Chef Ryan Angulo and owner Doug Crowell are veterans of a food industry they love and know well. Having started out as dishwasher and prep-cook respectively, they both attended culinary school, ran respected Manhattan kitchens and dining rooms alike, until deciding they were ready to open a place of their own. They met when Angulo answered an ad on Craig’s List: Crowell wanted to open an American bistro, and chef Angulo was looking to do American food. The timing was perfect as is evidenced by the success of their Cobble Hill eatery. The restaurant gets its name from the nearby strait between Brooklyn and Governors Island, which, “when the area was farmland, dairy farmers would cross by boat to sell their milk in Manhattan markets. Tidal currents in the channel were notoriously strong – strong enough, some said, to churn milk into butter.” While the chicken and waffles is the restaurant’s signature dish, Chef Angulo’s favorite is the current Wednesday dinner special: Fisherman’s Stew with slow-roasted Berkshire pork, mussels, clams, ancho chili and codfish croquettes. 524 Court Street www.buttermilkchannelnyc.com
