Archive | June, 2009

SummerFest 2009

summer-fest

The Urban Assembly Academy of Arts & Letters (UAAAL) is sponsoring the second annual SummerFest in Fort Greene celebrating summer, students, and community. Join them at 225 Adelphi Street (between Dekalb and Willoughby in Fort Greene) on Saturday, June 20th, for events and entertainment for children and adults alike.

Free and open to the public, SummerFest invites all to this outdoor festival featuring an exhibition of student artwork, student performances, face painting, and games for all ages, including a dunk tank!  Enjoy our “Taste of Fort Greene/Clinton Hill Food Fest” with food from: Bacchus, Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, Chez Lola & Chez Oscar, Graziella’s, Habana Outpost, iCi, Island Pride Restaurant, Kif, Kum Kau, La Villa Pizzeria & Restaurant, Mont Blanc Dessert, Olea Mediterranean Taverna, Red Bamboo, Roosters Chicken Rotisserie, Ruthie’s Restaurant of Brooklyn, and Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies.  Raffle items include a Park Slope YMCA family membership, a Giants football jacket signed by Carl Banks, 2 i-Pod nano’s, and a digital camera!  Join us!  Questions?: (718) 222-1605 x3042 or view www.uaaal.org.

Comments { 0 }

Something’s going on at Cafe Dore

dore

Looks like there’s finally some action at the [now defunct?] Cafe Dore on Smith Street. The restaurant never seemed to have a good amount of customers, leading me to wonder how it survived, until it closed down this past winter for “renovations.” There’s some definite construction going on inside and work permits on the doors, so I wonder if it’s a new restaurant or just a renewal?

Comments { 0 }

Trout becomes a BBQ joint

Photo from Brownstoner.

Photo from Brownstoner.

Out with Trout, in with Since 1963.

Chowhound: the former location of Gravy & Trout @ Smith & Pacific has reopened as “since 1963″ (as far as I can tell based on the sign & take-out menu). They are selling BBQ by the lb., sandwiches, and standard BBQ sides. The menu says all meat is hickory-smoked.

Comments { 1 }

New vet in the nabe

Photo from A Brooklyn Life.

Photo from A Brooklyn Life.

A Brooklyn Life reports that there’s a new veterinarian coming to 455 Court Street.

So the signage is up at 455 Court Street (next to Frankie’s 457). It’s slated to be a vet, Carroll Gardens Veterinary Group, in fact. The only other info I have is the phone number of (718) 875-7007, per Google.

Comments { 0 }

Foraging for fruit in Carroll Gardens

Urban fruit foraging is on the rise, according to an article in the New York Times. In fact, there are foragers in our very own neighborhood. Has anyone fruit foraged before? Or does anyone know where there’s fruit growing on these blocks? I might have to give this foraging thing a try…

Jennifer Perillo, a mother and food writer who lives in Brooklyn, became an accidental neighborhood fruit forager last summer. She was driving to her mother’s house in Bensonhurst when she saw vibrant red balls hanging from a tree in someone’s yard. Cherries!

She saw a peach tree, too, and leaned over a fence for a sample. The owner was none too happy, but when she explained that she only wanted her children to taste a fresh Brooklyn peach, he gave her half a dozen.

Then she started looking for fruit in her own neighborhood, Carroll Gardens, finding apricots and figs in abundance. “Honestly, for years I walked around the neighborhood in my own world and I never noticed all of this before,” she said.

Comments { 0 }

Weekly crime blotter: 6/9/09

bugleblotter-300x171

There were several robberies in the subway this week — and a small victory for Brooklynites who cars have been stolen borough-wide. For more neighborhood crimes, see Brooklyn Heights Blog.

First up, cops recovered one of the stolen cars from last week’s BHB blotter. A perp stole a man’s Honda sedan from the corner of Adams and Sands street on May 26, but cops found it two days later on Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene. The only thing missing was the car’s radio and spare key, and cops said the thieves didn’t break any windows, locks, or the ignition.

On June 3, just before 4 pm, a punk reached over to a fellow G-train straphanger and snatched her iPhone from her hands. The perp then darted out of the train at the Bergen Street station.

A churchgoing thief stole $3,500 from a woman’s purse at a Bergen Street church on June 2, just before 5 pm. The victim told cops she left her purse on a table in the church’s lobby, which is between Nevins Street and Third Avenue, but when she turned around five minutes later, the cash was gone.

A perp stole a rented car on June 1 that was parked on Dean Street, scoring — however inadvertently — a brand new swing set that the driver had just purchased for his toddler. The victim told cops he left the car between Third and Fourth avenues at 2 pm, but when he came back four hours later, everything was gone. The perp also acquired the man’s car seat.

Comments { 0 }

Sam’s Restaurant patriarch steps down

sams

Lost City reports that Mario Migliaccio, the Italian-born pizzaiolo who’s been making pies at Sam’s Restaurant on Court Street for over 60 years, is moving back to his hometown in Ischia following the recent death of his wife. Mr. Migliaccio’s son, Louis, will be taking over the restaurant, and little is expected to change. I’ve never tried a pizza from Sam’s- anyone out there a fan?

81-year-old Mario Magliaccio was one of Brooklyn’s master pizza makers, but few knew it. He kept to himself and didn’t court publicity the way some other old pizzerias did. For that, you have to admire his integrity and modesty. At Sam’s, making good, simple food didn’t qualify the owners for any special genuflection; it was a matter of course.

Comments { 5 }

Carroll Gardens, In Living Color

Photo from New York Times

Photo from New York Times

I often see Kelly Coffield (Park) walking around the neighborhood and certainly recognize her by face, if not by name, since it’s hard to forget her antics on “In Living Color.” Little did I know that she lived here with her husband, Stephen Park, a former “In Living Color” cast-mate. The New Yorks Times takes a look inside their story and their duplex apartment on Sackett Street.

Comments { 0 }

Watty & Meg gets a B

Photos from Serious Eats.

Photos from Serious Eats.

Serious Eats gives Watty & Meg an overall grade of a B, after a visit that seemed pleasant, but not spectacular. Has anyone had dinner there yet? Made an attempt at brunch this weekend, but passed it up since I wasn’t in the mood for any of four different poached egg variations or the granola dish the host tried to convince me I’d like.

Comments { 7 }

Atlantic Ave ArtWalk this weekend

artwalk

This weekend marks the sixth annual Atlantic Avenue ArtWalk, a self-guided tour of open artist studios and area exhibitions, public art projects, and special events (all events are free and open to the public). A list of the weekend’s events and restaurants offering a discount can be found here.

Comments { 0 }