Age at the Gage
Famed chophouse in B’klyn reopens with modern flair
When the new owners of the storied Brooklyn restaurant Gage & Tollner planned their revival they knew two things for certain: they wanted to respect the history but they didn’t want to replicate it.
“We knew we wanted to honor the past but we wanted to bring the menu forward to the 21st century,” said chef Sohui Kim, who is reopening the landmarked restaurant on Sunday with her husband Ben Schneider and St. John Frizell, owner of Red Hook’s Fort Defiance. The eatery closed in 2004 and several fast food joints occupied the space after that.
The trio studied Gage & Tollner menus dating back to 1895 and Kim, with chef de cuisine Adam Shepard sketched out a menu that would satisfy old and new tastes. Turtle soup has been served there going back to the 19th century but beheading turtles did not make the cut, though Kim did consider a mock turtle soup before dropping it.
The 1919 menu featured items like crabmeat Virginia, “which is basically just crabmeat broiled with butter,” Kim says. “We needed things to be more special so we’re going to make the best darn crabcakes.”
If diners want to keep it simple they can still get the plain whole lobster, Kim said, “but not for $1.85, the price on the 1919 menu.” Also, it comes with kale slaw, which is definitely not an old-timey thing.
Soft clam belly broil, a butter-drenched dish, goes back to at least the 1930s, and Kim said Mimi Sheraton, noted food critic and Brooklyn native, told her, “You better have the soft clam belly broil; I have great memories of having that served on toast.”
The new iteration has two twists: the butter is infused with miso and the Ipswich clams won’t be eaten on toast, but served in a crock. “We’re floating some croutons in there to soak up all the butter and juices,” said Kim, who with her husband, also owns The Good Fork and Insa in Brooklyn.
Clams casino also gets spiced up with a hint of Kim’s Korean heritage. “How do you make an old chophouse menu exciting again? You use your international pantry,” she explained.
The dish, Clams Kimsino, has a dash of kimchi in it. “Kimchi has that acid and umami level that adds to that dish,” she says. “It brings that spark and a little bit of heat but not too much. It’s very subtle. You might not even be able to say, Oh, there’s kimchi in here.”
Those are the only two dishes with Asian ingredients. “I was very cognizant of not wanting people to think I’m going to fusionize Gage & Tollner chophouse menu,” Kim said.
Some updates are more basic. Bacon will wrap around scallops instead of oysters, and the hashed browns will be scalloped (or the scalloped potatoes will be hash browned, depending on your perspective). Not everything needs a new spin, Kim added. “The cream spinach is just straight up cream spinach.”
The last person to re-imagine the Gage & Tollner menu was renowned chef Edna Lewis, who took the reins in the late 1980s. Her most famous dish was the she-crab soup, which used just crab meat, crab roe, cream, sherry, and butter. “It’s a good guideline to jump off of,” said Kim, who designed her own proportions to create a lighter soup. She also went a step or two further.
“We did a lot of backwork, creating crab essence and crab stock,” Kim says. “Ours is, dare I say, a little more complex. The difference are subtle but the end product is not a copy yet pays homage to her impact as one of the great American chefs. I think if she was around she’d give a nod of approval.”
Upstairs features restored private dining rooms and the tiki-themed Sunken Harbor Club, which will have its own identity and a snack menu reminiscent of “house parties from 1950s,” Kim said, with shrimp toast and spamburgers, featuring housemade spam.