Buttermilk Channel, a Twee Brooklyn Landmark, Is Closing

"Open since 2008, this Carroll Gardens restaurant built a loyal, family-oriented following over a 16-year run thanks to brunch-forward comfort food like house-made pickles, cheddar waffles with buttermilk fried chicken, duck meatloaf, fluffy pancakes and a warm lamb salad with sturdy greens and a soft‑boiled egg. Its easygoing, kid-friendly atmosphere—paper on the tables for crayons, outdoor seating for sunny brunches and a communal table that hosted milestone dinners—made it a neighborhood mainstay and a place where regulars’ children literally grew up eating. Owner Doug Crowell, the sole proprietor, says the menu remained largely unchanged because of those deep customer relationships, but he is closing the restaurant on December 31 to focus on other projects, including the decade-old Boerum Hill bistro French Louie (which he runs with Ryan Angulo). Two outposts in Japan will stay open, and Crowell hints he might reopen in a new location, but longtime patrons describe the closure as heartbreaking and full of personal memories, from impromptu nor’easter dinners to post–City Hall wedding meals and a celebrated pecan‑pie sundae." - Luke Fortney