Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up
Tanoreen’s New Digs The new Tanoreen storefront, located just across the street and down the block from the current location in Bay Ridge, is looking good we can’t wait to grab a seat in the sun room jutting off the back of the space. And Chowhound CGeats dispells any rumors that the restaurant is…

Tanoreen’s New Digs
The new Tanoreen storefront, located just across the street and down the block from the current location in Bay Ridge, is looking good we can’t wait to grab a seat in the sun room jutting off the back of the space. And Chowhound CGeats dispells any rumors that the restaurant is going downhill: “Rawia IS back in the kitchen and serving her usual fare of -perfect- authentic Middle Eastern food. Large portion, fresh ingredients and the infamous Tanoreen spice are mixed lovingly into all her dishes.” We second this opinion our meal there the other night was as delicious as ever.
3 Openings for Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Heights Blog reports that Wi-Pie Pizzeria has opened at 155 Remsen Street: “Along with pizza, the shop will serve sandwiches, salads and cream cheese sticks, a creation of Solomonov. The sticks have the texture and fillings of bagels, but in a log-like form. Cream cheese fillings include regular, veggie, lox and walnut raisin.” Plus, Fork in the Road sneeks a peak at Iris Cafe (20 Columbia Place near Joralemon), serving breakfast items and “baguettes, priced from $7 to $8.50, [which] include baked blue brie, surrayno ham, and walnut.” The Village Voice blog also reports: “Down the block, the old River Deli space will soon be home to an Italian wine bar, according to one of Iris’s proprietors.”
Alleged Mobsters Welcome at Lucali
“Yesterday, a judge allowed mobster Dominick (Black Dom) Dionisio—a convicted felon who is awaiting trial for racketeering—to keep his job at Carroll Gardens pizzeria Lucali, even though prosecutors allege the gig is a fake, is a ploy for him to get away from his house arrest,” says Eater. The New York Post says that Black Dom’s upcoming trial includes “charges that he and another mobster shot at two rivals in broad daylight during the Colombo mob wars in the 1990s.” But perhaps he has turned over a new leaf because Lucali owner Mark Iacono insists that his job is for real and that he’s learning the pizza business.
After the jump: A Purple Yam review, new spots in Greenpoint, and coffee wars in Park Slope and Crown Heights.
An Early Report on Purple Yam
1314 Cortelyou Road, Ditmas Park
“I live in the neighborhood and have eaten there twice. It is pretty good, but I walked out with a surprisingly large check both times feeling kind of pleased but not totally sated. The portions are small; it’s hard to distinguish starters from entrees. A curried vegetable dish, for example, is around $12 and it is a side dish–does not come with rice or anything along those lines… The goat entree was good and piquant but tiny–appetizer size, really, and I am not a manhhandler-sized entree type of person… I guess they are still working out kinks. It is a pretty room.” [Chowhound gnosh]
Greenpoint Restaurant News
New York Shitty reports that Kestane Kebab (110 B Nassau Avenue) is now open, and the blogger also shares an anonymous tip that the “owners of Vinnie’s Pizza on Bedford Ave, known largely for their great selection of Vegan/Vegetarian specialty pies” is opening a second location “right in Greenpoint at Nassau and Kingsland.” Plus, Eater says that ramen joint Ichiran still plans on opening and they apologize for the two-year delay.
Coffee Wars!
The Times reports on the nastiness between Pulp and the Bean in Crown Heights and their neighbor, the Breukelen Coffee House… And Grub Street is all over the family feud at Park Slope’s Café Regular that has resulted in one espresso wizard getting ousted by his sister: “It’s really a Royal Tenenbaums level of dysfunction,” said Grub Street’s source. Our advice? Go easy on the caffeine before visiting relatives tomorrow and keep the peace this Thanksgiving!
Ditto what Kens and gnosh said about P-Yam. Brunch was OK but pricey. I’ll give them another whirl for dinner.
Tanoreen was pretty solid. I liked it the one time I ate there.
Purple Yam was overpriced for what it is and nothing special. I am disappointed :o(.
I really wanted to love Tanoreen the one time I went after reading all the great reviews. While I thought the food was good, I wasn’t floored. Maybe I’m just really critical of Middle Eastern food cause I’ve had the best in people’s homes.
Cannot wait for the new Tanoreen!!!