Just in time for summer crowds along the Williamsburg waterfront, Bar Susanne has opened on the East River with oysters on ice, cold martinis, and a seafood-heavy menu from executive chef Jackie Carnesi. Her previous work at Williamsburg’s Roberta’s, Nura, and Kellogg’s Diner helped establish her as one of Brooklyn’s most recognizable culinary talents.
The sprawling new restaurant and raw bar comes from a team of New York hospitality veterans, including James Beard Award-nominated designer Matthew Maddy; fashion creative Marisa Maddy Ripo; cocktail veteran Milos Zica; and longtime Brooklyn operator James Freeman. Together, they’ve established a warm coastal bistro overlooking the scenic Williamsburg Bridge.
Bar Susanne—along with its neighboring all-day counterpart Cafe Susanne, which opened last November and boasts a caviar menu—is named after the late New York artist and ceramicist Susanne Greene, a mentor and close family friend of co-owner Matthew Maddy. Her influence is embedded throughout the restaurant, where warm lighting, textured plaster walls, and original artwork by Greene and Maddy’s mother, Barbara Chapman, contribute to the space’s distinctly artistic, lived-in feel.
At the center of it all is Carnesi, whose last major project saw her overhaul the menu at Kellogg’s Diner with Tex-Mex-inspired dishes like migas, chilaquiles, and loaded flat nachos —a reflection of the South Texas roots that have shaped much of her culinary career. But Bar Susanne marks another sharp left turn for the chef, whose restaurants rarely resemble one another.
“Every time I do a new restaurant, it couldn’t be more different from the one before it,” says Carnesi. “I like challenging myself.” This time, that meant pivoting away from the Tex-Mex flavors and toward a menu centered on seafood sourced almost entirely from New York and the surrounding region. “It’s a nice French-y, Italian-y, coastal bistro menu, with a little bit of me sprinkled in,” Carnesi says.
Carnesi’s flair comes through in the seafood dishes. This is no standard raw bar. At Bar Susanne, scallops are dressed with turmeric and tangerine, razor clam ceviche arrives with passionfruit aguachile, and pickled mussels are layered with coconut and herbs. And, of course, a shrimp cocktail, because as Carnesi puts it, “Everyone wants a shrimp cocktail.”
Even some of the more familiar bistro staples get a less traditional treatment. One of Carnesi’s favorite dishes on the menu is the Caesar salad, which swaps romaine for celery and hearts of palm. “I was gonna scream if I had to make a romaine Caesar salad,” she says.
Elsewhere, the menu moves beyond the raw bar into larger seafood dishes like grilled squid with butter beans and chimichurri and the fluke Milanese with sauce gribiche and radicchio. An eight-ounce dry-aged burger is served with smoked cheddar and fries and a roasted half chicken from La Pera Farms round out the more meat-heavy side of the menu.
The restaurant’s seafood theme flows into the dessert menu with a sense of humor. The strawberry tart is shaped like a fish, while “oyster shooters” are actually shell-shaped bites of mango sorbet with coconut creme anglaise and cilantro. “Every restaurant opening is terrifying,” Carnesi admits. But so far, the opening weekend went smoothly. For now, Carnesi is focused on settling into service and taking her time evolving the menu. “I’d rather build the menu up than do too much and have to scale back,” she says, noting that future additions could include more crudo dishes, which have already proven popular with diners.
The Bar Susanne space itself reflects the backgrounds of its owners, with Ripo’s fashion background helping shape the restaurant’s visual identity and Maddy bringing the same minimalist and sunny sensibility found in Brooklyn spaces like Lilia and Public Records. Hardwood oak floors and warm amber lighting soften the sleek waterfront building, while red Spanish marble and teakwood bar tops give the restaurant a slightly retro feel. Large windows open toward the river and let in the natural light that New Yorkers, accustomed to dark brick walls and fluorescent office spaces, so crave.
Behind the bar, Zica, an alumnus of West Village darling Employees Only, oversees a beverage program centered around martinis, agave spirits, and select wines. Cocktails hover around $22 and lean into the restaurant’s waterfront identity with names like the Domino Effect, inspired by the adjacent park; alongside martinis like the olive oil fat-washed Talented Miss Ripley and the spiced-brine Cured & Crafted.
“We’re hoping to cater a little bit to everybody, whether it’s a celebration, date night, or just your local spot to get a few oysters and snacks after work,” says Carnesi. As Carnesi notes, Williamsburg has changed significantly since her early days working at Roberta’s. Though, she still feels Brooklyn restaurants retain a sense of informality that can be harder to find across the river.
“Things feel just a little bit more neighborhoody here,” she says. “The bar is a lot higher, but we can still execute that with this sense of casualness.” In a way, Bar Susanne reflects where Carnesi finds herself now, too—both seem to have arrived at a sense of community in Brooklyn dining.
“I’ve settled into New York, and it feels really gratifying,” Carnesi says. “There is nothing better than this.”
Bar Susanne
8 River Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249
