How About Some Biscuits With That Beer?

In the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, you will find DaleView Biscuits & Beer. Bridging two food items, and very well I must add, that takes practice and years to perfect is no easy feat. Read on below on how the combo came to be, meet DaleView’s owner, Chef Christopher Gandsy, and try not to salivate over what we ate, and drank during our visit!

PIN FOR LATER!

As you approach DaleView’s facade you might pick up on its ‘Juke Joint’ aesthetic. For those who don’t know, at the time myself included, a juke joint is an establishment that features music, dancing, and gambling, in addition to food and drink. Primarily operated by African Americans, juke joints popped up in the south after the Emancipation Proclamation, primarily for hardworking rural workers to kick-back and relax. Their numbers have decreased throughout time, but their history is anything but mundane!

Now that we’ve all received our history lesson for the day, back to DaleView, which you might’ve remembered we featured in our Black-Owned Businesses in Hospitality piece this past June. Owner and Chef Christopher Gandsy is originally from the neighborhood of Daleview, hence the name, which is located in Columbia, South Carolina. A Brooklynite for the last 15 years, he opened the doors of DaleView 2 years ago, on September 17th to be exact; who knows, they might just throw an anniversary celebration next month. I love celebrating accomplishments, and in the coming months, an anniversary for those in the hospitality industry will mean much more than it did in the past. It will mean you got through (in whatever capacity that entails) the beast that is COVID-19. At the start of the pandemic, DaleView was closed for about 2 and a half months. Like many New Yorkers, Chris made his way down south to Greenville, SC to spend time with family and clear his mind. The calculations for his next move and reopening were more paramount than ever. Once the time was right, Chris reopened DaleView’s doors during the last week of May.

So how did DaleView get its start? It comes down to memory and taste, something we all connect parts of our childhood or even last week to, and it can sometimes have a lasting positive effect. In Chef Chris’s case, when he was younger he would help his grandmother make the kind biscuits that would fill the whole house with that feel-good feeling, first through your nose, then your taste buds later. In 2017 Chris started a popup in his home making biscuits sandwiches of all varieties, more on that later. A little after this, he began brewing beer at home with the assistance of an at-home brewing kit and the encouragement of his wife. With a little more research, he began his beer brewing journey, starting with grain beers.

The Beer

It should be noted that DaleView is a licensed New York State Farm Brewery. Those who hold this title must use ingredients that are New York State grown. In order to obtain a license, this means no less than 60% of the hops and 60% of all other ingredients until the end of 2023. Those percentages go up to 90% in the following year. That is a big YES for locally grown flowers (hops), grains, and produce! What’s even neater, is that these breweries don’t need a liquor license to serve beer by the glass. Beer, wine, and spirits can be sold and distributed by the bottle. Lastly, they can have tasting rooms, and serve samples and sell at farmers’ markets! I don’t know about you, but all of this sounds pretty awesome. Their cocktails are also concocted from NYS spirits & house-crafted mixers, and they sell NYS wine. A majority of DaleView’s hops are also derived from the woman-owned Cobblestone Hops.

When you visit DaleView, there are usually 6 craft beers on tap, which are brewed onsite, unless they are sold out, which happens once a beer becomes the talk of the…neighborhood. They are sold as a pint for $8, half-pint for $6, and 32oz for $15. You can bring your own growlers (hey now) as well, up to 64oz which runs for $28. If you want to sip on their brews before it sells out, it’s key to know that they brew (some old & new beers) every Tuesday, which will be shifting to twice a week pretty soon.

Those available or not so available during my visit included ‘Coming Back Soon’, ‘Palm of My Hand’, a Pale Ale, both of which were sold out at the time, ‘Trappist House’, a Dark Ale, a Nitro Stout ‘Black Shamrock’, and a Wheat Beer, ‘Viola’s Angels’, named after his grandmother Viola and the angels being all the women who help with the brewing process and running of Daleview. We tried a flight of Trappist House, which my favorite of the bunch, Black Shamrock and Viola’s Angels. Even though I didn’t taste any, their cocktail menu looked pretty promising as well. All cocktails are $12 and created with house-made whiskey and gin, with components ranging from sweet (strawberry syrup) to bitter (sweet vermouth). Their happy hour goes down Monday-Friday, 4-7 pm.

This summer DaleView also launched its first bottle, the limited edition dark ale ‘My Skin is Black’. The name comes from the first line of the song ‘Four Women‘ by the extraordinary Nina Simone. A percentage of each bottle purchased will help fund an eight-week-long paid internship Chef Chris, along with Brewmaster Chris Innis are developing for POC in the craft brew industry. Partnering with the NYC Brewers Guild, the funds will raise money to help get the internship off the ground. The idea for the internship came about when Chris attended an NYC Brewers Guild meeting and saw the lack of representation. Chris mentioned that exposure is key, similar to how he got started with an introduction to beer through his wife and a home brewing kit. Not much of a beer lover, in the beginning, the rest is now history. At $30 a bottle, My Skin is Black will be available throughout the end of the summer. Shortly after our visit, DaleView sold through their 1st round of My Skin is Black, but the 2nd round will be available in September, you can pre-order by sending them an email. If you would like to donate directly to the initiative you can contact the NYC Brewers Guild stating you would like to so for the LoviBond Internship.

The Biscuits

All biscuits are housemade and gluten-free! Something you wouldn’t be able to tell just by tasting them. They also try to source as much of the produce included in each biscuit from local farms as well! We got the chance to indulge in yet another flight of some of their best sellers. Note these sandwiches are smaller than what you would get when you order from their menu. First up was the Hot Chicken, a boneless fried chicken thigh, topped with lime-pickled onions, and sriracha, then came The Mama Gandsy, filled with Carolina pulled pork and a purple cabbage & carrot slaw. The Skinny Biscuit is made with avocado, lime-pickled onions, peppers, and purple cabbage & carrot slaw. For dessert, we had The Sweet Tooth, a chocolate chip & caramel biscuit with a butter & sugar crust. The latter is a breakfast favorite alongside a cup of their hand-selected and 100% certified organic coffee. All were favorites here, no biscuit was left behind.

Other calls to greatness include the breakfast sandwiches, Goat-To (house jam with goat cheese), and the Freaky Frittata (cheesy egg frittata and smashed avocado). For lunch and dinner, it’s the Shelton (fried hot chicken, dripped in hot sauce, bacon, and kid-made blue cheese). Their breakfast biscuits are available all day, and for lunch and dinner, it’s 11 am – close.

Chris’ ultimate goal for DaleView is to grow the business into a traditional fast-casual dining experience, with a full-sized kitchen. Meal kits will also be offered, so you can create your feasts at home as well!

With the last full month of summer amongst us, you won’t want to miss out on all the great experiences DaleView has planned. Looking for an amazing meal out with friends? You can take part in one of their secret dinners, which includes a 4-5 plate tasting menu, 2 bottles of wine for the table, a beer of choice, and 2 biscuits to go! This sounds pretty spectacular, AND I get to take some of the goods home? I’m sold! These dinners are available for booking Monday-Friday, with a start time of 7:33 pm! There is also an opportunity to do underground brewery tours to check out what’s behind each biscuit, pour of beer, and cocktail build, led by Chef Chris. Shoot them an email, if either piques your interest.

Another experience to look forward to are their First Fridays. Soon to come, this nighttime rendezvous will feature live music on the sidewalk to pair with your biscuit and beer. Once your senses of taste and sound are satisfied, you can do the same for your sight, with staff curated and local artwork towards the front of the restaurant, which rotates every month. Currently featured for the month of August is multidisciplinary artist Jasmine Anokye. Once you get a taste of DaleView and are ready for the whole shebang, take a peek at their yearly membership, which includes:
1. One free monthly 20oz pour
2. A personalized mug on the top shelf
3. One free bottle of any limited release craft beer
4. FREE daily 4 ounce pours
5. One free biscuit and coffee each month
6. One 1/2 price growler each month
7. VIP-only invites to top-secret beer dinners

We’re excited to see what else DaleView has up their sleeves! Also, you should know, in the times of COVID, all employees wore masks during the meal, in addition to tables and benches being wiped down before we sat.

DaleView is located at 1170 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225, and their hours are Wednesday-Saturday, 12-7 pm and Sunday 12-5 pm. They are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Their Instagram page can be found here.  Give them a call if you have any questions.