, but welcomes neighbors in to explore the pickle paradise; Jones says customer feedback will help dictate future offerings. Right now, pickle patrons can expect things like kimchi half-sours, a spicy Bloody Mary pickle, preserved lemons, and other innovative seasonal options. And for any fried pickle fans out there, Jones hopes to serve those up soon.
“I’m just really excited and thankful to have this opportunity to still be making pickles 16 years and onward for my Brooklyn community and beyond,” he said. “It brings a tear to my eye as 2020 was a brutal year for my business, and having a couple years of uncertainty while trying to stabilize was just awful personally. I love what I do more than words can describe.”
Stop by 42 West Street (next to the Noble Street parking lot), from Thursday through Sunday, from 12 to 6. And keep tabs on Instagram @brooklynbrine.
This is not an April fools joke, is it?
I Remember when they first started and would see them making pickles overnight at Lamb & Jaffy….
My apartment on monitor street used to be a pickle store back in the day.
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My mother is the 19th teens. circa 1915 use to go the the grocery store to but things for the family and the owner used to let her stick her hand in a big pickle barrel and take one out.
Do his customers not know grocery stores exist?