Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up

Photo by w33z3r12

Goodbye, Schnäck
122 Union Street near Columbia Street; 718-855-2879
“We’re saddened, but not surprised, to learn of the demise of Schnäck… Co-owner Harry Hawk tells us that the end is nigh, but he will not give an expiration date. He says the proximate cause of the closing is a lost lease, but having seen ever-thinning crowds over the past year, we are more likely to believe that the poor location and awful service softened the victim up for the final blow.” [Grub Street]

Patois Owner to Open Bistro in Ditmas Park
1301 Newkirk Avenue at Argyle Road, Ditmas Park
“A French bistro. A common enough sight in Brooklyn, but the first of its kind on this stretch of Newkirk in Ditmas Park, and suddenly a symbol on a cold Sunday morning of the way the old neighborhood bumps up against the new… What occupies the corner now looks as though it had been lifted gingerly from a country lane in Provence and placed here, across the street from a house bearing graffiti that reads ‘Crack Pott.'” [NY Times]

What Will Become of the Kellogg’s Diner?
518 Metropolitan Avenue at Union Avenue, Williamsburg; 718-782-4502
“Get ready for the ‘Gateway to Williamsburg.’ A tipster pointed us to redone renderings and promo material for 502 Metropolitan, a new building that will soon be wrapping itself around the Kellogg’s Diner, the greasy spoon spot at Union and Metropolitan Avenues… It will include 28,751 square feet of retail space on two levels and is being pitched to a big box retailer, although one of the renderings says ‘grocery store’ at street level.” [Curbed]

After the jump: Carroll Gardens residents rail against a raw bar set to open beside Black Mountain Wine House, an $11,000 coffee machine arrives in Williamsburg, and a report on the car that crashed into Marco Polo…

Neighborhood vs. Carroll Gardens Raw Bar
“Residents say they fear the opening of a proposed raw bar serving hard alcohol right next door to a six-month-old wine bar near the corner of Union Street [near Hoyt Street]. Taken together, residents foresee the makings of an unwanted, mini-entertainment district — and now they’re trying to stop restaurateur Jim Mamary from getting his liquor license.” [The Brooklyn Paper]

El Beit’s $11,000 Coffee Machine
158 Bedford Avenue, between between 8th and 9th Streets, Williamsburg
“The coffee at El Beit is supplied by the North Caroina company Counter Culture (also at Café Grumpy and Ninth Street Espresso), and.. El Beit uses the Clover, an $11,000 machine that Griffin summarizes (many times a day, we imagine) as ‘a cross between a French press and a vac pot,’ and ‘an amazing machine.'” [Village Voice]

Marco Polo Gets Smashed
345 Court Street at Union Street, Carroll Gardens
A Brooklyn Life snapped a few photos of the wreckage when a police car and another car crashed into Marco Polo this past weekend. Meanwhile, one Chowhounder recommends the banged-up restaurant’s new take-out joint, aptly named Marco Polo Take-Out.