Otto's Scandinavian Bar Gets New Woody Tenant

Come April, they'll be a new tenant in the former home of Otto's Scandinavian Bar. OK, OK, Otto hasn't held forth at the corner of Columbia and Kane Streets in Brooklyn since the early '80s. Still that's how I think of the spot.

Anyway, the address—vacant since Blue Stone Bar & Grill closed five years ago—has been a hive of activity the past couple months. It will reopen as Casa di Campagna, a new Italian restaurant. The facade and interior have been covered over with wooden planks, giving the place a country lodge feel. The owner, whom I talked to, said the wood came from a dismantled barn in South Carolina. The inside is spacious and stretching far back along Kane. Near the front is a brick fireplace which is original, and I imagine must date back to Otto days. Doesn't work now, though.