Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
A reason to sit, stay and be nice
Fort Lauderdale eatery’s fun fare makes tails wag
Getting to Brown Dog Eatery for a recent dinner turned out to be a bigger challenge than I imagined, but once my group made it we embraced the motto on the front sign: “Sit, stay, be nice.” Brown Dog Eatery, which opened in March 2018, is the latest from the Be Nice restaurant group of Fort Lauderdale (Coconuts, Top Hat Deli, Lunchroom), whose “be nice” bumper stickers are seen all over town.
The food, service and vibe were all nice, a neighborhood place where I would happily become a regular if it were closer to my home. Give me a cold draft beer, a platter of “little shorties,” trimmed and frenched chicken wings that were fun to eat, and some hearts-of-palm fries, crunchy and hefty and satisfying when dipped in cool and spicy sriracha aioli, and I’ll be wagging my tail. Similar to the Foxy Brown, its downtown sister restaurant, Brown Dog Eatery serves capably prepared comfort food, including sandwiches, dinner entrees such as meat loaf wrapped in bacon, and weekend brunch items such as caramel apple french toast.
My trip to the restaurant wasn’t so nice, through no fault of Brown Dog. A water main break near the restaurant had shut East Oakland Park Boulevard (proposed new slogans for Fort Lauderdale: Venice of America — Including Our Streets, or Who Needs Infrastructure, We’ve Got Pensions to Fund!). After cutting through the Target parking lot at the Coral Ridge Mall and navigating a maze of side streets, we pulled up and solved one last riddle — parking.
There were plenty of spots out front, but one side of the parking strip had meters and the other did not. Those who frequent Fort Lauderdale shops and restaurants on state roads such as Commercial and Oakland Park boulevards no doubt have wondered about this. The state side of these lots (closest to the roadways) is free, because state law bars meters. But the side facing stores is city property, thus metered. Walking 20 extra feet saves money and a possible parking ticket.
Brown Dog Eatery opened in a location where a number of Italian restaurants have failed, most recently a reboot of Ruggero’s. The site, on the edge
of the Coral Ridge neighborhood, has also been somewhat challenging for the Be Nice group. In June, Be Nice shuttered its Red Cow barbecue restaurant along the big bend of US 1 and East Sunrise Boulevard. A slow summer means high season will be make-or-break for Brown Dog, and it would be a shame to lose this puppy. The 100-seat restaurant, with a bar and high-top tables on one side of a partly open dividing wall and a dining room on the other, was mostly empty on the night of my dinner visit. A weekday lunch crowd also seemed sluggish.
Some dishes from Red Cow are now offered as specials at Brown Dog, including the sinful fried chicken (fried in bacon fat) on Sundays and rib ends on Fridays. The kitchen and dining room are well-run, with managers and servers who are friendly and attentive. Many are Be Nice veterans who have worked at Top Hat, Foxy Brown and Red Cow.
The only glitch I encountered came from an earnest but bungled display of niceness. The creative hearts-of-palm fries were brought to our table without being ordered, perhaps because I was recognized or perhaps because the house really wanted us to try them. It’s a slightly healthier spin on french fries, and a variation of the green-bean fries found at the Foxy Brown. We loved them. But it wasn’t until a few days later that I noticed the $10 item was added to our tab. Bad dog.
Brown Dog Eatery is dog-friendly, at least outside. As we entered, we passed a sidewalk table with one diner accompanied by two brown dogs. How fitting. The restaurant is named for Be Nice cofounder Elliot Wolf ’s first dog, Bailey, a chocolate Labrador retriever.
Brown seems to be a recurring color here, which may not be the most Instagram-friendly food color, but nearly everything tasted good from chef Ryan Lorenzo’s kitchen. The brownish porchetta plate (now listed at $22 on a slightly revamped menu, $27 on the night I dined) was brightened by green stalks of broccolini, with roasted slices of pork loin and belly dusted with gremolata and served over polenta (now mashed potatoes) and jus. The beef-aroni pasta bowl ($21) also sported a brown tint, with gemelli pasta topped with shredded short rib simmered in a dark sauce of aromatic vegetables and topped with ricotta cheese. It was hearty and rustic. The brownish meat loaf ($23), made from ground beef and topped with crisp, well-done bacon strips, is a new menu item, and it too was hearty and good for the winter soul. The restaurant also recently ditched its double-patty cheeseburger in favor of twin cheeseburger sliders ($11), which were well-crusted outside, medium-rare and juicy inside and served on toasted brioche buns from Cusanos bakery. Nice.
The only discordant note among entrees: a swordfish special ($27). The blackened fish was properly cooked, but it oddly was topped with a blob of burrata/mozzarella cheese, chopped tomatoes and herbs. Was this a fish dish or bruschetta?
Lighter options abounded during our opening course, including a stone fruit salad ($16) with arugula, goat cheese, grilled plums, grilled Gulf shrimp, tomatoes, prosciutto and Bellini peach vinaigrette. The sweet-salty-tangy thing worked. The airy stracciatella with mint ($14), with cheese brought in daily from Mozzarita in Pompano Beach, was wonderful, served with a warm mini-loaf of sliced bread. The trimmed chicken wings ($10) were almost dainty, roasted in the wood oven before being finished with a quick flash-fry. The accompanying soy-scallionlemongrass-red-pepperflake sauce was light and lip-smacking good.
The bread pudding ($9) with caramel sauce was dense and a bit too sweet, but we loved a berry cobbler special ($8), warm gobs of berry topped with crunchy granola and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I was ready for a walk. Good dog.