Celiac Disease Beware: Runner & Stone for Everyone Else

Runner & Stone Greenmarket stand

Man (woman) does not live by bread alone. But she can try. Runner & Stone, a restaurant in Gowanus, has some of the best bread around. During the day, the restaurant is more a bakery, with sandwiches and soups, too. Runner & Stone also has stands at Greenmarkets selling its amazing sourdough creations and pastries. At night, you can get wonderful cocktails and delicious food to counter balance the gluten.

Braided ravioli

In from the cold

On one of the iciest, nastiest nights of the year ( year that was only 5 days old, granted) we braved the elements and a snowbank defying all but the most intrepid. Then a metal staircase up to Runner & Stone. We knew what waited within: homemade pasta, fresh produce and that warm, yeasty smell that made up temporarily forget the cold.

Are you Gluten Free?

Squid ink bucatini special

Sorry, Runner & Stone isn't for you. When we sat down, we got bites of savory spinach pastries, and the bread basket that came with our cocktails had three kinds of chewy, dense bread. It's all so tempting we devoured every crumb.

We resisted the crostini with ricotta and truffle honey - more bread? - but not the spicy hummus with grilled pita. And fried Brussels sprouts, so we could have some veggies with our perfect martinis. Runner & Stone uses local spirits like Dorothy Parker, a gin made in Greenhook.

Fish of the day

Pasta fest

The ricotta ravioli sat on a bed of tomato jam, with a drizzle of bright green basil oil. The red, white and green evoked Italy and the pastas we enjoyed last year.

I had a special, squid ink bucatini with chunks of lobster. It was rich, but not overwhelmingly so.

Fish of the day

My husband had the hake, served with cannellini beans, spinach, olive romesco and radish.

In case you were wondering...
The name, Runner & Stone is from a mill. The runner and the stone are used to grind grain.

Dessert? Why, yes

The rye brownie sundae is wonderful, but with single digit temps soon in our future, we couldn't pull the trigger. The s'mores in a parfait glass, with a rich chocolate ganache and bruleed marshmallow topping was festive and delicious.