It’s only the first week at Barker Cafeteria, a new daytime spot on 395 Nostrand Avenue, near Putnam Avenue, in Bed-Stuy, and people are grabbing focaccia sandwiches as soon as they’re on the shelves. New York has no shortage of focaccia spots; just look at the cult followings for Radio Bakery and Superiority Burger, but Barker’s versions are particularly ethereal. Slathered with roasted onion mayonnaise and zesty zhug, this crispy yet puffy bread is piled high with fresh chicories and tender, Moroccan-spiced sweet potatoes.
“It tastes quite random, not what you’d expect from a sweet potato sandwich,” says Gracie Gardner, who owns Barker Cafeteria with her husband, Henry Wright. “But flavors work so well together.”
These sandwiches are also improbably at the center of a love story. The couple first sold this flavor combination at a farmers market in Canada, where they gained a loyal following back in 2020. That very same enterprising energy weaves through Barker, which is named after Wright’s late mother and shaped by the couple’s love story and shared experiences in restaurant kitchens.
Dishes at Barker Cafeteria. Cynthia Liu
Prepping food at Barker Cafeteria. Cynthia Liu
Barker Cafeteria may be the couple’s first New York project, but it isn’t their first joint business. In 2019, Wright and Gardner met on the fish line at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Wright, originally from Vancouver, Canada, had cooked at Liverpool House (the sibling restaurant of Montreal’s Joe Beef) and Blue Hill, and had a brief stint at Superiority Burger. Gardner, a native New Yorker, started in food education work before shifting to restaurant kitchens and private cheffing. Early in the relationship, they began dreaming of opening a restaurant on the West Coast and planting the seeds for the move.
But in early 2020, the unthinkable happened. COVID not only delayed their plans, but it also made staying together in the United States logistically impossible. Canada, on the other hand, offered a lifeline through the country’s compassionate-considerations provision, which allowed exceptions for long-term partners. So they applied and were eventually accepted. “Truly, we sent a booklet of our first text messages and a picture of us kissing,” Gardner remembers.
Henry Wright and Gracie Gardner. Cynthia Liu
They relocated to Salt Spring Island, off the coast of Vancouver, and started a weekly catering operation called Nellie’s. As business picked up, Gardner wrote a weekly newsletter for customers, while Wright experimented with increasingly ambitious dishes and sold them at the local farmers market. After two years, they made their way back to New York to be closer to family.
The food at Barker reflects the couple’s meandering path through restaurants and small-batch catering. “It’s not fussy. It’s extremely simple food,” Gardner says. “We make good food that we want to eat, which means making everything ourselves.” Nearly everything is produced in-house daily: bread, ham, mayonnaise, tart dough, and so much more. “I want Barker to be like a diner in the 1940s, before the era of processed foods,” Wright adds.
Sandwiches may be the main draw at Barker — roast beef with horseradish, ham and cheese, and salmon rillettes also appear — but sharable plates round out the menu: creamy chicken noodle soup, bulgur porridge, and savory, cheesy tartiflettes. There’s even something called the Dad Plate, a motley platter of smoked ham, vegetables, bread, and spicy Hungarian cheese, inspired by Wright’s father. The broccoli spoon salad — rife with charred florets and chickpeas, smooth and creamy tahini, and a hint of chile paste — was a particular standout when I visited. So was the lightly sweet currant scone, nestled next to generous spoonfuls of blueberry jam and clotted cream.
The currant scone with blueberry jam and clotted cream at Barker Cafeteria. Cynthia Liu
So much bread at Barker House. Cynthia Liu
The menu lives on a large blackboard and changes frequently. Customers order at the counter before choosing between two seating areas: a casual bar up front or an upstairs platform with larger tables and a direct view of the skylit open kitchen. Full-menu takeout and online ordering are also available.
Food isn’t the only thing they’re serving either. Just before opening, Gardner launched a newsletter called Always Yummy, Sometimes Great to document the journey at Barker, joining a wave of chef-writers on Substack. (King co-owners Jess Shadbolt and Annie Shi and Pecking House’s chef-owner Eric Huang, among them). Citing Ruth Reichl and Tamar Adler as influences, Gardner has been writing about food since college, where she studied history and food systems. The newsletter is meant to keep both regulars and far-flung readers connected to Barker’s world.
The counter service leading to the dining room at Barker Cafeteria. Cynthia Liu
The exterior of Barker Cafeteria. Cynthia Liu
Inside, Barker feels warm and unpretentious. The space is minimalistic and inviting, with white brick walls, playful details, and plenty of natural light. A custom lamp by Jake Coan floats above the front table, while a colorful Egyptian tapestry oversees the bar. Family heirlooms fill the space, including Gardner’s grandfather’s serving station, a collection of tchotchkes, and an enormous jam pot.
Upstairs, a photograph of the Samish Sea, a series of waterways that connects Canada and the west coast of the United States, hangs in the dining room. For the couple, it’s a perfect reminder about how far they’ve come and what they hope to accomplish at Barker.
Currently, Barker Cafeteria is open Sunday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hours are subject to change, so check out their Instagram for the latest updates.