Superfine Blends Art, Food, And Music For 25 Years.
by Heather Cassell, originally published by Gay City News
A quarter century ago, the perfect ingredients came together to create Superfine, the queer- and woman-owned restaurant and live music venue located in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood under the Manhattan Bridge.
This week music lovers can get down at the ninth annual Brooklyn Americana Music Festival at Superfine in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood September 28 – October 1.
Nine years ago, Superfine’s owners and friends Tanya Rynd, Cara Lee Sparry, and Laura Taylor teamed up with their friend and musician, Jan Bell, to produce, curate, and direct the popular music festival showcasing emerging artists at Superfine and under the archway of the Manhattan Bridge outside the restaurant.
This week, the festival is featuring an exciting lineup of emerging women, nonbinary, and other artists. Some of the performers taking the stage are Jan Bell, Joy Clark, Queen Esther, Neha Jiwrajka, Ever More Nest, Brittany Ann Tranbaugh, Samoa Wilson, Rams Montero, AC Sapphire, and Saudia Young.
The annual festival is so popular it expanded to a second event hosted in June for Pride Month.
A “Superfine” Plan
A mainstay in the neighborhood since 1998, Cara Lee, Tanya, and Laura are proud of what they’ve created and maintained for 25 years. Since the restaurant and bar opened in 1998, Superfine has made many “things to do” lists and received many accolades.
The pioneering restaurant, Superfine, was the first of its kind in Dumbo back in 1998, when Cara Lee, Laura, and Tanya made it official.
“We’ve been active in this neighborhood first as artists, always as residents, and then as a very impactful business,” Tanya told Girls That Roam over lunch cooked up by Laura.
Cara Lee, who is originally from Texas, moved into a warehouse as an industrial design student at the Pratt Institute in Dumbo in 1989. Laura and Tanya moved from Santa Fe into the same warehouse in 1995, where they met Cara Lee. Tanya, an oil painter, is originally from California. Laura, a chef, is originally from Ohio.
All three women were attracted to Dumbo because of the space the buildings offered that enabled them to create their artwork. The flat Laura and Tanya moved into had a full kitchen setup and a garland stove, perfect for Laura. They loved the neighborhood, but in the 1990s there was a lack of nightlife in Dumbo. The friends had to walk a long distance to go out for a drink. That’s when they got the idea to launch Superfine.
Superfine started first as the original pop-up dinner party, “Superfine Supper Clubs,” in Laura and Tanya’s loft in the mid-90s. The dinner parties were so popular they spread like wildfire through word of mouth about a decade before the rise of social media and smartphones. Superfine quickly outgrew the team’s home before it moved into its current home in a former vacuum-cleaner-and-car-parts warehouse completely redesigned by Cara Lee and Tanya. Laura’s domain, naturally, was the kitchen.
The mission from the beginning was to create a place that met the definition of superfine, meaning “refined taste or texture,” to give a “versatile experience,” Tanya said.
The Menu
Sipping Dyke Beer’s Tall Girl I watched as Cara Lee and Tanya bounced off of each other telling Superfine’s story and snacking on the plate of addictive string fries prepared by Laura. Tanya ordered a buffet of heirloom tomato and goat’s milk robiola caprese, grilled calamari, and pan-seared local Bluefin tuna. She topped off our meal with key lime pie.
Each bite was refreshing and full of flavor. The juicy heirloom tomatoes were perfectly ripe. The juices ran into the earthy creaminess of the sour goat’s milk robiola sweetening the biting flavor. The calamari was perfectly cooked and tender, dripping with olive oil and lemon juice. I could taste the freshness of the Bluefin tuna flawlessly seared. After a trip to Florida, and having my fill of key lime pie, I have to say the best pie I ate was at Superfine.
Laura changes Superfine’s Mediterranean-inspired menu daily depending on the New England season’s offerings from the land and the sea and the core dishes. The only time she flies something in from somewhere else is the weekly shipment of green chilies from Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Bluegrass Green Chili Brunch. Superfine is one of the only places in New York that has an authentic Southwestern brunch. Every Sunday, Laura uses the chilies to make the sauce she puts on the burritos, quesadillas, and tacos that fill the menu.
The Experience
“We never want it to just be a restaurant,” she continued. “We also wanted to have a very strong emphasis on visual arts and live art…”
Tanya played up Superfine’s versatility, noting that patrons can have an “amazing visual art experience” on the restaurant’s 30-foot-long wall or listen to a live band playing. The space has a sunken bar, wrap-around dining area, and game space.
For 18 years, the venue has hosted live music weekly. Tanya spoke excitedly about Superfine’s rotating art shows and music roster. Last year, she added Jazz every second and the fourth Wednesday of the month and then, of course, the annual Brooklyn Americana Music Festival.
The women’s second goal was to create an inviting space for all types of people to enjoy.
“You can be as fabulous as you are whatever your background,” and “feel comfortable going up and meeting another person,” Tanya said.
Lastly, the team wanted to bring the farm-to-table concept to Dumbo. The slow food movement started in the San Francisco Bay Area hadn’t hit New York City yet at that time. Laura brought her version of affordable, good, and fresh food to Dumbo and maintained that despite being in “now one of the fanciest neighborhoods in New York City.”
The plan worked. Each owner has a role: Tanya produces the art and bands, Cara Lee reigns over the bar and DJs, and Laura cooks. The friends have remained clear on their mission to create a creative community space filled with good food for everyone. Reassessing Superfine’s purpose during the pandemic, Tanya said, “It became more and more clear to me that we were more valuable right now in this city than we’ve ever been.”
