A Brooklyn Life

Oh Carroll Gardens food friends, the day has come. The day I thought I'd never see. The day when I can *walk* to a sit-down restaurant with great tacos, make that mind-blowing tacos. On the West Coast, they would be merely great tacos, but New York City being bizarrely inadequate in the burrito and taco (nay entire Mexican food) category, Calexico achieves mind-blowing status.

The carne asada (the jewel of the meats in my opinion) is as tender as tender can be, and its rather smokey flavor plays well off the bottom layer of slaw. And the pulled pork, ah the pulled pork, it's so juicy and flavorful that you'll be wishing you had something to soak up the dribble from the back end of your taco (that sounds kind of gross, but I mean it in a complimentary way). For dipping fiends like myself, a glorious bar of salsas--from a cilantro-heavy green salsa fresca to one with an almost vinegary tang labeled with the word nuclear--will have you ordering a side of chips just to soak up all the salsa goodness.

A yummy sounding salad, tortas and burritos (plus plenty of Jarritos to wash it all down) round out the menu, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to get past the tacos for at least a few more visits.

As for the interior, it's much cleaner and bigger feeling than it was as Schnack and much plainer. But there is life--in the form of inset shrines, and the kitchen is visible.

Calexico opens its storefront on Union tomorrow. We'll probably skip the first-day madness but will have a report back soon. Grub Street has a nice preview (note: there will be grits at this taqueria).

In other food news, the storefront that used to be Chicory looks to be opening soon (at least by the peek through the window). Although the appearance of warming trays has us a bit confused as to what kind of food will be served.

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. I’ve always used Animal Healing Arts on Henry Street with good results, but the prospect of a vet that’s just yards from my house is appealing.

I'm sure this couple isn't shocking to DUMBO residents anymore, but I remain shocked whenever I see people walking pigs in Brooklyn, which is exactly what I spotted on Saturday.

The economy has been hitting Smith Street businesses kind of hard--in fact, I'd posit that Court Street, seemingly in an upswing (Watty & Meg, Snack Shack, Enoteca to name a few), is poised to become the new Smith Street--but the effect of the economic hard times, locally, really hit "home" to me when Hasker closed. When I first moved to this neighborhood, Hasker was Zipper, and Hassan and Kerry were store employees and not owners.

I moved to Carroll Gardens without any knowledge of its potential fabulousness as a neighborhood. I took the apartment (overlooking the BQE) because it was cheap, and there was a laundry, coffeeshop and train station within a short walking distance--the three things my New York friends said were essential in a place.

Hasker was one of the first home boutique stores I think I visited in the city, and to me it represented all of the cool things that my New York apartment could be if only I had a better paying job and a better grasp on color coordination. In my frequent return visits to the store, which I treated much like trips to a museum--going in to look, not buy--I became friendly with Hassan and Kerry. I don't remember how it happened, exactly. But next thing I knew, we were friends. Not best friends, but friendly enough to smile, wave and share little parts of our lives whenever our paths crossed.

Then the two employees became owners, named the store an amalgam of their own monikers, and helmed a thriving business. Along the way, I had a baby, Hassan welcomed his baby, Kerry got a Swedish boyfriend (OK a lot more happened), but through it all, I always felt welcome walking through the door to shoot the breeze and occasionally left with a present for a birthday, a card for an anniversary, or, as my purchasing power increased, a new couch.

Today, as the rain poured down, I was sad to think I couldn't hop over to Smith Street and see what the Haskers were up to. It was time, they said, to move on. I'm sure it was, but I'll miss them.

See my post from their opening in 2006.

I know I'm not the only one in the neighborhood salivating over the near-imminent opening of Calexico on Union Street in Carroll Gardens. A sign went up about a month ago for hiring and the street cart was parked outside on Tuesday. Might the paper be coming off soon?

Oh Sunday Best how I love you, with your fabulous DJs, imported food carts from the Red Hook Ballfields and lazed relaxing under the trees with other likeminded Brooklynites. For those of you who haven't been, Sunday Best is at The Yard (just before you cross the Gowanus Canal on Carroll Street). It starts on May 24 and runs through September 6, 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. It's all ages, with enough dancing kids to keep things cute. Pony up $10 without an rsvp, $8 with (rsvp@sundaynestnyc.com) or before 4 p.m.

Here's the lineup:

May 24 - QUENTIN HARRIS, the master of soulful house
May 31 - MR. SCRUFF, a UK-based illustrator, tea vendor and eclectic DJ
June 7 - LUKE SOLOMON, Rekids and Cajual producer
June 14 - JUS-ED, Bridgeport, Connecticut’s finest
June 21 - RUB N TUG, crazy but true
June 28 - JUSTIN MARTIN, the dirtiest Dirtybird of them all
July 5 - LOSOUL, maker of European dance music with big nods to soul and jazz
July 12 - KYLE HALL, the 17-year-old, Detroit-based producer who's never played New York
July 19 - I:CUBE, a forefather of French house and one half of Chateau Flight
July 26 - OMAR S blows our minds every time
August 2 - MAURICE FULTON, the funkiest DJ we've ever heard
August 9 - MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE, a young German paying homage to Detroit
August 16 - TIM SWEENEY, the ever-eclectic Beats In Space man
August 23 - THEO PARRISH, a true master playing a long set
August 30 - JUSTUS KOHNCKE, a Kompakt artist playing a live set
September 6 - DJ HARVEY, closing it out crazily and properly

Get info via email.

Happy summer drinking!

The recent renovations to Lobo seem to have yielded a rather similar looking Lobo. I've never been terribly fond of the food, but start with a few of the margartias, and who can tell the difference? Cobble Hill's Lobo is at 218 Court Street at Warren. (There's also one in Park Slope.)

First, apologies for not updating le blog more often ... Now, on to more important things, like that new coal-fired pizza place Anselmo's on Red Hook's Van Brunt Street that's been getting a lot of attention (Gothamist, Slice, NYMag, etc).

Here's the good news: It's not crowded, it's cheap, the waitstaff and pizza man himself, Anselmo Garcia, are super nice, and the ingredients are quality. Here's the slightly less good news: This is no Lucali, no Di Fara. It's good pizza, but it's not great pizza. Oh, and it's in Red Hook, so there's that pesky issue of busing it or walking it. (I prefer walking and suggest a meander through Red Hook Park and past the new Ikea.)

The concept at Anselmo's is a bit different than most of the coal places around town where your options are few. Here you get to choose your cheese--regular mozzarella is standard, and you pay extra for specialty cheeses like fresh mozzarella or ricotta--and your toppings. They go on either a $6, 10-inch pie, or a $14, 14-inch pie. Toppings are $1 on the small or $1.75 on the large. My money says ordering the small pie is cheaper and more personally satisfying as you get the whole thing to yourself.

Mr. Garcia and his 700+ degree oven turn out a lightly-charred-around-the-edges pie on a thin, but not particularly crispy crust. His sauce is pleasantly sweet and ordering the fresh mozzarella or the buffalo mozzarella add that slight necessary tartness. I wanted the crust to be more flavorful and crisper on the bottom. As well, I missed the olive oil drizzle that pulls pies together at similar coal shops. Still, my junior reviewer declared his slice of fresh mozzarella and wild mushroom pie a success, and I had no problem polishing off my bit, either.