This past November, an art-centric all-day restaurant called Cafe Susanne (8 River St.) opened in Williamsburg’s Domino Park. At the time, Greenpointers reported that the Cafe Susanne team would expand into the space next door with Bar Susanne, a “riverfront raw bar,” and just in time for summer, this has become a reality.
Owner Matthew Maddy, a James Beard Award-nominated designer known for local spots like Lilia and Oxomoco, and partner Marisa Maddy Ripo have opened Bar Susanne at 6 River Street.
The kitchen of the seafood-focused spot is helmed by Chef Jackie Carnesi who reinvented Kellogg’s Diner and opened Nura, a beloved neighborhood restaurant that closed in February.
Chef Carnesi’s latest menu highlights seafood and raw bar items, featuring purveyors from Long Island’s North Fork and other local waterways.
The menu begins with things like shrimp cocktail with a roasted shrimp shell aioli, crab salad with pickled fresno chilis, pickled mussels with coconut, scallop crudo with hibiscus pickled onion, and caviar service. A section of snacks includes things like potato chips with boquerones, a crudite of seasonal vegetables with spicy cilantro dip, and a celery and hearts of palm Caesar salad with garlic breadcrumbs.
Entree options include fluke milanese topped with sauce gribiche, roasted chicken with french fries, and grilled squid with butter beans, preserved lemon and chimichurri, while a highlight of the dessert menu is the Instagram-worthy fish-shaped galette with strawberry scales.
Milos Zica leads both Cafe Susanne’s and Bar Susanne’s beverage programs. His menu at the bar draws inspiration from coastal regions, and is designed around four distinct categories.
The first is focused on martinis such as the Talented Miss Ripley, made with an olive oil fat-washed gin, oregano, dry vermouth, lemon and coriander and an oil pearl. Another option is the Cured & Crafted with gin, spiced aromatic brine, vermouth, Cocchi Rosa and orange bitters.
Agave-based cocktails include options like the After Hours with cacao-infused mezcal, Diplomatico Reserva, Banane du Brasil, vanilla bean, honey and a touch of espresso, while a section of Bar Susanne signatures includes the Maddy C.R.E.A.M, which is a milk punch made with Planteray Pineapple, Singani 63, Smith & Cross, pineapple, cinnamon, coconut milk, citrus, and black tea.
Zica’s cocktail menu concludes with a low-ABV offerings like the Chai Bloom with masala chai, sweet vermouth, blueberry hibiscus elixir, velvet falernum and citrus, topped with an edible flower.
Cafe Susanne and Bar Susanne were named after Maddy’s mentor, Susanne Greene, who he said inspired the bar’s design alongside its location on the water. Throughout Bar Susanne, guests can see artworks from Greene and Maddy’s mother, artist Barbara Chapman.
The 75-seat Bar Susanne features amber lighting, rust marble and teakwood stone, black leather banquettes and custom black glass tables, plus coastal elements seen in the oak flooring, plaster walls and dried grasses from the North Fork.
Bar Susanne is open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. daily.