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Lonnies<\/a><\/p>\n \n 112 Bond St., at Pacific St., Boerum HIll\n <\/p>\n \n Like Ingas, the new restaurant takes over a corner space. Sean Rembold and Caron Callahan, the married couple who run Ingas Bar<\/a> in Brooklyn Heights, are very deliberate when they name things. Perhaps overly so: A week after the birth of each of their children, the hospital called demanding they finally give their babies names. \u201cWe\u2019re perfectionists,\u201d Rembold explains. \u201cWe work together and want each other to be happy,\u201d Ingas, which they opened four years ago, is named for Rembold\u2019s great-aunt from Louisville; it was the only name they could come up with. This time, when faced with opening a new restaurant a couple of neighborhoods south, they faced the same challenge. \u201cNeedless to say, names don\u2019t come easy \u2014 and we didn\u2019t want a b.s. name,\u201d Rembold says. This Wednesday, May 20, they\u2019ll officially open Lonnies<\/a> (which, like Ingas, is styled sans apostrophe).<\/p>\n Lonnie Lanham was a significant, near-mystical figure during Rembold\u2019s early life in Kentucky. The real Lonnie was the dad of Rembold\u2019s friend, a Vietnam vet turned hairdresser, and, Rembold says, the most free-spirited and sophisticated person he\u2019d ever met. \u201cWe\u2019d go to Lonnie\u2019s to chill out, do what we wanted to do \u2014 it represented complete freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n The goal is to extend that same sense of freedom to the menu, to feature whatever\u2019s fresh and fun. Ingas opened in winter, so Lonnies already has the advantage of debuting in the spring, when actual produce is growing. \u201cWe have peas, vegetables \u2014 it\u2019s much easier,\u201d Callahan says. The menu is \u201clo-fi, easy, and approachable,\u201d Rembold says. The only restriction for him and his executive chef, Eddie Acosta: no gas, but luckily Rembold can reminisce and maybe even revisit some preparations from his induction-range-only days cooking at Marlow & Sons<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lonnies will celebrate local ingredients, but it will also serve a low-key prime rib, served every day with minimal garnish that will be, surprisingly, a value play when compared to the high-grade porterhouses around town. Rembold\u2019s culinary sensibilities lean classic, or what he describes as \u201cclassy, fewer ingredients, not more. Not to a monastic degree.\u201d He\u2019s also reviving chicken under a brick from his repertoire \u2014\u00a0a spatchcocked bird cooked in a cast iron that he\u2019s carried with them through his career \u2014 and, necessarily, a burger, with beef coming from Paisano\u2019s<\/a> butcher a few blocks away. Callahan, for her part, is most excited about dessert: \u201ca creamy Basque cheesecake!\u201d<\/p>\n Callahan says the goal for the design is to match the menu: \u201cNothing\u2019s overly designed, like Sean\u2019s food.\u201d In converting the former Caf\u00e9 Kitsun\u00e9, Callahan took some inspiration from the kinds of diners she frequents during kids\u2019 soccer trips \u2014 \u201cwe treat ourselves to a giant slice of pie in a cozy booth\u201d \u2014 while giving it an Art Deco makeover. Two-seater, freestanding banquets Callahan calls \u201csweeties\u201d will anchor the space, with rectangular cream-colored tiles leading guests into striped and stained Scandinavian-ish wooden floors. She found vintage lights from the Czech Republic that glow streetlamp yellow, not LED cream, and bleed into the cherry-red branding, which shows up on menus and in other innate details throughout the restaurant. There will be half a dozen seats at the bespoke bar in back, available via reservation. \u201cWe always want to sit at the bar,\u201d Callahan says, \u201cand this one is more intimate, no people standing behind you.\u201d Up front, there\u2019s a separate chrome-banded bar topped with honeyed marble. This will be open for walk-ins.<\/p>\n One spot that\u2019s a noticeable upgrade from Ingas is acoustics (that\u2019s mostly due to the tin ceilings in Ingas). The playlist includes Bill Callahan (no relation) and the National \u2014\u00a0a natural thematic match with Nan Goldin\u2019s stark, unflinching photograph on the wall, and a mix that should make the neighborhood dads feel right at home.<\/p>\n EAT LIKE THE EXPERTS.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Grub Street newsletter.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n
\n Photo: Courtesy of Lonnies\n <\/p>\n