Fat Cat Wines is Making Me Lazy

Those of us who live on the south end of Carroll Gardens suffer a problem (and yes, I'm speaking for all of us). No matter where you live, it's rare to walk any more south. Everything is north: the restaurants, the bodegas, the grocery stores. I do walk one block down to hit Le Petit Cafe (bagels, coffee) and Las Americas (beer, anything else I happen to need right now), but I never go south of Nelson. Until recently, that is. And my walk took me right into the neighborhood's newest wine store, Fat Cat Wines, at Court Street between W 9th and Huntington. I've been there three times in the past week and show no signs of stopping. Two of those times I loved the wine I got, and one it was just so-so, but two out of three ain't bad. The store specializes in wine from small and often organic vineyards with a nice mix from the U.S. and abroad. Last night I picked up a great pinot gris from Oregon that wowed our dinner companions. On Friday, we picked up two reds at $12 each that tasted more like $18 bottles. And while I haven't tried any, I've been eyeing the lovely sake collection.

Also, currently on exhibit is work by Junko Shimizu, who worked as an assistant for Takashi Murakami (flyer below).