Brooklyn’s beloved corner bistro Buttermilk Channel to close after 16 years

Not all New York City institutions last forever, or even two full decades.

After 16 years in Carroll Gardens, the much loved Court Street corner bistro Buttermilk Channel is closing at the end of the month. But despite not making it to its 20th year, it has become an iconic Brooklyn restaurant in some circles.

“It would be different now,” owner Doug Crowell said during Buttermilk’s packed, penultimate Friday brunch between exchanging words and hugs with longtime regulars.

If he were to open the restaurant today, “I wouldn’t do the paper and white tablecloths…there’d be more plants.”

The patrons who’ve kept Buttermilk bustling over the years, though, don’t come here for an Instagrammable, of-the-moment aesthetic, but reliability — in the service, in the kids’ menu, in the adults’ menu, in the quality of the food and in the familiarity of the community.

“ I grew up watching ‘Cheers’ reruns and I always felt like [Buttermilk] was the place where everybody knows your name,” said Elliott Phear, an entrepreneur who has lived catty corner to the restaurant since 2007, a year before it opened. “Every one of our birthdays we've spent there. My kids have kind of grown up there.”

Buttermilk was also frequently patronized by individuals whose names are known by everybody, most famously Beyoncé, who came by more times than Crowell can count, including with Jay-Z on New Year’s Eve, 2011.

Usher, Gayle King, Solange Knowles and other stars (“so many,” said Crowell) have also quietly stopped by over the years. Buttermilk became a place where celebrities could dependably come to brunch and remain at least relatively unknown, Crowell said.

"I don't know what brought them,” he said. “But they came and we were very happy to see them.”

He said that Beyoncé’s visits in particular were “transformative” for the business.

As for why Buttermilk’s time is suddenly ending, Crowell — the restaurant’s sole owner, who is also co-owner of Boerum Hill’s French-American restaurant French Louie — said he is simply ready to call it on a venture that, despite its wild popularity, is not wildly profitable and requires a great deal of love and energy to maintain.

“It’s just the time to close,” he said. “It’s a very personal business so, you know, we can’t just put it in other people's hands. He said he could imagine putting it elsewhere, perhaps in a smaller space, in a less residential neighborhood, where the night does not end so early.

Buttermilk’s two outposts in Japan — which are operated by a Japanese restaurant company — will remain open. (Crowell maintains “total creative control” of both.)

While the time may be right for Crowell, the closure is still upsetting for many.

“It just is hard to imagine, because it’s just been there, and it touches so many memories and relationships,” said Jennifer Nelson, who was on Buttermilk’s opening staff and eventually became its first general manager, and then Crowell’s managing partner, before leaving two years ago. “I like the idea of it being emblematic of another time.”

Since Crowell sent an email announcing the closure in October, many have come out to mourn together.

“I figured people would come in to say goodbye, but what we've seen there is beyond anything I expected,” he said. “It's like every night the place has been full and every table is there to have a last meal or have a second-to-last meal and say goodbye, and I'm having conversations with really almost everyone in the room about their memories.”

He said guests have reminisced about their first dates, their weddings, or taking their baby out to dinner for the first time at the restaurant.

The final night on New Year’s Eve is sure to be bittersweet. To Crowell, who will be working, “it seemed the perfect night to send us off.”