Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up

Coming Soon to Greenpoint, Red Hook, and Dumbo
According to Eater, the owners of Five Leaves “have officially signed on to the triangle bar space one block away at 1 Bedford Ave., formerly occupied by Polonia and, briefly, ‘Greenpoint Square.’ … it will be a different concept than Greenpoint/Williamsburg bistro Five Leaves, and, due to space restrictions, will mostly serve easy food and small plates.” [Photo by Femia for Eater.] … Time Out New York says that Stumptown is opening a coffeee bar inside their Red Hook roastery (219 Van Brunt St at Commerce St)… And, the Brookyln Paper reports that The Best Chocolate Cake in the World is crossing the river to open a branch in Dumbo, which is “slated to open in two weeks.” Unfortunately, when Fork in the Road scoped out the original Spring Street location, they decided that it’s overpriced (at $6.50 per slice), and it’s just not that good — but a bunch of the commenters did indeed think find this cake to be The Best, so Dumbo locals will have some taste-testing to do.

Recently Reviewed: Fornino Park Slope
254 Fifth Avenue (Carroll Street), Park Slope, Brooklyn; (718) 399-8600
“[Owner Michael Ayoub’s] cod wrapped in prosciutto, served with capers, olives and a scattering of sweet cherry tomatoes, showcases real talent in the preparation of fish, and a nicely cooked duck breast with cherries, spinach, pine nuts and a glaze of white balsamic vinegar shows a sure hand with game as well… the pizza at Fornino Park Slope may be the restaurant’s weakest suit,” writes Sam Sifton for the New York Times.

But perhaps the most interesting part of this review comes in Sifton’s blog post about it, which addresses Jeffrey Steingarten’s recent accusation that the Times food editors “are relatively uncritical of things in Brooklyn.” Sifton’s retort: “Are we? Really? Go mess around with the search function at nytimes.com, starting with a record of my bylines, and see what you come up with. After spinning though it just now, I think it’s probably fairest to say we’re fans of the delicious in whatever guise and borough it comes.”

After the jump: Kind words for a Carroll Gardens spot, a Bushwick closing, and big trouble for the Cake Man…

Chowhound Buzz: Revisiting Fragole
Chowhounds will be the first to tell you when a neighborhood restaurant is going downhill, so it was heartening to read the positive review of Carroll Gardens Italian spot Fragole from Puppimus. Sure, there’s some hate in the thread that follows, but the general consensus is that the food is tasty and the price is right. Steve R chimes in: “The food was much better than I remembered it, having not been there for over a year. The salads were great — beets, arugula, avocado, very nice goat cheese w/hazelnut oil dressing for me & an excellent mozz., arugula, artichokes & tomato salad for my wife. Our friend’s grilled (not breaded and fried) calamari was very solid and a winner. Eggplant parms and special pastas were ordered and all were tasty and freshly made.”

Quick Bites
BushwickBK reports that the Archive Cafe on Bogart, “one of the first businesses on the street,” has closed and a new cafe will open in its space in about a month… And some bad news for Cake Man fans: “His red velvet cake might elicit swoons from New York foodies, but Cake Man Raven’s apparent indifference to a federal court proceeding has prompted a judge to issue an order in favor of more than a dozen plaintiffs who allege the Brooklyn baker stiffed them on tens of thousands in overtime payments,” says Crain’s via the Brookyln Paper.