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April 30, 2008
Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up
Photo by roboppy
Bars in Battle with Neighbors
Park Slope's Union Hall (pictured above) is up for their liquor license renewal next week, and according to Eater, community members issued a 1200-word press release railing against this stroller-free establishment. Meanwhile, Gothamist reports that Greenpoint's Studio B has received a stop work order from neighbors who are hoping that the club's proposed tropical rooftop oasis will be nipped in the bud.
New Brooklyn Openings
Looks like there's nothing but love for the recently opened Root Hill Cafe on 4th Avenue an Carroll Street. Ed Levine describes their Clover-brewed coffee as "pretty amazing" and Slice loves the cafe's outdoor canine accomodations. Eater reports that a new bar and burger joint called Brooklyn Ice House is slated to open in the old Pioneer Bar-B-Q space on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook. And according to Time Out, Appertivo (279 Fifth Avenue at 1st Street) — part of Sotto Voce's mini-empire in Park Slope— is now offering a menu of "pastas like linguine with a chicken liver, sage, white wine and cream sauce," but their liquor license is still pending.
Best Outdoor Bites
Brooklyn Based shares a list of all their favorite restaurants and bars with outdoor seating, calling Rocky Sullivan's "the only rooftop bar in the city that can actually be called serene" and describing the table for two beside the fountain in Palo Santo's tiny backyard as the most romantic outdoor table in Brooklyn.
After the jump: Fresh Direct expands delivery range, the Voice says Barrio is overpriced, Gothamist hits Shachis and the Times visits Jake Walk...
Fresh Direct Expands Delivery Range
"Last week, FreshDirect, the upscale home-delivery grocery service, expanded its coverage to include Bedford-Stuyvesant, Red Hook and Crown Heights." [The Brooklyn Paper]
Is Barrio Overpriced?
210 7th Avenue, Park Slope; (718) 965-4000
"Plain chicken enchiladas for $14.25? Tortillas layered with chicken, onion, cilantro, radishes and queso fresco do not add up to anything too exciting. The shrimp in Yucatan shrimp were nicely grilled and flavored with cilantro and jalapeño, but the plate was mostly filled with fake-tasting coconut rice. For $17.25? Eeeesh." [The Village Voice]
No Complaints at Shachis
197 Havemeyer Street (at S. 4th), Williamsburg; (718) 388-8884
"A handful of simple salads are a gateway to arepas ($4-6), the real stars of the show. Though available with a variety of basic fillings: chicken, shredded beef, cheese, or ham and cheese, our favorite is the more complicated pabellon, a deceptively small-but-filling corn cake stuffed with braised and shredded beef, black beans, sweet plaintains, and cheese. Simultaneously salty, sweet, and savory, the arepa only benefits from a touch of hot sauce, available on request." [Gothamist]
Jake Walk: Worth the Wait
282 Smith Street (at Sackett Street); (347) 599-0294
"At least half of these fresh-faced folks, with their rock T-shirts and only a few gray hairs, will stroll in to ask about the wait, which on a recent Friday at 8 p.m. was over an hour. The crush of patrons are not there just for the drinks, though the selection of wines, whiskeys and Prohibition-era cocktails is varied and plentiful... There are more than 40 cheeses on the menu, grouped cleverly into categories like 'Washed and Stinky' and 'Firm, Old and Bold." [NY Times]
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Comments
Sotto Voce is very mediocre.
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 11:47 AM
Soso Voce?
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 11:53 AM
What about Plan B in Prospect Heights—opened last Friday...
Also Franklin Park in Crown Heights? Opened last week as well...
Posted by: Fjorder at April 30, 2008 11:58 AM
I went to Appertivo last friday night. I think the food was pretty good for the price, and it will likely be packed for some time to come.
Thing is though, it lacked something - some kind of authenticity. It is no Frankie's.
Anyway, Union Hall, Union Hall. Personally, I can't stand the people there and the ghetto thug staff that works the door. I never noticed much of a noise problem, and I'm not sure their liquor license should be revoked - but I wouldn't be sad if it were.
Places like this should open on 3rd Ave in an industrial district that allows for retail use. Why there are not more loud rock club/bar spaces in the Gowanus area I will never know.
Posted by: Polemicist at April 30, 2008 12:12 PM
12:12 - there's not club/bar spaces in your neck of the woods because all the cool kids are in williamsburg/greenpoint/bushwick/LES. it's a much more white bread, personally conservative (if not politcally), older, married, boring, etc... crowd in carroll gardens, Cobble Hill, BH, PS. i'm in my forties and couldn't handle living in PS either. if you love clubs and music, you are in the thick of it in williamsburg. within 10-20 you can be at probably 99% of the venues that matter to you including all the bands playing the bushwick loft scene.
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 12:35 PM
"all the cool kids are in williamsburg / greenpoint / bushwick / LES...i'm in my forties"
12:35 = Lounge Lizard
Posted by: Biff Champion at April 30, 2008 12:39 PM
i love union hall.
and i love barrio. absolutely delicious.
apertivo has a really nice vibe. feels like a cafe in paris or buenos aires. lovely place to sit and have a capuccino.
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 1:06 PM
1:06, you have a nice vibe.
Posted by: Biff Champion at April 30, 2008 1:18 PM
12:35
The gowanus is white bread? filled with politically conservative people?
Yeah, whatever.. It's an industrial district. Ever go to clubs in Manhattan back in the day (I did in high school). Where were they? Not residential districts.
You need not have large entertainment venues in residential districts. That is the only point I was trying to make. That said, college rock sucks. Thank god it's dead and all the midwestern scum that brought to our city is being priced out. btw, I'm nowhere near 42.
Posted by: Polemicist at April 30, 2008 2:02 PM
12:35 : You don't necessarily have to live on top of bars or music clubs to enjoy them. I used to live "in the thick of it" and while it was convenient, I got tired feeling like I lived in fucking New Orleans on Mardi Gras.
Plus the Bushwick Loft Scene sucks, most of the time......
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 2:11 PM
See, here's the thing - the Union Hall is a bar. A BAR. That these parents cannot respect the fact that this is a bar and that adults go to bars to drink alcohol and hang out with other adults is baffling. Grow up, make the kiddies some pancakes and sausage on Sunday mornings, and throw a bottle of V8 in the fridge and Stoli in the freezer if you absolutely have to have your Sunday bloody mary fix.
Also, here's the answer to all your woes, Union Hall - ditch the beautiful, comfy sofas and chairs in favor of high-top tables and stools and the Park Slope Parents Association will have to find some other place to harass with their petty, entitled initiatives. While you're at it, get rid of the mini-burgers. No kid-friendly seating or menu items might do wonders to deter these overgrown college kids who can't seem to kick their brunch addiction after they start makin' babies from overtaking your perfectly nice BAR. Look across the street - you don't see the sports bar on 5th Ave. kicking the stroller mob out onto the curb, do you? Why not? Because there's no sofas for little Ashton to play legos on while Daddy throws the bocce ball, or for little Sienna to jump up and down on while Mommy drinks her Amstel Light. You don't have to be a sports bar - you've still go the bocce ball courts, decent food, cheap beer, and you'd be surprised what sort of wingback barstools they make with thick, comfy foam padding and nice upholstery or leather. Look into it, lest your space be turned into Washington Mutual or - god help us - another goddamn Connecticut Muffin.
Owners of Union Hall, as an adult, I admire and respect that you wanted to create a comfortable, adult environment where adults could have a beer, eat a nosh, play some bocce, and maybe hear a band or a comedy routine. It could still happen - just ditch the sofas, scrap the mini-burgers, turn up the music and open at 4 on Saturdays and Sundays.
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 2:33 PM
2:33- Agreed.
Posted by: e10b at April 30, 2008 2:46 PM
it's a shame about Soda's huge tree that once shaded the back patio. their outdoor space is really just a boring concrete turn-off now...
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 2:54 PM
Union Hall is already turning up the music. It was so loud there last time we went and this WAS in the afternoon, I couldn't stand it. Any parents who are bringing small children there are selfish retards.
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 3:04 PM
Polemicist,
Are you suggesting that there might be some uses of property that ought be permitted in some areas but not others, and that to the extent Union Hall is permitted at its present location under existing zoning law, that ought to be changed and Union Hall banished to an industrial zone? Sounds an awful lot like you favor at least some kinds of government regulation of property. I will have to remember that the next time you blast an advocate of downzoning.
Posted by: slopefarm at April 30, 2008 3:50 PM
Good one, slopefarm!
Posted by: johnife at April 30, 2008 4:32 PM
Jake walk is very cool i was in there last week and i had a great time the feel is real down.
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 6:11 PM
Not surprising you'd have Rocky Sullivans roof to yourself. It is a terrible transition from Liberty Heights Tap Room. The new owner is a misanthrope, the service and pizza are truly bad.
Posted by: guest at April 30, 2008 6:29 PM
Yup, 6:29; I used to go to Liberty Heights often but, post the ownership change, no more, for precisely the reasons you state.
Posted by: johnife at April 30, 2008 7:00 PM
Apertivo is the perfect spot for people who like to sit at a table for hours w/o food or drink. the service is horrific. We had 3 different waitrons who would look at our empty table and say "how is everything?" to which we replied, "well, we don't have our food yet."
Since they don't have a liquor license, they really should post a BYOB sign in the window--the one "comlimentary" glass of cheap slop doesn't cut it--and the waitrons should know that Red White & Bubbly is 3 blocks down 5th.
The food was decent and priced right, but they'll have to give me a free meal to get me to ever go back.
Posted by: guest at May 1, 2008 9:54 AM
i think by the looks of things every time i've walked by, they really don't need your business, 9:54.
they don't like whiney types. this place is more european and refined.
something you clearly are NOT.
Posted by: guest at May 1, 2008 10:43 AM
3:50
Umm, where was I talking about zoning?
People are pissed, and I think a lot of bar/club owners would receive less crap from busybody neighborhood residents like yourself if they simply opened in other locations.
It IS possible to have a general discussion about a particular property that doesn't involve land use regulations.
Posted by: Polemicist at May 1, 2008 10:54 AM
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