Soft Spot
by Vincent TrivettArticle Tools
128 Bedford Ave at N. 10th St, Brooklyn
This friendly Williamsburg piano bar is a refreshingly comfortable addition to Bedford Avenue’s crowded crawl. In respect to the décor, it resembled a mullet. Business up front, party in the back — but the similarity ends there. On the outside, Soft Spot looked like it was furnished by one of New York’s many nightlife mavens. I was glad to find that it was only a façade of conventionality. The sleek, modern front, furnished with rectangular leather lounge couches and a glass top bar table yields to a cozy back and a pretty garden area.
The place is visitor friendly, though it seemed more like a neighborhood local than a repository for curious Manhattanites. The iPod shuffling behind the bar poured forth an appreciated non indie-rock mix of Bruce Springsteen, late Dylan, Van Morrison, Elvis, Ryan Adams, Counting Crows, and other similar literary rock reminiscent of The Wonder Boys soundtrack. But of course, Soft Spot is a piano bar. Free jazz piano is offered nightly from 7-9. On Wednesdays at eight, Christine Smith goes through her repertoire, which ranges from a somber, heartfelt reprise of ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots’ to Tom Waits and the Beatles. Matt, the veteran tapster and publican, offers all of the usual draft suspects plus the local Brooklyn suds and a creative cocktail. Overall, Soft Spot had a nice, comfortably low key loungy scene, fine drinks, and some great music.
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