Community Corner

Local Legend: Chef Danny Brown Puts Forest Hills On The Menu

Chef Danny Brown brought Queens its first Michelin-starred eatery, and his menus are inspired by the people of Forest Hills.

Danny Brown works as executive chef at Estuary, a new restaurant in Brooklyn Heights.
Danny Brown works as executive chef at Estuary, a new restaurant in Brooklyn Heights. (Courtesy of Danny Brown)

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Chef Danny Brown gave Queens its first Michelin-starred eatery and Queens made sure he kept it fresh.

Brown, a celebrated chef whose career has led him to helm Upper East Side bistros and Brooklyn waterfront brasseries, says it was patrons of his first restaurant, Danny Brown Wine Bar & Kitchen in Forest Hills, that pushed him to push his menus further.

The executive chef at Estuary, which opened last summer at One Brooklyn Bridge Park, spoke to Patch as part of our Local Legends series, where people who make New York City great discuss the neighborhoods they call home.

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Here's what Brown had to say about his Queens neighborhood:

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Describe Forest Hills in three words.

"Old school" and "diverse."

What food does Forest Hills do best, and where do you find it?

New York-style pizza has always been a constant in my neighborhood since I was a kid, and I think it's probably some of the best in the city.

(Brown suggests Portofino at 109-32 Ascan Ave.)

Describe your perfect day in your neighborhood.

On a nice day, I like to walk down Greenway Terrace to Dirty Pierre for brunch, which is my favorite bar and restaurant in Station Square.

What’s your best quintessential Forest Hills story?

Geraldine Ferraro lived three blocks away from me growing up. I used to see her walking down the street when she was home from Congress shopping for vegetables at Gristedes. Then, all of a sudden, she became a vice presidential candidate and I had to walk home another way because there was so much security.

It was such a strange phenomenon because I knew she was famous as a kid — I even played with her kids — but she always seemed like a normal person.

How does Forest Hills influence your work?

At Danny Brown Wine Bar & Kitchen, we used to change up the menu every three months and had specials on the weekends. Because Forest Hills is such a small community, it was great to encourage the locals to be engaged in deciding what they wanted to see on the menu. It really pushed me to be creative and keep things fresh, literally and figuratively.

Living in Forest Hills has encouraged me to vary my menus more than I ever thought I’d do from a culinary standpoint.


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