Seersucker - Southern Charm in Brooklyn

I’m not sure if I’ve shared this fact with you all yet, so I’m going to go ahead and say it now: I love biochemistry. I really do. It’s hard and complicated, but of all of the science classes I took at NYU, this was by far my favorite. Ironically, despite being considered the “hardest of the pre-med course” and not actually being a pre-med prerequisite class, I think this was the one class that actually made sense to me and it was my most successful course! If I had to go back and major is a science, I would major in biochemistry. Hands down.

Now, why am I telling you this? Well, I just like sharing the fact that I love biochemistry, but I think my love of this subject is due to the fact that I had the most phenomenal professor. Dr. G is not only a veteran biochemist and lecturer, he has 40+ years of experience in the field and has connections to every famous scientist ever (ex: Sir Hans Kreb, Dr. Christian de Duve, etc…), but he is also a hilarious and wonderful human being. He is my most favorite professor at NYU and possibly one of favorite human beings in the entire world. Attending his lectures was such a pleasure and something I genuinely looked forward to. Not only did he make the material accessible, but also, he was just so funny! It was like stand up comedy!

I want you to know this because he is the reason for this blog post. I went to visit him in office hours back in February in hopes of soliciting a letter of recommendation from him. He agreed and I was delighted. Somehow we got onto the topic of food and we started talking about restaurants. Dr. G lives in Brooklyn, in the same area as my best friend E, so he started giving me recommendations of places he loves to eat at. His first recommendation was a Southern restaurant called “Seersucker.” As soon as I left his office, I texted E and we made plans to eat at Seersucker that weekend.

I can see why Dr. G likes this place. It’s very cozy and the food is delicious! Dr. G, after verifying that I was old enough drink, told me to try the “Smokey and the Bandit” cocktail at Seersucker. Apparently it is his wife’s favorite. This cocktail is a chipotle infused whiskey with smoked brown sugar syrup and limejuice. I was intrigued and man, what a delicious cocktail! First off, the theatrics of the drink were great. The cocktail, is served on a small cast iron grill, with the glass face down. When it arrives that the table, the server flips the cup over and smoke comes out the glass. Then, the drink is served tableside from shaker. So cool! I must say, I was a bit skeptical over the flavor combinations of this cocktail --- I mean, whiskey and chipotle? Really?? But I was pleasantly surprised. You can’t really taste the whiskey, it’s very fruity, but the chipotle after kick will have your eyes bulging a bit. Still, I enjoyed every sip! Thank you Dr. G, for the recommendation!

A respectable selection

Whilst we were contemplating the menu, we started the meal with some house made corn bread and homemade jams. Good god, this was delicious! I love corn bread and this was really yummy. Nice and fluffy, with a bit of saltiness. Mmmm…I could’ve eaten an entire basket of this corn bread!

For dinner, I started with the “Southern Style Ramen” which consisted of: ramen, a poached egg, pork confit, collard greens, country ham powder, and a peanut “miso” soup. What an interesting dish! Being half Japanese, I was totally intrigued by the idea of “Southern ramen” and I am pleased to say, the dish delivered. All of the flavors worked perfectly together and whilst the flavors weren’t Japanese, it still managed to maintain the essence of Japanese ramen. Well done, Seersucker!

For my main dish, I went with Dr. G’s suggestion: fried chicken served with cheddar-black pepper grits and collard greens. This really hit the spot. I love fried chicken, but I don’t get to eat it very often. Well, rather, I know it’s bad for me, so I force myself not to eat it often. This chicken was perfectly cooked. Nice and juicy on the inside and the skin was crisp perfection. The grits had a bit too much black pepper, in my opinion, but that’s ok, because that chicken was just so so delicious!

Overall, I had a wonderful meal at Seersucker. I can see why this place is so popular with the locals and why Dr. G loves it so much. Seersucker not only serves delicious food, but it has a lovely ambience and feel. The establishment itself is quite homey and down-to-earth and the wait staff are super nice and attentive. I can’t wait to go back and maybe I’ll see Dr. G there, next time!