for breaking news visit www.timesnewsweekly.com APRIL 9, 2015 • times 25 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com It’s Tartan time at The Rookery BY KELLY MARIE MANCUSO [email protected] @timesnewsweekly New York City’s annual Tartan Week, a celebration of Scottish culture and heritage, is in full swing, and authentic dining out British food with a twist can be found close to Queens at Bushwick’s The Rookery. Located at 425 Troutman St. off the Jefferson Street L train station, The Rookery was founded in 2013 by Jamie Schmitz and his wife, Shana Bellot. Schmitz had worked as a bartender in Bushwick and got to know the neighborhood very well. After years of bartending, Schmitz was inspired to open a place of his own. He relocated to Bushwick with Bellot eight years ago and the couple began their search for the perfect location. Housed in a former warehouse, the bar itself combines modern, urban elements with a cozy, rustic aesthetic. The industrial loading bay doors flood the bar with light. Soaring ceilings are accented with skylights, vintage pendant lamps and exposed bronzed metal beams. An impressive traditional high-backed oval mahogany bar is the pub’s centerpiece. The bar, created by a local Bushwickbased carpenter, features a bronzed accent wall and shelves filled with heirlooms, portraits, a taxidermy peacock and an extensive Scotch selection. The rustic booths are complimented by vintage floral block print wallpaper that was transported from the UK and carefully installed by Schmitz’s mother as a labor of love. The menu itself is a unique mix of Schmitz’s British roots with Bellot’s West Indian heritage. “What we did here came very easily. They work together very well,” Schmitz explained. The British-West Indian fusion comes through in dishes like the Oxtail Sloppy Joe ($8), Curried Goat Shepherd’s Pie ($13), Oxtail Pho ($12), Sweet and Sour Brussels Sprouts ($8) and Mum’s Chips, a plate of slow roasted potato wedges served with Jamaican dipping sauce and scotch bonnet mayonnaise ($5). The Rookery is also known for its traditional Scotch egg ($8) which features a soft-boiled egg wrapped in sausage and panko served on a bed of watercress and THE ROOKERY 425 Troutman St. Brooklyn, NY 11237 718-483-8048 arugula. The Scotch egg is fried until it is crispy on the outside with a runny yolk at its center. In addition to pub fare, The Rookery also boasts an impressive collection of British cocktails and beer, including Bellhaven Scottish Ale. The cocktail menu features British classics such as the Pimm’s Cup, as well as more adventurous offerings like The Blackwatch ($12), a mix of Jonnie Walker Black, Becherovka, Sweet Vermouth and Creme de Casis. The Alexander Fleming ($14), named for the Scottish biologist and inventor of penicillin, combines Johnnie Walker Red with triple Laphroaig, Drambuie, honey, ginger and lemon. The popular Highland Boy ($12) blends Cragganmore 12, Heering, Stones Ginger Wine with Ramazzotti and orange. The cocktail was named after the large painting of Schmitz’s great uncle Thomas Macrae that overlooks the bar. The portrait, painted by well-known Scottish artist and relative Thomas Austen Brown, is a family heirloom that once graced the dining room wall at Schmitz’s grandfather’s house in Durington, UK. “That ended up being what we built the bar around,” Schmitz said, “It kind of helped set the bar’s identity as well.” In honor of Tartan Week, The Rookery will feature specials on their Scotch egg, Bellhaven Scottish Ale and Scotch cocktails. “We hope to get a lot of kilted folk through here,” Schmitz said. “I’ll be going to the Tartan Parade on Saturday in my kilt for sure.” The Rookery, 425 Troutman St., between Wyckoff and St. Nicholas avenues. For more information, visit therookerybar.com or @therookerybar on Instagram. View Over 200 Reviews at queenscourier.com Scotch eggs served at Bushwick’s The Rookery buzz Glendale teens share arranged marriage on TV BY KATRINA MEDOFF [email protected] @KatrinaMedoff Many kids are told that their parents know best, but two Glendale teens really had to trust that was true as they prepared for their arranged marriage in September. What was it like to marry a stranger at such a young age? Viewers can find out by watching their journey on FYI’s new docuseries, “Arranged,” which follows this Romani gypsy couple from Queens, as well as a southern couple in their 20s from the “Bible belt” and an Indian couple in their 30s in Beverly Hills, California. Maria and Christian Miller of Queens, both 18, barely knew each other when their parents arranged their marriage. When Christian found out who he was going to marry, he “made an effort” to get to know Maria by secretly contacting her online, because he “didn’t want to go in totally blind,” he said. But he didn’t learn much. “Her mother and father would constantly be watching her, so she couldn’t really get to the computer all the time; she couldn’t get to the phone all the time,” Christian said. “So how much can you really learn about a person on the computer and talking for only a few minutes?” Before the wedding, Christian was hoping “that a lot of people would come and that everything would go smoothly,” he said. Even though there were no formal invitations and family and friends learned about the wedding through phone calls and word of mouth, if there aren’t a couple hundred people in attendance, “that’s a big embarrassment at a gypsy wedding.” Maria arrived at the party — which took place before the actual wedding ceremony — wearing an orange dress that her parents bought for her. Then, she changed into a blue dress from her mother-in-law and father-in-law to symbolize that “I’m no longer my family’s; I’m their daughter now and part of their family,” she said. Finally, she changed into her white wedding dress, also bought by the parents of the groom. After the wedding, Maria would be moving in with Christian, his parents, Michael and Nina, and his younger brothers. “My whole life is about to change in the blink of an eye and I can’t even believe it,” Maria said on the docuseries before her wedding. “I’m leaving my family to live with a total new family that I just don’t know and I’m really, really scared.” Yet this experience is “normal” for Romani gypsies, Michael said, noting that his ancestors’ marriages have been arranged for generations. “And they’re all to death do they part,” Nina said on the first episode. “It’s normal for us,” Michael said. “At 17, 18, 19, your mind is set for marriage, and so it’s not anything new … you’re expecting it.” There are “maybe a couple thousand” people in the Romani gypsy community in New York City, Michael said, about 500 of whom live in Queens. “We’re a small community and we all know each other,” said Michael, who grew up in Richmond Hill and used to live in Middle Village. His family and others in the community are spread out around those areas, as well as Rego Park, Forest Hills, Howard Beach and Ozone Park. The couple hopes that their inclusion on the show will help bust stereotypes about their culture. “I just want everyone to know that gypsy people are normal people,” Maria said. “We’re all about tradition. We’re all about family. We all love each other. We’re all a happy family.” “The stereotypes are pretty bad,” Christian added. “We’re not cons; we’re not thieves. We’re nothing like that. We’re normal people. We want to show them we’re a good, cleancut family and there’s no reason for anyone to be afraid of us. We want to show that we’re not the way people think of us, the way they portray us on other TV shows.” And his father, who has seen generations of long, happy marriages, wants “to show our traditions. We do arranged marriages that work. If you listen to your father and mother it works out,” he said. “Maria and Christian have been married for six months and they’re doing good.” “Arranged” premieres on Tuesday, April 14, at 10:15 p.m. on FYI. Photos courtesy of FYI/”Arranged” Maria and Christian
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