Lonnies, From the Couple Behind Ingas Bar, Opens This Week

"Sean Rembold and Caron Callahan, the married couple who run Ingas Bar in Brooklyn Heights, are very deliberate when they name things. Perhaps overly so: A week after the birth of each of their children, the hospital called demanding they finally give their babies names. "We're perfectionists," Rembold explains. "We work together and want each other to be happy," Ingas, which they opened four years ago, is named for Rembold's great-aunt from Louisville; it was the only name they could come up with."

"This time, when faced with opening a new restaurant a couple of neighborhoods south, they faced the same challenge. "Needless to say, names don't come easy - and we didn't want a b.s. name," Rembold says. This Wednesday, May 20, they'll officially open Lonnies (which, like Ingas, is styled sans apostrophe). Lonnie Lanham was a significant, near-mystical figure during Rembold's early life in Kentucky. The real Lonnie was the dad of Rembold's friend, a Vietnam vet turned hairdresser, and, Rembold says, the most free-spirited and sophisticated person he'd ever met."

"The goal is to extend that same sense of freedom to the menu, to feature whatever's fresh and fun. Ingas opened in winter, so Lonnies already has the advantage of debuting in the spring, when actual produce is growing. "We have peas, vegetables - it's much easier," Callahan says. The menu is "lo-fi, easy, and approachable," Rembold says. The only restriction for him and his executive chef, Eddie Acosta: no gas, but luckily Rembold can reminisce and maybe even revisit some preparations from his induction-range-only days cooking at Marlow & Sons."

"Lonnies will celebrate local ingredients, but it will also serve a low-key prime rib, served every day with minimal garnish that will be, surprisingly, a value play when compared to the high-grade porterhouses around t"

Sean Rembold and Caron Callahan run Ingas Bar in Brooklyn Heights and choose names with careful deliberation. After each child’s birth, the hospital demanded names, reflecting their perfectionist approach. Ingas was named for Rembold’s great-aunt from Louisville, and the couple avoided a “b.s.” name when naming their new restaurant. Lonnies opens May 20 and takes its name from Lonnie Lanham, a near-mystical figure from Rembold’s Kentucky youth who represented freedom. The restaurant aims to extend that freedom to the menu by serving whatever is fresh and fun. With spring produce available, the menu includes peas and vegetables, and it stays lo-fi, easy, and approachable, with a restriction of no gas and a daily low-key prime rib.

Read at Grub Street