What to eat at Barclays Center: Meet the new off-court all-stars

The lineup includes rookies Nene's tacos, Fedoroff's cheesesteaks and Destination Dumplings—plus the ultra-opulent Crown Club

By Scott Lynch

It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride so far this season for the Brooklyn Nets and its dreamteam trio of James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving, the latter of which seems prepared to sit out the whole year by refusing to get vaccinated. (“I’m doing what’s best for me,” he has said.) The former two leading the team to a humdrum 2-3 start after last night’s loss to the Miami Heat.

But this is not a sports story. This is about eating. And as Barclays welcomes in full-capacity, fully-vaccinated crowds for the season, they’ve added some first-rate, diverse Brooklyn-based small businesses to help feed everyone.

New this year at Barclays is the Brooklyn Market food court, located on the main concourse, where a deliberately-diverse roster of local eateries will rotate through every few games: The initial line-up is a reflection of the arena’s “Supplier Diversity Program,” launched in January, designed to provide minority- and woman-owned businesses the opportunity to become Barclays Center suppliers.

So, here we have Tristan Chin-Fatt and Deon Whiskey’s Smorgasburg favorite, Destination Dumplings. Everything these kids from Queens do is terrific (they met as kids at Brooklyn Technical High School, right down the street from Barclays Center) but the menu here stars their classic pork and chive, their Korean beef, and their vegan edamame dumplings, which should be eaten with as much chili oil as you can handle.

Pork and Chive Dumplings, from Destination Dumplings (Scott Lynch)

Also at the Brooklyn Market is Rachel Laryea’s all vegan, all plantain-based Kelewele, highlighted by the namesake Ghanaian street food, which is caramelized and sweet like maduros (plantains), but with cayenne pepper and ginger in the mix for a nice jolt of spiciness. Laryea’s Phishcakes and plantain brownies are very good as well.

The temporary Kelewele stand at Brooklyn Market (Scott Lynch)

The oddly-branded chain BK Lobster is here, too (Kings County is known for many things; an abundance of lobstah isn’t one of them), slinging lobster rolls in both “Classic” and “Bed-Stuy Biggie” styles. There’s also a booth from the student-run School Grounds Cafe, straight from the Food and Finance High School in Hell’s Kitchen.

Bed-Stuy Biggie Lobster Roll, from BK Lobster (Scott Lynch)

Other notable newcomers around the main concourse include the excellent Nene’s Taqueria from Bushwick’s own Andrés Tonatiuh Galindo Maria, starring the chef’s gooey, juicy birria beauties in both beef and chicken varieties.

Chicken birria tacos, from Nene’s Taqueria (Scott Lynch)

Philadelphia by way of Williamsburg is in the house with Fedoroff’s, Dave and Stella’s namesake spot selling wonderfully greasy cheesesteaks and roast pork monsters with sharp provolone and garlicky broccoli rabe.

Cheeseteak from Federoff’s (Scott Lynch)

Roast pork and broccoli rabe, from Federoff’s (Scott Lynch)

Crown Heights favorite Crabby Shack, Gowanus party spot Pig Beach, and the reliably satisfying Parm sandwiches and David Chang’s Fuku fried chicken are among Barclays’ many additional options. And all of the above are readily accessible to all ticket holders, not just the swells in the suites.

Oh wait, I’m sorry, you said you have court-side seats? Right this way then, please, to the ridiculously opulent Crown Club, a brand new, 7,700 square foot restaurant and cocktail lounge from Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and Jeff Zalaznick’s of Major Food Group.

Accessible only to court-side ticket holders on any given night, the velvet-walled VIP Crown Club offers a menu of MFG classics like the famous veal parmesan and spicy rigatoni vodka from Carbone.

The Crown Club (Scott Lynch)

There’s also an enormous chandeliered grab-and-go pantry stocked with snacks and candy. Help yourself to whatever you want! Everything is “free” with the price of your $2000-and-way-up ticket.