Carbo Loading: Runner & Stone

Don't go to Runner & Stone if you are gluten-free.

The restaurant, in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, might be able to accommodate this dietary restriction, but to dine here without eating the fabulous breads would be criminal.

During the day, the restaurant operates as a bakery, and at night, you get a basket of bread, with fresh butter, after you order. The sourdough baguette is to die for, but any of the breads is deeply satisfying.

The limited menu presented challenges for our party of 2 vegetarians and 2 kosher eaters. Was the lone fish kosher (tilefish - yes!). Could we leave the prosciutto out of the special salad? Of course.

The bar specializes in creative cocktails, with homemade bitters and infusions, and local spirits. A sage bourbon drink with apricot bitters and a lemon sage simple syrup was perfectly balanced. I also loved the spin on a Manhattan, called a South Brooklyn and made with Old Overholt rye, dry vermouth, maraschino, Saint Germain and bitters.

The escarole salad with fried cannellini beans was reat for fall, as was the baby beet salad with yogurt dressing. 

We also had a pasta with roasted eggplant, tomato and smoked fontina and another with lobster and corn. Unfortunately, the thick, long pasta clumped together.

But that was the only mistake in this friendly, ingeniously designed space (flour sacks, hardened with cement, make up the walls, and skylights brighten the subterranean main dining space.

Now, more vegetarian choices so we can return and try something else!