Carroll Gardens: March 2008 Archives

Though an equal opportunity religious icons store (saw a few Buddhas), most of the stock seems centered on Latin American Catholic imagry, plus a healthy dose of mysticism. So next to your more traditional rows of Jesus and Mary icons and Catholic prayer candles, there's a whole shelf devoted to a variety of oils that ward away evil and the like. I checked it out on Saturday and then came back for some photos on Sunday (when it was closed, naturally).

Anyway, if you're looking for any religious icons, Columbia Street has your one-stop shop.

After months of waiting, and untold journeys to Sweet Melissa Patisserie for sugar fixes, The Sweet Melissa Baking Book hit my kitchen the other week. I immediately cracked the spine at the index to search for my favorite  treat ... and there it was: "madeleines, chestnut honey, 62-63." If you have never had a Sweet Melissa madeleine, then you need to get up immediately, scrounge $1.25 in change, and proceed straight to the bakery. Forget Proust, from  henceforth when you think of madeleines, the name you'll murmur will be Melissa.

Madeleines are cookies that are also cake. This should be an adequate explanation for the necessity of their existence and of the dire urgency for eating one at the absolute earliest. Could pages 62-63 do justice to these sublime little shells of baked goodness? With my boyfriend's birthday just coming up, I decided to forego the cupcakes (so 2007) and try out her recipe.

After a $30 stop at A Cook's Companion for madeleine molds, a ten minute wait at Sahadi's for hazelnuts (also called filberts, FYI), a tense deconstruction of 6 eggs (ok, actually 8 but that is only because I am terrible at separating egg whites), and two hours of refrigeration, the madeleines were ready to bake. Fifteen minutes later 24 perfect chestnut honey madeleines lay cooling on the kitchen counter. Moist, sweet, and perfect for dusting with sugar. Though my version was not quite as good as the one Melissa makes in her bakery, I place the blame squarely on my shoulders. Her recipe was clear and easy, and the cookie/cakes were believably baked by a pro.

To get your own copy of the book (and maybe one or two madeleines) swing by her book party at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, 2 April at the Park Slope location.

I had heard a rumor of a suspicious death in the neighborhood this week, and today's story in the New York Times confirms it:

Two men were killed in Brooklyn in separate encounters, the police said on Tuesday.

In the first, Sanjeev Seekoomar, 34, was found on Tuesday morning stabbed to death in his basement apartment at 326 Carroll Street in Carroll Gardens, the police said. The door to the apartment was pushed in and the apartment ransacked, indicating a possible burglary or robbery, but motive was being investigated, the police said.

Not that I regularly check the blotter, but this strikes me out of the ordinary for the neighborhood.

For the more salacious version, check the NY Daily News.

Spring must be in the air because new spots are popping up in Carroll Gardens like tulips. All I got on this one at 316 Court Street at Degraw Street is what the sign says--fine Middleastern [sic] Food coming soon with the name of Olive Vine Cafe. Hey, if it means a secondary spot for falafel in the neighborhood, I'm all for it. A woman cannot live by Zaytoons alone.

If I'm not mistaken (and that rarely happens, right?), what you are looking at is some substantial work on the two storefronts that are set to become some version of Frankie's, part II, on Court at the corner of Luquer. The work to sure-up the walls of the corner space (formerly a dry cleaners) is now done, workers have started bricking the garage/driveway that leads from the current Frankie's backyard to Luquer Street (not visible in this photo), and now the facades on both of the Court Street fronts are being reworked. I saw the Franks poking their heads into the two buildings over the weekend.

Jake Walk is an odd name for a cute bar. At least that's my assessment from the street. Owned by the Smith & Vine/Stinky Brooklyn people, it's been open for a couple of weeks now, and on St. Patty's Day was serving a roomful of drinkers. Wine, cheese and little snacks are keeping the yuppies happy ... heh, I said it. Yuppie or not, I love a good wine bar and will probably quaff a cocktail or two once I get this whole pregnancy thing over with.

I can't say I'm sad to see Quench (the space's former occupant) go. Jake Walk is on the corner of Smith and Sackett streets. And if you're wondering about that weird name, it's a reference to the paralytic gait that many Southerners got from drinking bad moonshine during Prohibition. Drink up!

Brooklyn never does a stellar job of advertising its Restaurant Week, which is why I usually realize it's about to happen when the bus stop advertisement goes up on Court Street and 3rd Place.

The $23 three-course deals run from March 24 to 31. To see the complete list, check out the borough's site.

A few of my recommendations in the area:
Lunetta
Chestnut
Crave
Korhogo 126
Petite Crevette
Applewood
Blue Ribbon
Zenkichi (Williamsburg)

DJ Loveless and Eric Shans will play all your favorite at indie, britpop, new wave and shoegaze tunes at Abilene this Wednesday night.