Dinner Party In a larger space, Dinner Party is all grown up but just as fun
Since it opened in Fort Greene in 2021, Dinner Party has been the premiere place for beautiful people to eat beautiful food, rub shoulders around communal tables, and exchange contact information by the time they get to dessert. Its newer, bigger space in Clinton Hill doesn’t lose any of that charm. It just multiplies the number of guests by about three—making room for an à la carte menu, happy hours, and readily available reservations in the process.
If the old Dinner Party was a BYOB restaurant run by a group of friends that sort of just charmingly made sh*t up as they went along, the new Dinner Party is a little more serious, a little more expensive, and certainly no longer BYOB. Dinner Party grew up, and that’s not a bad thing.
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
The four-course prix fixe ($64-$80, depending on the day) changes every two weeks or so. Think of it as food you’ve dreamt of making for your own imaginary dinner party. Except you’d probably set off every smoke alarm in your building if you tried to fry a spring pea and leek fritter with a fermented shrimp dipping sauce. Dinner could continue with seared cod and miso compound butter, or—when it’s in season—white asparagus with pickled rhubarb and mustard seeds. Vegetarian substitutions are also available.
Make a big group reservation for your birthday, but don't just save this place for special occasions. It’s equally fun to pop in on a weekday and drink a $10 happy hour Negroni at a barstool in the front window.
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Willa Moore
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
Stop in for happy hour, with $10 classic cocktails done well, and a few house cocktails for $12. We’re particularly fond of the dirty dill martini, which tastes like a dill pickle stole an olive’s thunder. During regular hours, try a Negroni riff made with walnut-infused whiskey, and a cucumber-tequila number that tastes like green juice.
photo credit: Kate Previte
You can check Instagram or their website for the current menu, but whatever they’re cooking is bound to be delicious. Dinner might start with a thick slice of polenta sourdough, swirled with ricotta and topped with jammy tomatoes and jimmy nardello peppers that taste like vegetal fruit leather. In summer, a melon salad with raw squash ribbons and lots of parmesan could be followed by a heavily seared strip steak with tomato aioli and gremolata. Dessert—like a spumoni semifreddo with chocolate espresso ice cream, pistachio ice cream with shards of pistachio, and a cherry ice cream with whole luxardo cherries—is never an afterthought.
photo credit: Kate Previte
You can’t make a reservation for the a la carte, but it’s never hard to walk in. The menu is just whatever prix fixe they’re serving that night, with itemized prices. We like coming on the early side, and pairing a small plate with a happy hour cocktail.
photo credit: Kate Previte
