The Sunburnt Calf BK Introduces "Austral-Asian" Cuisine

When Americans think of Australia, they think of kangaroos, accents, and Nicole Kidman. Food? Not so much. Restauranteur Heathe St. Clair is out to change that with his newest restaurant, The Sunburnt Calf BK.

Opening soon on Vanderbilt between St. Marks and Bergen, The Sunburnt Calf BK (or The Calf BK, as the staff calls it) will feature Austral-asian food: Australian cuisine with Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese influences.

“We’re still a young country,” St. Clair said of his native Australia. “We haven’t had a chance to really grow into our own cuisine. We borrow from everybody else’s cuisines."

Prospect Heights is home to two other Australian-owned food and drink establishments: on Classon Ave. and just down the street from The Calf BK on Vanderbilt. Both have become much-loved additions to the neighborhood.

St. Clair came to the U.S. as a drama student and spent four years helping to run an Australian arts organization. When funding from the Australian government never materialized to take the project further, he started to think about his options.

“I realized that I was going to be broke for the rest of my life,” St. Clair said of a life in the theater. “I grew up in the restaurant business, so that was the next progression.”

Within a couple years he had opened his first restaurant, The Sunburnt Cow, in the East Village. He’s gradually opened more restaurants around the city: the Sunburnt Calf on the Upper West Side, Bondi Road on the Lower East Side, and now The Calf BK in Prospect Heights.

“The food at each place represents a slice of Australian food from my experience growing up,” St. Clair explained.

The Sunburnt Cow offers traditional pub fare, while The Sunburnt Calf (UWS) is more upscale (one might say “gastropub,” although St. Clair doesn’t like that term much.) Bondi Road serves fish and chips, and The Calf BK will be something new and different, focusing on Asian-influenced Australian food.

St. Clair likes to move to the neighborhood where he’s opening a new restaurant, and he’s lived across the street from The Calf BK since April. His impression of Prospect Heights?

“People have been so welcoming. It’s blown me away,” St. Clair said. “This neighborhood has been, without a doubt, the most welcoming and pleasant experience I’ve had opening a restaurant.”

Getting to know the neighborhood is important to St. Clair as a restaurant owner, and don’t worry, neighbors: he’s paying attention to volume.

“Bars and restaurants can become noisy, and you don’t want to disturb anybody," he said.

In opening his newest restaurant, St. Clair wants to create an environment where neighbors can sit down together and share a meal.

“We’re really going to push the idea of sharing.” St. Clair said. He pointed at the small tables. “They can’t have everything on the table! So it should be about sharing. I think eating is a great time of communion and friendship and coming together, so we really want to promote that here.”

The restaurant is set up to be a gathering place. The front room is full of small tables, in addition to a long bar with stool seating. The back garden has room for at least eight at communal tables, in addition to seating for more than 20 at small tables and benches around the edges.

The food is being overseen by chefs Christopher Faulkner and Jimmy Tu, and menu items include Vegetable Tempura Massaman Curry, Shaking Beef Bahn Mi, Tumeric Beer Battered Barramundi with Dill over Vermicelli Noodles, and Roti with Crispy Thai Chicken.

The full bar will feature Australian beer and wine, premium sake, a selection of Asian beer, and cocktails created by beverage director Greg Seider, including a Thai Chili Cucumber Margarita.

How late the kitchen stays open will depend on “what the neighborhood demands,” in St. Clair’s words, although he says that from what he’s noticed from living on Vanderbilt, the bulk of traffic tends to be gone by 10:30 or 11:00pm. Drinks, however, will be served until 2:00am.

Most importantly, The Calf BK will be a place to take a break from the daily New York grind an relax Australian-style. The Aussie staff will be there with smiles on their faces.

“We only have Australians working for us--we’re very friendly people,” said St. Clair. “I don’t allow attitude. We have the motto that we’re in the business of service, so we bow our heads, we’re here to serve."

"Doesn’t mean if you’re a wanker we won’t throw you out,” he said with a grin. “But we’re definitely here to serve.”

The Sunburnt Calf BK, 611 Vanderbilt Ave. between St. Marks Ave. and Bergen St.
(347) 915-1000
Bar open nightly, kitchen opening the weekend of Oct. 1