Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up
Photo by Nicole Brydson Washington Avenue: Brooklyn’s New Restaurant Row? “As Vanderbilt Avenue has become the strip for Proho nightlife, Washington Avenue has become the restaurant row… Gen, a Japanese spot; Udom, excellent Thai; and now Rawstar, a Caribbean restaurant catering to the raw dairy-free lifestyle. have all opened between St. Marks Avenue and Prospect…
Photo by Nicole Brydson
Washington Avenue: Brooklyn’s New Restaurant Row?
“As Vanderbilt Avenue has become the strip for Proho nightlife, Washington Avenue has become the restaurant row… Gen, a Japanese spot; Udom, excellent Thai; and now Rawstar, a Caribbean restaurant catering to the raw dairy-free lifestyle. have all opened between St. Marks Avenue and Prospect Place…Another vegetarian spot, Natural Blend, further up Washington Avenue, serves vegan soy and fake chicken patties.” [NY Observer]
The Borough-Wide Pizza Party Continues
Grub Street reports that a Neapolitan-style pizzeria is coming to Bed-Stuy — it’ll be located at 435 Halsey Street and it’s slated to be called Saraghina. Ed Levine of Serious Eats, visits Roberta’s in Bushwick, shares a ton of pizza porn, and says, “Roberta’s varied and decidedly nontraditional toppings are where this place makes its mark in New York’s hypercompetitive pizza scene.” And on Brooklynian’s Prospect Heights board, BrookFestish spotted a new pizza joint called Cataldo’s at 554 Vanderbilt between Le Gamin and Nick’s.
Going South of the Border in Greenpoint
Got a hankering for huraches? Brooklyn Based hits up all the Mexican and South American restaurants on Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint — including Papacito’s, El Encanto Mexicano, Pio Pio Riko, Cafecito Bogota, the New Tulcingo Restaurant, and the Acapulco Deli and Restaurant — to help satisfy your cravings.
After the jump: Octopus that would make Mario Batali proud, a Brooklyn barista brings home the latte art crown, and changes are in store for the Coney Island hot dog eating contest…
Batali-esque Octopus at Fiore
284 Grand Street, Williamsburg; (718) 782-8222
“The usual platters of cured meats and cheese are available, but why not head for my favorite thing on the menu? Possibly inspired by a similar squid dish at Babbo, polipetti brasati ($6) are baby octopi braised to within an inch of their tiny lives in a tomato sauce golden with olive oil. Eating the cephalopods is ecstasy, and I genuflect before chef Roberto Aita for taking a big chance by putting this unusual stew on the menu.” [Village Voice]
Brooklyn Barista Wins Latte Art Throwdown
“To keep the playing field level, designs were strictly limited to rosettas no latte lions allowed and judges rated baristas not on taste, but symmetry, contrast, detail, and style. In the end, only one could claim the crown for most artsy barista, and that was ‘Danger’ Dan Griffin of Williamsburg’s El Beit.” [Gothamist]
Time Change for Coney Island Contest
“The celebrated Nathan’s hot dog contest — the granddaddy of all competitive-eating competitions — will drop from the traditional 12 minutes to just 10 this year… The decision will have profound implications on the man-eat-dog world of gustatory gluttony.” [The Brooklyn Paper]
the ducks are moving out. Seems they could swallow only just so much bad treatment.
And, do they sell a lot of foie gras in Queens? Why did Tony take up this cause? Does it have anything peripherally to do with the Queens rate of foreclosures??
Perhaps Mr. Benjamin should try the technique and see how he feels afterwards. I try not to anthropomorphize animals (with varying levels of success) but the idea that such a procedure wouldn’t be uncomfortable for the animal indicates an extreme amount of denial on his part. And since he doesn’t think animals should be anthropomorphized, wasn’t he doing just that by saying they didn’t look uncomfortable? How would he even know, by his own argument.
Food/Tony Avella…I think this is within topic….
June 11 (Bloomberg) Sponsor of New York Ban on Foie Gras Says He Changed His Mind
“I had a change of heart,” said Assemblyman Michael Benjamin, a Bronx Democrat, in a telephone interview today.
Benjamin made his comments moments before New York City Councilman Tony Avella held a news conference on the steps of
City Hall to call for support of Benjamin’s law. Avella, joined by animal-rights activists, said he believes it’s wrong to stuff food down the throats of ducks and geese to produce the fatty delicacy.
“The practice of force-feeding birds in order to produce foie gras is simply cruel and inhumane,” said Avella, a Queens
Democrat. The process involves using a metal tube and air pressure to feed birds large amounts of food to swell their
livers over a period of several weeks, Avella said.
Benjamin, though, said a farm visit convinced him the bill he sponsored isn’t necessary.
“To my knowledge none of the ducks looked uncomfortable or mistreated,” Benjamin said. “We shouldn’t anthropomorphize animals into humans. What might look painful to us isn’t painful
to them.”
2:54 I agree with you. I thought that article was ridiculous not talking about Sunset Park. I do think Chavella’s rules though.
Brooklyn Based says that there are no good Mexican places in Brooklyn….what about Sunset Park? Most of the places there are better than Chavella’s o Bonita!
agree w/ 12:24 – It’s awful, and for pretty obvious reasons.
Chinese Delivery 12:52
Re: Decent Chinese. Have we forgotten about Chinatown in Sunset Park. It is comparable to what you can find in Manhattan’s Chinatown or Flushing’s Chinatown.