Photo by mcbrooklyn

Amy Ruth’s Not Coming to Brooklyn?
“The famed Harlem soul food restaurant, Amy Ruth’s, which signed a lease for the former Gage & Tollner restaurant space at 372-374 Fulton St. on the Fulton Mall in Downtown Brooklyn last October, may not be coming to Brooklyn after all. Robert F. Hebron IV of Ingram & Hebron Realty, who negotiated the lease on behalf of Amy Ruth’s, confirmed to the Eagle on Monday a rumor that the deal had fallen through… ‘There was a signed lease,’ he said. ‘But as of this morning there is a marshall’s notice on the door that the landlord was reclaiming the space.’ [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]

BBQ Joint Opening on Smith Street
An Eater tipster says: “The place across the street from NY Perks and Robin des Bois [on Smith between Warren and Baltic] is slated for a whiskey and BBQ joint. The plywood’s down, and there’s iron clad facade with window openings.”

A New Wine Bar for Carroll Gardens
With a little help from their readership, A Brooklyn Life reports that the old video store at 389 Court (at 1st Place) is slated to become a “wine bar” or a “cafe with wine and cheese.”

After the jump: The new “culinary playground” in Brooklyn Heights, schnitzel in Coney Island, a closing in Kensington, and tomatoes all over town…

Spicy Pickle = “Culinary playground”?
143 Montague Street at Henry Street, Brooklyn Heights; (347) 463-9403
Spicy Pickle has taken over the old Armando’s space in Brooklyn Heights, and co-owner Bob Sheahan told the Brooklyn Paper, It’s your culinary playground. More accurately speaking, it’s a sandwich chain with “paninis, subs, pizzetti (individual, 11-inch Neapolitan thin-crust pizzas), soups and salads with a selection of 12 meats, eight cheeses, 15 spreads and 22 toppings” on its menu. The Brooklyn Paper reports: “Open daily for breakfast (consider the grilled egg sandwich on rosemary focaccia with a gourmet coffee!), lunch and dinner every day, the Spicy Pickle seats up to 55 people and has a homey atmosphere, replete with huge, wall-mounted flat-screen TV.”

Quick bites
The New York Times heads to Coney Island for some schnitzel… The Kensington (Brooklyn) blog mourns the closing of Joe & Joe’s Pizzeria… And Brooklyn Based lists the best tomato dishes across the borough — from the “Stuffed zucchini blossoms dressed with tomato water” at the Farm on Adderly to the Sunday brunch BLT at Applewood.