Love Your Bartender: Scott Gold, Char No. 4
Brooklyn is a borough of bars and rumor has it, we have many other things too. Be that true or not, Brooklyn is a unique hub of distinct neighborhood taverns, each filled with its own pack of fiercely dedicated locals. It’s no surprise, then, that Brooklyn is also a borough of bartenders. In Love Your Bartender, a brand new feature on BrooklynTheBorough.com, we’ll take a look at men and women who stand out as they stand behind our Brooklyn bars. We’ll also find out where they choose to let their hair down, and let someone else pour the pints for a change.
Flush across the street from the red-and-blue supermarket, Char No. 4 sits framed in black. Boerum Hill’s go-to bar for bourbon and smoked-meat, this relative newcomer opened in September 2007 and has been doing dandy ever since. While the average drink will cost you more than a well pour at Angry Wades next door, Char’s drinks include a lesson in whiskey, meat, and, depending on which stellar bartender you’re blessed with, anything from the medieval humors to New Orleans history. Let’s say you end up rapt in the latter: chances are your stellar bartender for the night is fleur-de-lis fan Scott Gold.
Born-and-raised in New Orleans, Scott is impressively at ease here on Smith and Warren Streets, slinging drinks and talking like a carnivore. Scott got the job through his love of meat – as skilled as he is at bartending, Scott’s real profession is writing, and he contributes a weekly column on all things meat to Faster Times. One meat-themed book under his belt, he’s contributed to Gourmet.com and KCRW. (He also had a rock band, but by him a drink and let him tell you more). He nabbed the job at Char by chatting up the teacher of a charcuterie class he attended on a whim – turned out the teacher was Matt Greco, and he was just about to open Char No. 4 to the public. The only thing that was missing was the bar staff. Voila. That, you might say, is how sausage is made.
So what does Scott recommend at Char No. 4? If you’re sticking to the menu, go for the George Dickel No. 12 Tennessee Whiskey and the Chopped Pork sandwich, served with pickled onions, pickled peppers and a side of baked beans. If you’d rather order off the menu, this New Orleanean’d be delighted to mix you up one amazing Sazarac.
And what does this good ol’ boy drink back in his own Brooklyn neighborhood, Greenpoint? After a steady day of clientele pours, he heads to Five Leaves at 18 Bedford Avenue (at Lorimer) to see his favorite neighborhood bartender Dan and order a Rittenhouse Rye and a pint of Stella. With a big grass-fed burger on the side, of course.
Char No. 4,196 Smith Street, Boerum Hill (718) 643-2106
Photo by Michael Harlan Turkell
