Kristen V. Brown

Heath Ledger’s Greenpoint Legacy

While rumors circulating earlier this summer buzzed about Heath Ledger’s hot new bar opening in Greenpoint, the actual establishment channels cozy neighborhood hangout long before A-list celebrity hot spot.

Five Leaves, Greenpoint’s newest eatery backed by Ledger as well as Greenpointers Jud Mongell and Kathy Mecham, opened to the public last Wednesday.

“Heath wanted it to be a low-key, neighborhood place,” said Chef Cat von Klitzing, who explained the Ledger found the spot while skateboarding around Brooklyn — something he was locally famous for. “He lived in Brooklyn for a long time and Jed lives maybe three buildings down — this is a Greenpoint place.”

The nautical themed restaurant and oyster bar serves up delectable dishes that hail from Down Under (the motherland to Ledger, Mongell and Mecham) in addition to menu items inspired by von Klitzing’s time in Europe and her favorite dishes to whip up at home.

“A lot of it is food I like to eat,” said von Klitzing. “It’s stuff that I would be cooking at home for my family and friends.”

Prices for lunch range from $7 to $15 and dinner prices range from about $10 to $21, with starters averaging around $10. The kitchen opens everyday at 9 a.m., serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in addition to draft beer and a small liquor selection until 1 a.m.

Eventually the restaurant has hopes of adding a wine bar, and converting the building into an inn, which was part of Ledger’s original plan, but the additions will come much later.

So far von Klitzing says the restaurant has been a smashing success, despite losing Co-chef Mario Ishii Hernandez before the end of the first week. Visitors from as far away as North Carolina and North Dakota have kept the restaurant buzzing, but von Klitzing says the key to the restaurant’s success will be local support. That, and “having a good time and putting out good food that people are too lazy to cook for themselves,” von Klitzing added.

Local blogger and next-door neighbor to the restaurant Kea Krause, 25, is already considering herself a regular. “One of the things that I always take away from being in there is how contagious the enthusiasm for the restaurant is,” said Krause. “People can pick up some really good food and just pop their heads in — it’s a place where people can really be regulars.”
“I was a little shocked at first — it’s hard to picture any sort of celebrity around Greenpoint,” added Krause. “But a restaurant geared towards a neighborhood vibe is always good for the neighborhood — and that’s what they set out to do.”