Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up
A Solid Review for Prime Meats & Carroll Gardens New York Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton gives Prime Meats two stars and also offers a description of its neighborhood scene through the eyes of an outsider: “You can see these people standing on Court Street nightly, staring through the plate-glass windows at a dining room…
A Solid Review for Prime Meats & Carroll Gardens
New York Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton gives Prime Meats two stars and also offers a description of its neighborhood scene through the eyes of an outsider: “You can see these people standing on Court Street nightly, staring through the plate-glass windows at a dining room packed with brownstone bohemians, third novelists, people with Web sites, with good art at home. They look slightly pained, these visitors from afar wondering about the life choices they made that put them in Chelsea or Park Slope or Montclair, and not down here in Carroll Gardens, this little Italian village off New York Harbor where life is obviously perfect.” (Photo by urbanblitz)
New Brooklyn Openings
The Aviator Sports and Events Center at Floyd Bennett Field is getting a new food vendor, says Grub Street: “The Brooklyn Smoke House, as the set of outdoor tents outside of Hangar 5 will be dubbed, will start by serving pulled pork, Texas-style brisket, Memphis-style ribs, and beer-can chicken.” … Catskill Bagel is supposed to open on Cortelyou sometime in June, says Ditmas Park Blog… Free Williamsburg‘s favorite coffee shop, Second Stop, is opening a juice bar called Get Juiced next door to the cafe on Ainslie Street, and it “will feature organic juices and smoothies made from fresh greens from the rooftop of The Brooklyn Grange.” … And the New York Times notes that Choice Kitchens & Bakery is open at 198 Jay Street (at York Street) in Dumbo: “This sleek buffet-style place, with servers, has a Mediterranean-accented menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
After the jump: New taco stand in Kensington, the word on Traif and Fornino Park Slope, Bay Ridge hookah hoopla, Marlow & Sons new cowhide menu, and Spike Lee’s Brooklyn vodka…
Chowhound Buzz
Kensington has a new taco stand in front of Walgreens on Church at McDonald. Chowhound noisejoke says, “They’re open Tuesday – Sunday, 2 – 9pm… Tortillas were nicely grilled, plenty of onion and cilantro, with lime and cucumber on the side. Tasty red and green salsa on hand. Brought home three good tamales too ($1.25 each).” … Fellow ‘Hound sir chowalot describes his dinner at Traif in Williamsburg as his “best meal in a long time.” … And Marion Morgenthal gives Fornino Park Slope a big thumbs up: “We started with the Pizza Vinny Scotto to share (bel paese, pecorino, fior di latte, cacciatorini al diavolo, roast pepper aioli, ricotta), and loved it… For main courses, winners were arancini, braised short rib ravioli, and chicken sausage.”
Quick Bites
Bay Ridge Community Board members are looking to shut down local hookah bars, says the Brooklyn Paper… The Cut shares a photo of “Marlow & Sons‘ first non-culinary products: plush leather bags and pouches made, in the use-everything spirit, from the skins of house-butchered cows and pigs.” … And, finally, Grub Street reports: “In what might be his weirdest marketing appearance since those Fresh Direct ads (and Absolut’s hippest campaign since they teamed up with Tim & Eric), Spike Lee is collaborating on Absolut Brooklyn, a $24.99 blend of ginger and red apple (after the Big Apple).”
Cool, jessi. It was the similarities to this discussion which made me want to post that…ain’t tried the ‘Cue.
if dinner cost $150 for two….make sure your date is gonna treat before you go there.
GEESH!
I was just making a point about service being a bit slow in these places
and sorry after I just waited for 45 mins to GET A TABLE I CERTAINLY DON’T want to wait another 30 mins to get my meal
sorry if that sounds too high maintenance for you lot!
Jester, I went to Fatty Cue with a fellow brownstoner and they comped half of our meal due to (what they perceived to be) slow service. They took good care of us at the bar.
From his review for Fatty ‘Cue:
“That said, it sure would be funny to roll up to the place with a white-shoe lawyer, some actuarial accountant from Tucson or dramaturge from the Upper West Side, anyone who goes to restaurants expecting the small courtesies that make up the usual experience of spending close to $100 for a meal for two people.
No reservations are taken, so unless you eat in daylight or draw good luck, there’s going to be a wait for a table, time spent standing at a bar that was crowded when you arrived and will be when you leave. Also, as the waiters will tell you when you do get a seat, the food comes out when the kitchen prepares it, according to the kitchen’s own needs and schedule, which means there is no real structure to the meals. Indeed, the food can arrive at such a rush as to make the service at Big Wong on Mott Street seem like that of Eleven Madison Park.
Forewarned is forearmed: Fatty ’Cue might be uncomfortable for those who hear more music at Lincoln Center than at Southpaw.
So embrace your place. Start with a “recession special†cocktail: a shot of rail bourbon, a shot of spicy pickle juice and a tallboy of Pabst. The drink is best consumed in that order, pausing only to thrill to the way that pickle juice refracts the flavors of first the whiskey and then the beer. (After taking a sip or two of the Pabst you may consider the experience complete, and ask the waiter to replace it with something drinkable.)”
gemini does sound to be high maintenance. If you like who you’re with, is waiting a 1/2 hr for your meal that brutal? Isn’t that why you get drinks and such?
If I’m paying a crap load of cash for a meal, I expect to linger… not be in and out in 40 mins or less.
“Sweet – It definitely seems like he is more apt to review something good in Brooklyn than Bruni was. I was getting tired of Bruni re-reviewing the same tired ass Manhattan places (did we really need him to tell us that Spice Market sucks now?)”
I think the re-reviewed Spice Market because of the Amanda Hesser controversy if I am not mistaken.
Hanging out with a drink for 45 miunutes would be okay IF you could actually sit confortably and enjoy it but to stand with a drink while people push past you constantly? No thanks. Thes places have small and VERY crowded bars. You have to fight to get to the bartender to a drink and then try to keep it from being knocked all over you. You can have a no reservations for non-primt time but from 7 till closing you need it. A “45- 90 minute wait” (as I have been quoted) just doesn’t make a good dinging experience when you you are paying $150+ for dinner for two.
petebklyn!
haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa