Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up

Is Piccolo Cafe Closed?
221 Columbia Street; (718) 522-5821
This tiny cafe opened with a menu of only 3 items last January. Lost City writes: “It bulked up the menu over time, advertising each new addition in bold red and white signs outside the door. But the joint never caught on—possibly, as many readers pointed out to me, because the food was processed and lousy… Walking by today, the signs are gone and the inside is ripped up. No staff in sight. It may be a renovation, but I’m guessing it’s doneski.”

Brooklyn Restaurant Openings: Umi Nom and Chickadee Chick
Time Out reports on Umi Nom (433 DeKalb Ave between Classon Ave and Taaffe Pl, Bedford-Stuyvesant; 718-789-8806): “Kuma Inn chef-owner King Phojanakong and co-chef Soulayphet Schwader branch out to Brooklyn with this 50-seat bamboo-and-brick-clad restaurant, expected to open July 28. As at its LES counterpart, the menu consists of small plates based on Filipino and South Asian flavors.” Plus, a tipster tells us that the old Hanabi space on 7th Avenue at Garfield Place in Park Slope is going to be split into a wine bar (owned by the Hanabi folks) and a chicken joint called Chickadee Chick. Fork in the Road reports: “The chicken is advertised as free-range and char-grilled, plus fries, shakes, and frozen custard. Papered windows means the place is probably a few weeks out, but you can never tell with permits and such.”

Maracuja: Now Serving Cheese Steaks
279 Grand Street, Williamsburg
This hot sandwich tip comes from our own king of the burg: “About two weeks ago Maracuja started serving a minimal menu consisting of cheese steaks and cheese fries (with some sort of pseudo vegetarian cheese steak-like option). They got a new sign out front and the cheese steaks are great. Really, I am very serious they are very good and HUGE. For ten bucks you get a cheese steak and a PBR on draft. Plus they have one of the nicest back yards in the neighborhood.”

After the jump: Menu expands at Bed-Stuy’s Saraghina, Chowhounds discover the best Sichuan in Brooklyn, and Adrian Grenier breaks down boxes at the Park Slope Food Co-op…

More Than Just Pizza at Saraghina
Saraghina, the Bed-Stuy pizzeria that opened in June (435 Halsey Street, at Lewis Avenue) has expanded its menu. A tipster reports: “There are now two pastas and two fish as well as 4-6 appetizers. The buratta mozarella is incredible. There are 6-7 pizzas from $10-15 and all excellent with incredible crust and good size, maybe 16 inches.”

Vince Chase Works His Co-op Shift
The Park Slope Food Co-op “Makes everyone work. Even celebrities, like Adrian Grenier!” says Gawker, picking up on a tweet from Time writer James Poniewozik, who spotted Adrian Grenier breaking down boxes during his shift. But our favorite co-op celebrity sighting comes from a friend who swears she saw Michael Kenneth Williams (who played Omar Little in The Wire) at the co-op once, picking up some kale and whatnot.

Sunset Park: Now A Destination for Sichuan Food!
Chow’s Outer Borough Digest reports: “Metro Cafe‘s chong qing chicken—called ‘dry sautéed chicken with three peppers’ on the menu—is tremendous, mawaldman promises: ‘The mesmerizing waves of spice are perfectly done, without the sour aftertaste this dish sometimes gives.’ This kitchen is not only cooking the best Sichuan in Brooklyn, he says, but even belongs in the conversation alongside citywide favorites like Spicy & Tasty in Flushing.”