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Interview with Brooklyn Bowl's Peter Shapiro

July 10, 2009

Brooklyn Bowl, the much anticipated 16 lane bowling alley and 600 person music venue finally opened this past Tuesday. The massive space, serving Blue Ribbon fried chicken and 10 locally brewed beers from Brooklyn Brewery, is located in an old warehouse in Williamsburg. YAH had a little phone chat with Peter Shapiro, Brooklyn Bowl's co-owner, to discover the motivation behind pairing bowling with greasy fingers.

We loved the Daily Candy video advertising your opening, but we're wondering, how are you planning on weeding out "lame people?"

How do you weed out lame people? Well that's hard when you have a public space and you can just walk right into it if you want to. All you can really do is try to build something that cool people will want to come to. We're not going to be the kind of place with a velvet rope where there's a doorman outside and some people get to come in and others don't. I'm not that kind of person and didn't want to build that kind of place. We'll just have to hope that we get cool people to come.

What three adjectives would you use to describe Brooklyn Bowl?

Good question. I haven't been asked that yet. Give me a sec... Big.... Warm.... Different. 

That's three. You want to substitute one?

One more! Come on.

Ok fine.

Fun.

Drunk bowling is fun, but is almost always embarrassing. Then you throw fried chicken into the mix, and you've got drunk bowlers with greasy fingers.  Do you enjoy other people's failures?

Well, we're going to encourage people to eat with their non-bowling hand. Eat your greasy fried chicken with your left hand then hopefully bowl with your right. And I'm not that good of a bowler either. Brooklyn Bowl is not a place where you have to worry too much about your score but really just worry about having a good time. It's definitely a place for fun and not a place for serious scoring.

How did you decide on Blue Ribbon? Were there other contenders?

No. Blue Ribbon was on the top of the list. In New York City they're really as good as it gets. There was no other choice. They were the first choice. We're thrilled that they chose to build it with us, be a part of it. It wouldn't be the same without them. Brooklyn Bowl is what it is because of this combination of concert venue, bowling lanes that overlook the venue, and food by Blue Ribbon. And then this old warehouse from 1802 all combined together make it what it is.  Without any one part, particularly without the Blue Ribbon guys, it wouldn't be what it is.

How much input did you have in the Blue Ribbon menu, and are there any dishes created specifically for Brooklyn Bowl?

Yeah there's a bunch of dishes created for Brooklyn Bowl. One of the big ones is a french bread pizza. This is the first time, really, that they're doing it and they'll be doing a bunch of different kinds just for Brooklyn bowl. I was involved working with Bruce Bromberg and my partner at Brooklyn Bowl, Charley Ryan, in constructing the menu, but Bruce Bromberg really drove the process. I think he wanted to make it "Blue Ribbon meets bowling alley" and not your old bowling alley.

If you had to get rid of either the Blue Ribbon fried chicken or the BK Brewery beer which would you sacrifice?

You have good questions. I like your questions. Umm. I'd sacrifice my left pinky toe nail before those two. 

What if you had to get rid of one of them?

Not my toe, but my toe nail.

That's painful.

I know. That just shows I need my brooklyn beer and my fried chicken. 

Fair enough.

They're both important. We do have ten different beers, all from Brooklyn, and all drafts. We're not doing any bottles, it's part of our whole green [initiative].  

Who chose O'death as the first concert?

That's from our partners at Flavorpill. It's really a Flavorpill party.

Is anyone who played at the Wetlands going to make an appearance at Brooklyn Bowl?

Oh yeah, a lot of people.

Any names?

Just a lot of them. You'll see a lot of the old Wetlands people at Brooklyn Bowl, no question.

YAH plans on checking out Brooklyn Bowl this Saturday night. We each have our own incentives for going: Seth wants to check out the stage, Madeline is an avid bowler, and I just want some fried chicken. Unfortunately, Chef Frankie is on his yearly sabbatical in Italy and will miss the first Brooklyn Bowl experience..... Lame.

Posted in FOOD, MUSIC on July 10, 2009 8:15am by Jena Steinbach | 82 comments

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We are young (early 20's) and hungry (for knowledge! music! art! food!) friends living on (or in areas which border) Manhattan. We moved to the city seeking higher education, and an alternative to frat parties and gin buckets. We prefer a bottle of Chianti to a keg, lunches at City Bakery to a dining hall, Joe's to Starbucks, Frankie's Amatriciana to Batali's. Our uniting factor is our love for food. For detailed, personal information, keep reading.
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