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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

(Fort Greene, Brooklyn, April 4, 2005) - The latest entry into the expanding world of cuisine in the Myrtle Avenue area is abistro, a cozy and intimate new restaurant with a clean silhouette of classic white walls, modern black furniture and an open kitchen, located at 154 Carlton Avenue just off Myrtle. The restaurant features African fusion specialties and is open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday – Friday from 12pm to 10pm. Brunch is served on the weekends from 11am to 4pm.

Chef Abdoul Gueye, who runs the restaurant with his wife, Cassandra, has taken his years of experience at such well-known Manhattan restaurants as Aquagrill, La Goulue and Aureole and combined them with his native Senegalese background to create a unique fusion cuisine. Along with traditional African elements, Chef Gueye features dishes with French and Asian notes. One such example is his favorite dish, Senegalese Fried Chicken, which takes typical Senegalese ingredients such as onions, peppers and olives, and combines them with French preparation methods.

Given the chef’s years of experience at Aquagrill, it is no surprise to find seafood in a prominent position on the menu. Such dishes as Crispy Leopold Crab Cakes, served on a bed of fennel-pineapple-arugula salad with sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese mousse, Abdoul’s Mussels, simmered in a ginger-lemongrass broth and served with plum tomatoes, mushrooms and scallions, are featured appetizers (the crab cake also appears as a wonderful sandwich on the lunch menu). Seafood entrees include Roasted Atlantic Salmon with sweet potato gnocchi, wild mushrooms and spinach in a peanut ginger sauce, and Poisson Braise, the fish of the day served with bulgur-yucca couscous, sautéed spinach, mushrooms and spicy mango salsa in a palm sauce. Meat lovers are not overlooked, and can enjoy a 10 oz. burger or mushroom-encrusted Steak Frites. End your meal on a sweet note with Spicy Bread Pudding with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream, Sorrel and Ginger Crème Brulee or Marinated Apple Tartin with vanilla ice cream. A liquor license is pending; for now, it’s BYOB.

Abdoul and Cassandra are long-time residents of the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill area and are raising their 5-year old daughter in the neighborhood. They are thrilled to open a restaurant in the area and give back to the community that has brought them so much happiness. “I’m just really happy when people love the food,” says the Chef. “This is something I’ve always dreamed of, and cooking for me is more a pleasure than a job. That’s why we designed the restaurant with an open kitchen, so we can have direct contact with the customers. When I cook, I cook with my heart.”

“It’s great to have another small business added to the mix on Myrtle, and you can’t get much more locally-owned then abistro,” commented Michael Blaise Backer, executive director of the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project LDC, noting that Cassandra and Abdoul live just down the street. “The more creative, local entrepreneurs we can recruit to Myrtle Avenue, the better, and fortunately for us and the neighborhood, there are plenty more in the pipeline.”

Take a peak at abistro's menu at www.myrtleavenue.org/myrtlemenus.

Contact:
Cassandra Glasco-Gueye, abistro, 718-855-9455
Amy Sauertieg, Communications Coordinator
Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership, 718-230-1689