LIBA, a new glatt kosher Mediterranean restaurant, has begun soft-opening service inside The William Vale, the luxury boutique hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The restaurant is a meat kitchen running an upscale sharing menu, with a full launch set for early August 2026.
Kosher Dining Inside a Luxury Brooklyn Hotel
The William Vale is one of the most recognizable hotels in Brooklyn. The 22 story, 183 room property sits above North 12th Street with floor to ceiling windows and private balconies in every room, a 60 foot rooftop lap pool that ranks as the longest hotel pool in New York City, and the Westlight rooftop bar with Manhattan skyline views. Chef Andrew Carmellini runs the hotel’s other food and beverage outlets, including the Italian restaurant Leuca. Those outlets are not kosher. LIBA operates as its own kosher establishment within the building.
A glatt kosher restaurant inside a hotel of this profile gives Orthodox travelers a reason to consider The William Vale as a base for a New York stay, and gives kosher diners in the tri-state area a destination that sits inside one of Brooklyn’s landmark buildings.
A New Kosher Option in North Williamsburg
Williamsburg holds one of the largest Orthodox Jewish populations in the United States, but the kosher dining that serves it sits almost entirely on the south side of the neighborhood, along Lee Avenue, Bedford Avenue below Division, and the surrounding Hasidic corridor. North Williamsburg, the area around Bedford Avenue and the waterfront, grew into one of New York City’s most active restaurant districts without a comparable kosher scene.
LIBA lands directly in that gap. The restaurant is walking distance from the Bedford Avenue L train stop and close to the East River Ferry, putting it minutes from Manhattan.
The Menu
LIBA is running an upscale Mediterranean menu that pulls from Tunisian, Levantine, Turkish, Persian, and Italian cooking. The format is built for sharing, with a long list of small plates leading into large format grilled proteins.
Opening plates include a Tunisian tartlet, house pickled vegetables, dolma, brick oven bread served with dukkah and an olive oil “butter,” and qatayef stuffed with spinach and za’atar. Raw fish gets real attention: bluefin tuna carpaccio with fermented chili paste and crushed pistachios, hamachi, and a seared fish bruschetta built on bloody mary flavors. There is also a steak tartare sando, a dish rarely seen on kosher menus in the United States.
Vegetable dishes run through the middle of the menu, including a cut to order vegetable salad, charred greens with lemon vinaigrette, and squash glazed in spicy date honey. Chicken confit cigars with sumac and caramelized onion and a Turkish style pide with smoked eggplant, peppers, and anchovies round out the smaller plates.
Large plates set the price ceiling. The kitchen is serving a hand chopped fish kebab with tahini and blackened harissa, a whole sea bream, tortellini sabzi with veal cheek in brodo, a layered lamb and beef kebab on a hot steel skewer, lamb spareribs cooked over three days, steak frites, imported Greek lamb chops, and a 14 ounce ribeye dry aged in house. Large plates run from the mid forties to $110 for the ribeye, with small plates mostly between $12 and $24.
Why the Location Matters
North Williamsburg draws a different crowd than the traditional kosher neighborhoods of Brooklyn. The area pulls Manhattan diners across the river, serves a large population of young Jewish professionals living in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, and sits at one of the easiest transit connections between Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Kosher diners heading into Brooklyn have long had to route themselves toward Midwood, Flatbush, Borough Park, or Crown Heights. LIBA gives the community a reason to stop at the first stop off the Williamsburg Bridge instead.
Visiting LIBA
LIBA is located inside The William Vale at 111 North 12th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249. The restaurant can be reached at 718-500-6366 or at info@libanyc.com, and posts updates on Instagram at @libanyc. LIBA is certified by Mehadrin Kashrus under Rabbi Avrohom Marmorstein, Rav of Kehal Minchas Chinuch. All meat is glatt, meat and chicken are chassidishe shechita, baked goods are pas yisroel, and produce requiring inspection is checked for insects. Full service hours will be published ahead of the August launch.
Find kosher restaurants near you anywhere in the world. Download the KosherNearMe app at YeahThatsKosher.com/app.
Add Comment