Blind Barber - Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
07.2016
now closed
A little history:
You know how there are those locations where restaurants come and go? It always seems to be something different when you pass by?
This little corner lot at Lorimer and Ainslie is that sort of place. I first came across it when I worked two blocks away on Metropolitan in my early days as a real estate agent. I would very frequently park my car somewhere nearby and walk by it. I remember the building catching my eye in those early days - something about the black paint that connected a row of three buildings into one, and an enclosed external staircase, perhaps one of the first I’d ever seen.
Some of my favorite Brooklyn spots got their start here, including Okonomi / Yuji Ramen (in the leftmost space pictured below), and Kettl Tea which begin life in the space upstairs from that.
Google Street View circa 2012, around when I first laid eyes on this building trio.
At the time, the corner store was occupied by a coffee shop by the name of Second Stop, which I surely visited once or twice, and my vague recollection of it was as your typical small neighborhood coffee shop. If I have my Blind Barber history correct, they actually wrote their business plan in that cafe. It wasn’t until years later, after the success of their initial location in the East Village, that they came back to reclaim this space in honor of that history.
I’ll break down my presentation of the space into three categories of which I have representative pictures:
The Cafe
The Barber
The Bar
The Cafe
Morning light and bright grind of espresso pair with expressive bites to fuel your day.
The overcast / rainy day made for some very gorgeous soft light on the food, and also added the subdued atmosphere that makes me still love several of these images so many years later. There’s a bit of disparity between how I edited the images since I tended to go for brighter, puncher colors and contrast in my food photos at the time, since I think that makes the images look the most appetizing when viewed alone. But as part of a set, I should have made matched the tone and mood. No that anyone I stopping me from doing that right now. But I’d rather stand by my decision than fiddle with them.
So, let’s move on:
2. The Barber
I suspect this building was originally a carriage house, given this door and layout.
The contrast between the grungy, stained, run down area with the barber chairs versus the clean orderly display and trim wood of the waiting room always brought me a laugh. I wish I had a few more photos of this space, as I can envision some more interesting photographs of it now after so many years of experience as an architectural photographer, but such is life.
3. The Bar
This is one of my favorite cocktail photos. I think I'll make a print of it right now.
I like it, but it’s gonna need a bit of work before it’s ready for primetime.
Let’s move on to describing the bar side of Blind Barber.
By night the coffee and brunch bites take a backseat to craft cocktails and bar bites and pay more homage to Blind Barber’s secret identity. The East Village location has a noteworth speakeasy (contradiction?) hidden in the back, and so a couple of delicious, but less hidden, drinks come out to play as the sun sets and vibes crank up.
The ol' cocktail next the candle trick. A standby of lowlight food photography.
Closed, Bummer.
Unfortunately, this location is history. As I said, this is one of those spots where businesses don’t seem to last for whatever reason. So after a 4 year run, this location is gone, with only these images (and whatever else you find online) to remember it by. But, Blind Barber still has several locations across a handful of major cities that you can visit, including the OG in the East Village.
Further viewing
If you like this spot, check out these related locales:
Blind Barber - East Village
Okonomi / Yuji Ramen
Kettl Tea