How a Russian Army vet made his barber on pearl shop in dumbo a haven of “cut”stomer service
by Brendan Fitzgibbons • photos by jon Gordon
Robert Isakov was in the middle of shaving the beard of a shaggy-face customer when he turned to the remaining patrons at his Barber on Pearl shop in Dumbo to ask a serious question,.
“Whiskey?! Does anybody want whiskey?” Normally such an inquiry at a salon, say, would seem peculiar at best, but considering that Isakov spoke with a thunderous but friendly Russian accent (and used to cut hair in that nation’s armed forces), inviting customers to delight in some late afternoon spirits made a certain sense.
The carefully curated bottles of Jameson, Wild Turkey, and Jack Daniels Silver Select sat next to a slew of custom shot glasses, all for the customer’s enjoyment.
“In wintertime, especially when it’s this cold outside, it’s always good to have a little warm up stuff,” Isakov said. “A little treat for the clientele.”
But what the Uzbekistan native failed to mention is that almost everything at Barber on Pearl is intended to be a thrill for the customers. The shop offers patrons beers in the summer, cookies year-round, and the walls are lined with holiday- themed decorations: dangling garland, and a six-foot Christmas tree, set against a towering black and white mural of the Brooklyn Bridge.
The waiting area has a cozy black leather couch and chairs,a flat screen TV, an inviting massage chair, with tranquil jazz peppering the airwaves.
In an hour or so of watching Isakov practice his craft, he interjected periodically to tell stories from Russia, sprinkled with a few dirty jokes, and shook the hands of customer after customer, including this writer.
“This is a family shop,” he said. “And I want everybody that comes here to feel like they are coming to family,”
Robert Isakov was in the middle of shaving the beard of a customer when he turned to the remaining patrons to ask a serious question. “Whiskey?! Does anybody want whiskey?”
Isakov has been in the barbershop business for over thirty years, and learned from his grandfather as an adolescent. “I used to have my own small chair, “ he mentioned with a beaming grin. “Cutting hair is the only thing I’ve ever known how to do.”
Isakov’s younger brother, Sergey, owns the similarly family- friendly haircut haunt Clinton Street Barber Shop in adjacent Brooklyn Heights.
Barber on Pearl opened in 2010 and Isakov decided on Dumbo after he was browsing the neighborhood with his girlfriend, and fell in love with its evolving artistic vibe.
“I love this neighborhood so much because everything changes in five minutes,” he said.
The Dumbo shop has three full-time hair stylists and one part-time. The services run the gamut of those one would expect at a traditional barbershop but at shockingly reasonable prices: men ($17) and women’s haircuts ($25), beard trims ($13) and shaves ($25 for a Royal Shave), and single product coloring ($45).
A standard men’s haircut lasts a snappy and efficient 30-35 minutes, and each customer is given the options of a hot towel, neck shave, and hair gel.
Isakov might take up residency in another borough, but he is fully immersed in his barbershop and its hood. “From eight in the morning to seven at night I live here,” he said with a smile. “But I sleep in Queens.”
When asked how the shop manages to stay competitive in an increasingly flooded market and skyrocketing rent prices, the affable Isakov turned matter-of-fact serious.
“I think we stand out simply because we’re doing a good job,” he offered with a shoulder shrug. “And we try to do what the costumer wants…and not everybody can do that in today’s world.”
Barber on Pearl
57 Pearl St. / 718.855.3090 / barberonpearl.com