Brooklyn Dining Club at Sociale: Designing Brooklyn Bridge Park, a conversation with Michael Van Valkenburgh

March 22, 2024 Andrew Cotto

Brooklyn Eagle’s food editor Andrew Cotto (right) interviews Francesco Nuccitelli, owner and chef of Sociale, at a Brooklyn Dining Club event.
Brooklyn Eagle photos by John McCarten

Full slideshow below

The Brooklyn Dining Club held a special event, “Designing Brooklyn Bridge Park: A Conversation with Michael Van Valkenburgh,” on Thursday at Sociale in Carroll Gardens. The evening, hosted by Brooklyn Eagle food columnist and Good Food newsletter co-author Andrew Cotto, featured a conversation between esteemed journalist and author Laura Trevelyan and Michael Van Valkenburgh, the designer and architect of Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Laura Trevelyan and Michael Van Valkenburgh react to questions from the crowd at BBP Event. — Laura Trevelyan and Michael Van Valkenburgh react to questions from the crowd.

The event happened at “Cin Cin” — the elegant private cellar of Sociale’s 320 Court Street location. The evening began with Cotto discussing the regional Italian-meets-Brooklyn approach to the cuisine of Sociale and the special four-course menu for the evening with Francesco Nucitelli, co-owner of Sociale, with his wife Meghan. The meal, paired with red and white Italian wines, featured a Fresca Salad, Spaghetti Sociale, a choice of meatballs, roasted chicken or branzino, followed by dessert and coffee.

The celebrated and famous Spaghetti Sociale at BBP Event. — The celebrated and famous Spaghetti Sociale.

After the main course, Trevelyan, a former BBC anchor and correspondent, spoke at length with Van Valkenburgh about the 23-year journey of transforming the once-industrial waterfront of Brooklyn into one of the most celebrated and visited public spaces in America — more than 5 million people visited BBP in 2023. The interview was followed by an enthusiastic Q&A with the attendees. All guests received a copy of “Brooklyn Bridge Park,” by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, a visual biography with authoritative text by the design team behind the colossal project. The tome was presented in a Brooklyn Eagle Good Food tote bag.

Michael Van Valkenburgh Associate's book "Brooklyn Bridge Park." — Michael Van Valkenburgh Associate’s book “Brooklyn Bridge Park.”

On March 27, the Brooklyn Dining Club will host another event at Sociale, where Cotto will explain how Italian food has inspired his accomplished career as a novelist and journalist. The same menu will be served. Tickets are available for “Italian Food As a Muse.”

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Andrew Cotto has been eating his way through Brooklyn for 25 years. As an author, the food of our borough has been featured extensively in his novels and journalism. In his column for the Daily Eagle, Andrew tells the tales of Brooklyn eateries, from the people behind the food to the communities they nourish.