The Meat Hook may be closing its critically acclaimed sandwich shop, but the team is actually about to open something even bigger. The proprietors of the Williamsburg butcher and sandwich shop will soon be permanently taking over the kitchen at Threes Brewing, the massive Gowanus bar and brewery that previously only had pop-up food options.
For Threes, it’s a way to provide more consistency, says partner Josh Stylman. And for Meat Hook, the bar — which at capacity fits more than 400 people indoors and outdoors — will be a chance for chef Gil Calderon and the kitchen team to flex their muscles, says co-owner Brent Young. "The sandwich shop is great; we love it," Young says. "But we can’t really divert too far from sandwiches in a sandwich shop. The staff that we have, both at the butcher shop and sandwich shop, have a much broader culinary background."
Young and his team have popped up in Threes before, including this past March, and the menu for the more permanent version of the restaurant will be similar — bar-friendly food like burgers, sausages, charcuterie, and to-be-determined vegetarian entrees. Plus, the location will take over any sandwich shop items that the butcher shop can’t absorb, including the popular hot fried chicken sandwich. Most of the menu will be similar in ethos to the sandwich shop — "really good food that is super accessible," Young says.
Threes was already looking for a more permanent food vendor when Meat Hook and the brewery started talking. The constant food changes at Threes, which opened about a year and a half ago, made the staff feel like they were opening a new restaurant every few weeks, Stylman says. The Meat Hook team and the Threes team click, and the partnership made sense, he adds. They’re turning the bar into counter service-only, instead of table service, going along with the effort to be casual. "We affirmed that we are a bar that has food, and the food just happens to be really delicious," Stylman says. The new Meat Hook in Threes Brewing will debut on July 11, just one day after the sandwich shop and Berg’n stand El Meat Hook close. Stay tuned for more details on the menu.