Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up

Early Controversy Over Favela
Corner of South 5th and Wythe, Williamsburg
Eater‘s roving photographer, Will Femia, snapped this photo of the future home of a Brazilian restaurant called Favela, and The Gurgling Cod already has a beef with the restaurant’s name: “Call me crazy, but I don’t think you could get away with a soul food (or Polish) restaurant called ‘Ghetto.'” Is something getting lost in translation here?

Opening on February 14: Amy Ruth’s
372-374 Fulton Street (Fulton Mall), Downtown Brooklyn
“Amorous couples will dine on sauteed chicken liver and braised chitlens on Valentine’s Day at the new Amy Ruth’s on Fulton Mall — but if they need booze to get in a romantic mood, they’ll have to go somewhere else. That’s because the well-known Harlem soul food restaurant won’t have its liquor license when it opens its new location in the old Gage & Tollner site on Feb. 14.” [The Brooklyn Paper]

Closed: Second Street Cafe
189 7th Avenue (at Second Street), Park Slope
“The women who work at Met Food said the rent was too high. Another local shopkeeper said that they weren’t making any money. Maybe the renovation did them in. A neighbor saw the tall, white haired owner crying… So sudden. So strange. The block between 2nd and 3rd Street on Seventh Avenue has had three closings in two months (Tempo Presto, Seventh Avenue Books, Second Street Cafe). Park Slope Books will be out in March.” [OTBKB]

After the jump: Trader Joe’s progress report, a beer bar for Park Slope, a “jewel box” for Prospect Heights, brick oven pizza for Clinton Hill, and Harvey Wallbanger arrives in Williamsburg…

What’s Up With Trader Joe’s?
130 Court Street (at Atlantic Avenue)
“Contacted for comment, Two Trees’ PR informed us that they were unsure of when construction on the grocery store would begin. In the meantime, the natives are getting restless, and angry at the speed that Two Trees’ huge luxury rental building is rising behind the TJ’s site. Look, the people need their frozen Biryani curried rice and their chili-lime white corn tortilla chips.” [Racked]

Hoping to Open this Weekend: Beer Table
427B Seventh Avenue, which is between 14th and 15 Streets
“For almost six months, the owners of Beer Table, on Seventh Avenue near 14th Street, have been trapped in liquor license limbo. The local community board endorsed the bar’s application for a liquor license in July, but the application is still awaiting final approval by the State Liquor Authority… The drama is not over. But on Thursday the Philipses learned that they have been conditionally approved for a license by the Liquor Authority. They hope to open next Saturday.” [NY Times]

Opening in a Couple of Weeks: Weather Up
589 Vanderbilt Avenue (between Dean and Bergen), Prospect Heights
“Matthew Maddy, who cut his teeth with a design firm that worked on the Box and Stanton Social, is turning a former storefront church into a ‘jewel box’ of sorts by installing an old mahogany bar with a custom-made brass bar top, a tiled vaulted ceiling, stainless-steel and onyx light fixtures, and banquettes of buffalo-skin leather. Add to all that a back garden and you have a drinks temple fit for barkeeps trained by Sasha Petraske.” [Grub Street]

Coming in April: Brick Oven Pizza
37 Washington Street, Clinton Hill
“Owner Joseph Falco is working on transforming 37 Washington (which has been operating as a pizza place for the last 14 years or so) into a brick oven pizza spot. It’ll be called Il Porto, and will offer pizza (brick oven and regular), other menu items, wine and beer, plus sidewalk cafe!” [Clinton Hill Blog]

Campy Cocktails at Huckleberry Bar
588 Grand Street (at Lorimer), Williamsburg; (718) 218-8555
“It’s a high-minded joint, serving the kinds of Chartreuse-laden original cocktails and purist classics found in downtown Manhattan. Serious drinks: Sazeracs, Negronis, even a Sherry Flip. All of which cozy up on the menu beside Harvey Wallbanger himself… The drink has become a surprise hit, perhaps because Williamsburg, where Pabst Blue Ribbon was transformed into a campy statement, is not averse to kitschy drinking, or perhaps because Harvey Wallbangers go down awfully easy.” [NY Times]