Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up

The Skinny on 5 New Neighborhood Haunts
Brooklyn Based shares their early impressions of the General Greene, Peaches Market Café, Abigail Café and Wine Bar, James, and Annabelle’s. We’re intrigued by their recommended cocktail at the General Greene: “We loveloveloved the Clermont Bubbly (a refreshing combo of St. Germaine, pear and Prosecco).” And the photo of Annabelle’s backyard (at right, by Melissa Sands) looks so inviting, but Brooklyn Based notes that “the pond, flower garden and multi-level patio out back has potential, but is still a work in progress.”

The Times on Peaches Market Cafe
393 Lewis Avenue (MacDonough Street), Bedford-Stuyvesant; (718) 942-4162
“Peaches is Southern with a difference. Smoked country ham is finished with dried plums and arugula, and fried grits are polished with sun-dried tomato marmalade. There’s fried whiting as well as fried Greenmarket vegetables and fried calamari with aioli. Barbecue, like baby back ribs and pulled pork sandwiches, make it here, too. The menu tops out at $18 for a grass-fed ribeye steak.” [NY Times]

Underrated Pizza: Sam’s and Italia
“Sam’s on Court Street is one of those old-school neighborhood perennials that Chowhounds rarely mention, but guttergourmet thinks it belongs in New York’s never-ending pizza conversation, right up there with the most celebrated places in Brooklyn and beyond. ‘Beautiful pizza, precious place,’ guttergourmet writes… Meanwhile, down in Bensonhurst and Gravesend, Brklynbobby puts in a word for another sleeper, the Sicilian pie at Italia on Kings Highway. ‘The crust is lighter than air and the sauce is heaven,’ says Brklynbobby.” [CHOW]

After the jump: A new coal-oven pizzeria for Red Hook, cheap tapas on Columbia Street, a new burger joint and vegetarian eats in Park Slope, news on the Red Hook vendors’ schedule, and a Williamsburg bar gets a taco truck right in their backyard…

Not Open Yet: Anselmo’s Bakery Restaurant
354 Van Brunt Street (at Sullivan Street), Red Hook; (718) 775-5386
“While I was in Red Hook on Saturday for the opening day of the Red Hook Vendors, I figured I’d head on over to the supposed site of New York City’s next coal-oven pizzeria. Slice posted about this mid June, and at the time the projected opening date for Anselmo’s Pizzeria was July 4, according to its website. Looks like it’s still got some ways to go, and calls to the number have gone unreturned.” [Slice]

Red’s Produce Isn’t a Produce Shop!
289 Columbia Street; (718) 506-5432
We’ve rolled past this place when it was closed a bunch of times and figured it was a fruit and veggie market, but we were fooled by the signage — it’s actually a tapas joint. Chowhound as3589 says, “We had boquerones, beets with cabrales, tortilla, garlic shrimp, and olives along with a bottle of wine. Everything was simple and good and nothing was more than $6 (except the wine).”

Quick Bites
A Hamburger Today mentions the opening of Park Slope’s Corner Burger in the old Mediterra space next to ChipShop…The Times visits Park Slope’s ‘Snice and comments on their faux meat sandwiches… Serious Eats reports that the Red Hook food vendors may add a weekday to their schedules… And Eater informs us that Williamsburg’s Union Pool had a taco truck parked in their backyard on Saturday — which makes one of Brooklyn’s most intimate music venues even more delicious.