After a wobbly few years of pivots and closures, Uptown Kingston’s restaurant-and-bar scene feels restored to its former status as the city’s Restaurant Row. In the past few months, a number of dormant spots have reopened: Chleo in the former Ecce Terra storefront, Tortilla Uptown where Grainne briefly existed, and Salt Box took over from the shuttered Crown Lounge. All of this within the few blocks of the Stockade historic district. The latest confirmation of this renaissance is the opening of Brickmen Kitchen + Bar on North Front Street.
The bulk of Brickmen is located in the space formerly occupied by Boitson's, Maria Philippis's beloved bistro that helped propel Uptown's post-Great Recession revival. The Boitson's space—a tight 36 seats—was always on the crowded side of cozy, and Dave Amato, owner of Brickmen (as well as waterfront restaurant Ole Savannah—which won a Chronogrammie for BBQ 2022) was smart to expand into the adjoining storefront, adding a couple dozen more seats in a dedicated dining room.
While Amato has done an extensive renovation of the space—the banquette in the barroom is now bar height, there are TVs behind the bar, and the "Brickmen" theme is on display with oversized photos of Kingston's brickmaking operations of a century ago—traces of Boitson's remain. The marble-topped bar is intact, as is the back deck, though it's now bisected by an accordion wall of glass, transforming a seasonal patio into an additional four-season dining room. The redesign, overseen by hospitality veterans Jackson Creative Group, brings an anodyne, Ramada by Wyndham hotel lobby energy to the space. It's now fit for everyone, and no one in particular.
Chef Dale Miller, who made a name for himself in the Capital Region at restaurants like Jack's Oyster House in Albany and Sperry's in Saratoga Springs before opening a consulting firm, Master Chef Consulting Group, oversaw the creation of the menu. It's a globetrotting, fusion gastropub affair, hopscotching from France (French onion soup, $10) to Cuba (fried plantain nachos, $16) to New York City (everything bagel pretzel stick with cheesy French onion dipping sauce, $13) to Jamaica (bricked jerk roasted half chicken, $28) to Korea (Korean BBQ ribs, $29) to Italy (tagliatelle bolognese, $18). While it's hard to pin down a North Star guiding the culinary navigation at Brickmen, the food that I tasted on multiple visits was well executed and infused with a more-is-more approach to bright flavors. And, not unimportantly: relatively inexpensive in spots; it's rare to see a bowl of pasta for under $20 in 2023.
A cute place to start is with the clothesline bacon ($16), four slices of thick-cut peppered pork served pinned to a mini clothesline. The Korean BBQ-style lollipop chicken wings ($15), swathed with gochujang and plum sauce, are a smart flex of the fusion muscle. The rest of the starters I tried were solid, including the simple-but-better-for-being-so Tuscan roasted cauliflower ($14), BBQ pulled pork bao bun ($16), short rib and Thai Basil dumplings ($15), and the hot sone wagyu steak tartare ($22). A word of warning about the steak tartare: It's an audience-participation dish. The half dozen slabs of beef are served uncooked alongside a hot stone, which diners are expected to use to sear the beef before dressing it with wasabi sea salt, yuzu kosho, and ponzu. It was tasty, though I prefer not to cook my own food when dining out. To each their own, I guess.
There's a seafood and sushi bar section of the menu, with some interesting dishes, like the oysters on the half shell (6 for $22) served bathed in a briny-yet-sweet mignonette with a hint of passionfruit that upended expectations in a delightful way. The sushi taco ($14), tuna and tobiko in a fried wonton shell, sounds strange but made the most of the Japanese-Mexican mash-up with a crunchy finish to play off the citrus-soy glaze. There's also a chilled seafood tower (Royale, $75; Grand Plateau, $125) with shrimp lobster, oysters, and clams, just in case your meal wants to take a serious turn toward pescatarian decadence.
Despite multiple visits, I have yet to eat any dinner entrees, which vary from a Maine lobster pot pie ($32) to roasted vegetable curry stew ($18). My choice to stay with the apps feels grounded in the spirit of Brickmen, as the bar snack vibe is strong and the flavors compelling and complementary to throwing a couple back. Speaking of: There's a handful of signature of signature cocktails (ask for the one with the giant air bubble in it!), eight mostly local draft beers, and a small wine list that features over a dozen bottles $35 and under. Thanks for that, Brickmen. Diners don't always want to spend $50 on a bottle of wine—though at $90, the Stag's Leap Cabernet Sauvignon is a bargain.Despite having opened just a week ago, Brickmen feels like it's been here for quite awhile. And I've no doubt that it's come-as-you-are attitude and crowd-pleasing food will fuel its success.
Brickmen Kitchen + Bar47 North Front Street, Kingston
Brickmen is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Monday to Friday, 11:30am-10pm; Saturday, 10am-10pm; Sunday 10am-9pm. No reservations.
