A new spot, Badaboom, brings ritzy rotisserie to Bed-Stuy
By Cole Sinanian
Take an evening stroll through eastern Bed-Stuy and you may happen upon an aggressively blue facade on the corner of Howard Ave and Bainbridge Street, lined with equally blue sidewalk seating and likely bursting with youngsters vying for a table.
This is Badaboom, a new chicken-forward bistro opened by Charles Gerbier of the nearby Frog Wine Bar and Henry Glucroft of the popular Henry’s wine shop in Bushwick. Despite just a few months on the block, the restaurant — open for dinner only — is generating some buzz. Its $38 steak frites, in particular, have cultivated quite the reputation— Brooklyn Magazine and The Infatuation both gushed about the seven ounces of marbled red flap steak and thick-cut fries.
But ordering steak at a place with doodles of chickens all over its walls seems like the wrong thing to do, particularly when, upon entry, one is confronted with a spectacular rotisserie oven stacked with roasting birds leaking savory juices everywhere. The open kitchen— placed where one might expect a bar to be — is an effective theatrical touch. Diners can marvel at the skeleton crew of just two cooks and a dishwasher holding it all down. They work in silence, slicing up birds with scissors or pouring butter emulsions from steel pots over haricot vert.
Badaboom’s signature offering is its rotisserie chicken, but it also grabs diners with the spectacle of its open-kitchen plan.
The spectacle is entertainment for the wayward lone diner, who may be feeling out-of-place in a room filled with what look like some of Bed-Stuy’s hottest second dates. They skew young, dressed in leather and salvaged denim, well-fitted pants and designer tees. Do they live around here? Or was it an Instagram reel that brought them? In the room’s center is a shared table, where two separate parties of four sit comfortably on either side, brushing shoulders with strangers. High bar chairs line a large window, from which pedestrians can be seen on the sidewalk, pausing to wonder the same thing that I did when I first walked by: why so blue?
Most of the wines, of which there are dozens, are French and available only by the bottle, which range in price from $68 to $120. As for the chicken, the waiter tells me it’s brined and marinated for two days in citrus juices, toasted peppercorns, rosemary and thyme before hitting the rotisserie. The citrus certainly comes through, but for the most part the meat is tender and savory atop its throne of roasted potatoes. The skin is crisp and umami-rich and comes sprinkled with fresh chives. The half-chicken is more than enough food for one. You can also get a full chicken, better for two people. But to get the best parts you may have to use your hands. So maybe not the choice for a second date. Although there’s something romantic about sharing a whole chicken, even if it is $58.
