Monday, June 14th, 2010—Bar 155
Day 155—Sunday, June 13th, 2010
Le Barricou
Ding, ding, ding, the Paypal donation button is ringing on this early Monday morning. My pal and recent 365 guest star Kent “Bing” Davy sent in a generoud donation of 30 bucks with his stated purpose on the PayPal receipt being, “Take V and Eric out...” Send me their phone number Bing and I’ll see if they’ll join the crawl soon. Good to hear from you and thanks for the donation!
Okay, speaking of guest stars, legendary 365 commentator Zioum Zioum the Chanisaw is in town from Toulouse, France staying with her boyfriend Jason (who used to comment, but now ignores this site, sob!) and the two of them are going to meet me for tonight’s Sunday dinner. I told them to pick the place and Zioum Zioum picked a French Bistro by the name of Le Barricou in Williamsburg, to get a taste of some French food and drink.
Also to show how this bar crawl moves in circular motions, the night that the aforementioned Kent “Bing” Davy joined the bar crawl at the Temple Bar, I met a woman named Kelley and I brought up the subject of airport bars. She laughed and said I had to meet her friend she was waiting for. It turns out her friend is Alex Lyras who has written (along with Robert McCaskill) a one-man play about being stuck in an airport and one of the scenes in the play is in an airport bar. I met Alex and told him I’d go and today I’m going to go to the play. The name of the production is called, “The Common Air” and that’s where I’m off to now. Lights, camera...action!
The play is at the 45 Bleecker Theater.
Here's the entrance. Of course you can't take photos during the play, but let me tell you, this is a great play. I was a little leary of a one man play with one actor (Alex Lyras) playing all the characters. A tough thing to pull off, but he manages to do it and then some. The play really takes you on a journey, even though the bulk of it is about people stuck in JFK airport where flights are delayed due to some sort of terrorist threats. There's a recurring theme of self-reinvention and it's alternately hilarious and emotionally-charged on a number of levels. A riveting play with unique and interesting characters all expertly played out onstage by Alex Lyras. Inventive music and stage design as well. Check out "The Common Air," while you can. ***UPDATE: I just found out the play is only running for two more weeks, you should really go and check it out, it's well worth it!
And through the magic of the internet, here we are at Le Barricou in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Lights, camera...beer!
I came early to hang out at the bar before Jason and Zioum Zioum arrive for dinner.
Olga is the lovely bartender on duty and she promptly serves up a bottle of Duvel.
As you can see, the Bistro has a full bar with lots of specialty cocktails and a huge wine list.
Fromage!
There's dining tables opposite the bar.
With lots of wine overhead.
There's more tables and a dining area in the back. It's a quaint and charming bistro.
The kitchen area where the wonderful dishes for the evening are being prepared.
Back at the bar I met Shawn, who's a bartender at ABC Kitchen. He's working Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, Thursday for lunch. Mention 365 Bars and he'll charge you double! I'll have to crawl over there some night. Maybe next Saturday for a cheeseburger.
Lexi and Sharon posed by the cocktail menu at the bar.
And one more shot of the lovely Olga!
Here's Jason and Zioum Zioum! Time to start the dinner portion of the crawl, which is good, I'm starvin' like Marvin over here!
Lexi was our waitress and was fantastic and hospitable.
Zioum Zioum suggested we try the French drink, the Ricard, and here she is mixing them up.
À la votre!
I have to hand it to myself here.
After the drinks we checked out the back room, very nice and comfortable!
Wow, comfortable chairs, a couch and a wood-burning fireplace. I want to move in!
The piano and bookcases really add to the ambiance of the room.
And the food arrives!
I had the French Onion Soup and it was delicious.
Jason and I each had the pasta and seafood special of the evening and Zioum Zioum had the Moules Frites. I was so hungry I forgot to take photos, but here's the finished pasta special I inhaled. It was delicious and Zioum Zioum said it was true French dining prepared perfectily. And she should know.
And then Lexi brought us dessert on the house! Free creme brulee and homemade sorbets. A perfect ending to a great dinner and bar crawl. Merci! Le Berricou, thanks for great service, food, drinks and a wonderful evening! Goodnight everybody!
Review
Le Barricou is an inviting and comfortable French Country Bistro in East Williamsburg. There’s a generous and full bar in the front with dark wooden tables and chairs opposite and a full dining area in the back. The furthest back room features a comfortable wine lounge area with comfortable green leather stuffed chairs, a wood burning fireplace and bookcases stuffed with books, wine and bric-a-brac with a French accent. There’s outdoor tables and seating available in the front with a wonderful view of Williamsburg on the move. Sip on a glass of wine and watch the world go by.
The menu offers daily selections of cheeses and five offerings of Moules Frites. Some of the entrees include: Coq Au Vin, Steak Au Poivre, Macaroni Au Gratin and Vegetable Risotto. There’s a full bar with an extensive wine list. There’s bottled beers and beers on tap as well as specialty cocktails available. Le Barricou also features an Absinthe Drip for those adventurous enough to try it. Brunch is available on Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 4pm.
Le Barricou got the stamp of approval from Zioum Zioum the Chainsaw, so you know it’s the real deal. Tres bon!
Le Barricou
533 Grand St. (Near Union St.)
718-782-7372
8 References
Reader Comments (25)
A nice smiling Lexi, good company, and a few Ricards and you hit a great night out. The place does look like someones apartment. Zioum Zioum pours the way I like it,,,all the way to the top.
Nice place, good choice Zoom! And hello, Olga!
I rarely get to see Zioum Zioum on this site, she's really quite lovely, and a hell of a guide for you Marty when it comes to selecting French entrees. Not that I'm putting down your weekly cheeseburgers, but this dinner looks like quite the step up for the night.
love this place! and i checked out the common air website and it looks like a cool play! oh the places this crawl is taking you too!
Looks like an escargot platter in front of Zioum Zioum! Mmm....snails. I love the wooden ceiling in this joint. The big painted sign on the wall is cool, as is the chalkboard above the kitchen window with all the specials listed. The bar area is awesome with those mirrors and the brick, and the curved booths and bent-back chairs totally compliment each other. I'm not sure I could drink a Ricard, as it looks an awful lot like non-homogenized milk (and I'm lactose-intolerant except for milkshakes), but it looks like they have plenty of beers and wine for me to choose from, so no worries here. All in all, Le Barricou looks like a great place for dinner and/or drinks. Hell, I might even try one of those absinthe drips. Although if I'm going to put any imbibale straight into my veins, I'd prefer it to be chocolate mousse.
Hay , I don't ignore this site , it's that I been to busy @ work & home , since ZioumZioum been here since May & leaving end of July , I been entertaining , cleaning , & cooking for her , also trying to learn to speak french ( which is hard to learn when you teaching yourself , but ZioumZioum helps me allot ).
Biff , yes that is escargot , & Marty for got to mentioned that she ordered it , & I had a taste of one for my very fierst time & Très bon !!! but ZioumZioum didn't give me another taste , I guess it was so good , since she wanted to lick the plate !!!
This place reminded me of the Bistro I went to when I was in Toulouse visting ZioumZioum , everything was Great from the moment I stepped into it , seeing Marty @ the Bar with a smile , waiting for us .
TO:Le Barricou , for making ZioumZiuom feel @ Home !!
TO: LE BARRICOU!
Hey, Marty, you know that in the nineteenth century, those absinthe drips were made with a few drops of laudanum in them...basically liquid opium that was used as a painkiller, tranquilizer, and for keeping crazy people down off the ceilings in insane asylums. The impressionist painters of the period used to guzzle the stuff like there was no tomorrow. Absinthe tastes like liquorish flavored shit and you drizzle sugar water into it so you can stand the taste, but the alcohol content is through the roof with most brands, and two or three belts of that stuff and you'll wind up cutting off your ear and mailing it to Zioum Zioum!
@Jaws: I'll cut off my left ear, I can't hear out of it anyway!
Knock knock.
Who's there?
S Car.
S Car who?
Look at that S car go!
@Anyone ATM: http://instantrimshot.com/
You got that joke from the movie trading places , & there was an ATM near the bathroom .
This bistro is so great, 100% French ! I felt in France being there :D
The interior design is authentic, like a bistro in France. Indeed it looks like someone's appartement, and the reason is that French can pass several hours in a bistro (I sometimes pass 6 or 7 hours in a bistro!). It's like a second home for everyone.
At 7am-9am: workers have their coffee/croissant before work, At 10am grandpas come to play cards while drinking an early "Apero", At 11:30am-2pm people drink "Apero" and have lunch. At 3pm-6pm, you can see solitary people, reading a book, a writer and his scratch paper, a student studying, or artists trying to find some inspiration in a bottle of beer (while grandpas are still playing cards with a red nose and a strong alcoholic breathe!) At 6pm-9pm studants,workers, parents, grandpas, everyone drinks "Apero" while children play together or just draw in the placemats. At 8pm-11pm people, lovers, friends have a dinner (but grandpas are in bed already! they are too drunk! haha) and until 2am, people drink a late "Apero" ...
Well a Bistro is all that french like : having good food, good time and APERO for a cheap price!!! An apero is not only to drink alcohol before a meal, that's a French cultural ritual and each hours and occasions are good to drink "l'Apero au bistro du coin" (the Apero at the bistro on the corner of the street) !!
Escargots was so delicious but Jason didn't tell me he wanted more of it, so I ate all!!! The Ricard was PERFECT ! Ricard is aniseed's liquor with ice and water, it tast different from what it looks like.
+ 10 pts for the S car go joke ! But ...
Q: do you know what says an escargot enclosed in his shell??? ....
R: I have my Ass To Mouth !!!!
MOUHAHAHA! tadadada pshhhh pshhhh !
PS: I would love to get some ears in my mailbox !!! hahaha
TO LE BARRICOU !!!!!!!!!! :D
@jason good to see back on the crawl...yeah there are not enough hours in the day...good luck on the french lessons...the older you get the tougher any lesson is...actually they rocked me outa the cradle w/the S car go thing...and "365" finds another place w/an assist going to Zioum Zioum...another added attraction w/olga & lexi...damn it's haunting me that i didn't see the Guinness on the head at The Dublin House....damn the ol' school..that Apotheke hex must have effected some of the vitural crawlers...or a least one anyway...KOC
rr
@Zioum Zioum: What did you say? I can't hear you because I cut my ear off and mailed it to you.
TO LE BARRICOU !
Now I need to google to find out what's In the French drink, the Ricard!
Small world I have cousins from Toulouse. I witnessed a very, very, very bad experience with absinthe in London. I will never be tempted to try that shit. I would be tempted to sink down into one of those chairs in front of the fire with a book though.
@kari: Do they go to the AB Bar? That's where Zioum Zioum hangs out with her friends.
I think the woman on Jason's chest is giving me the eye. She has nice lips! Speaking of Jason........Are we to assume that he is giving Zioum Zioum the Hawg? Love blooms on the 365 bar crawl! Tell Jason to turn around so i can see my new sweetheart"s ass! Oh yeah......Nice bar!
LEXI :)
Zioum Zioum may I please inquire as to why type of drink an Apero is? It sounds very intriguing.
Welcome back Prof....wonderfully funny comment as usual.
Marty, that looks like such a wonderful bar and restaurant. The food looks amazing and quite delicious while the drinks look refreshing...and strong.
Great place, love it!
@Tiki : That's a aniseed flavored drink. The recipe is kept secret since 1932 when Paul Ricard created it. But we know there's Liquorice, roots of trees and herbs of Provence (but which ones? there are Thousands of different herbs from Provence!) You serve it : 5 volumes water for 1 volume of Ricard (2cl) and ice, but always put the ice before water ;) That's the most popular drink in south of France!
The ricard is an emblem in France (or a religion! lol), it's also the official drink of several events like "ferias" (local festival in south of France and spain) or "Ricard parties" in bars (Women dress-up with the Ricard suit comes to bars and offer free glasses of Ricard, tee shirts, hats, all kind of Ricard items etc) or Rugby, pétanque. We have The Ricard song, the Ricard prayer, The Spider-Man always drink Ricard before to save the world, the Ricard tits!!!! Well, Ther's no party without Ricard!
The Ricard company even created a aniseed drink for children and people who don't drink alcohol called "Pacific" which tast similar but alcohol-free and sugar-free.
LETS CHILDREN DRINK APERO !!
@professor! good to see you back! and yes, your comments always crack me up !!!! :D
@Kari! Hello cousins!!! the original name of AB bar is "l'Ancienne Belgique" (rue de la trinité) tell your cousins to come there and ask "zioum zioum"!! we will drink all together!! :D
Thank you so very much Zioum Zioum. It sounds like a very interesting and wonderful beverage. I will try one the next time I am in France.
I have been to France three times and I do enjoy it so very much.