Recently in Food and Drink Category

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.

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.

I've already to been to Buttermilk Channel more times than I can count for dinner, so it's with a great sigh of happiness that I report the charming Carroll Gardens restaurant is now open for brunch. Sadly for me, this has not gone without notice from the rest of the neighborhood, and my party of two had a 25 minutes wait at 12:30 p.m. My order of pecan pie french toast (appropriately slice like two pieces of pie, above) was heavenly: the bourbon, molasses and toasted pecans certainly didn't hurt ... nor did the whipped cream on the side. Despite all the trappings, it wasn't too sweet, and an excellent foil to the huge side of bacon we ordered, swore we wouldn't finish and then fought over for the last piece. My dining companion had the Eggs Huntington, the restaurant's version of eggs Benedict, which was refreshingly light for not being a very light dish. And, the biscuits on which it was served definitely hold their own--but no harm in dousing with some hollandaise. Oh, and brunch includes coffee or tea and a bloody mary (excellent with lots of cayenne), mimosa or bellini. Yum. And it opens at 10 a.m. for those early risers.

Other reports?

Frankie's 457 and I have a colorful history. When the restaurant opened, I fell in love with the solid new-old Italian joint just blocks from my place. And then it got crowded (routine two and a half hour waits on the weekends, one and a half on weekdays). And then the service became inexplicably snobby. And then, it turned nice again, really nice, I-want-to-be-your-friend nice. And so, I booked a group of nine for the weekend, and everything was wonderful: the food (ah, the cavatelli), the service, the inexpensive but good wine. Things really took an interesting turn, however, when our party was gently encouraged to vacate the prime communal table for a sneak peak at Prime Meats.

As I've been drooling over the progress of Prime Meats from the outside for months, it didn't take long to convince me to skip through the shared backyard, through the still much-under-construction, chef's dream of a kitchen and into the beautiful cocktail sanctum that is the first floor of the space. The loving restoration/recreation of the space shows--flawless pressed tin ceiling, stunning molding, stalwart wooden bar--and it all comes together, down to the ubiquitous but appropriate filament bulbs. But here's where things get interesting: the cocktail menu.

Of course the Franks are doing a throwback, Prohibition-era inspired cocktail menu, but minus the Prime Daquiri and the Old-Fashioned, these are not the expected crowd pleasers. Words that come to mind are "herbaceous," "forest-y," and "medicinal." That may have something to do with my choice of The Waterfront, a mix of Fernet-Branca, Branca Menta and ginger ale, which is best described as what a Halls mentho-lyptus drop would taste like if bottled and bubbled. Drink it next to the Holmes Cooler (try saying that fast ...), a combo of Junipero gin, Nardini Amaro Bassano, punt e mes and seltzer, and it's like taking nibbles of licorice and then licking a cough drop. Talk about a mouth experience! My favorite was the above Strawberry Mash (photo above), rye, whiskey barrel aged bitters, muddled strawberries and mint--it's a bracing drink that won't win over strawberry lovers but truly makes the whiskey shine.

I waver here slightly because I love the craft that's gone into the cocktail menu and the fun of trying something that's just not available anywhere else. (I was too far gone to sample the Whitelodge Cooler and properly appreciate its rhubarb bitters, but I will be back ... ). But I also wonder if Carroll Gardens has the constitution for such creative cocktailing. What say ye, CGardeners, can you stomach a cocktail menu with bitters in most of the drinks and absinthe in a handful more?

All photos by the lovely Marsha.

Two notes of interest in the Carroll Gardens pizza world.

1. South Brooklyn Pizza on Court Street now has a gay dance party night, according to Metromix. It's Mondays for those of you who are interested.

2. Lucali now charges $24 for a straight up pie. It's been a while since we've been (little Devin doesn't have patience for that line!), and it's still worth it, but damn you gotta make dough to eat it.

The headline really says it all. Bar Great Harry (280 Smith Street) is expanding into a back room and rumor is it will also host a pool table. May I remind all the people who've lost their jobs recently (or those for whom drinking in the afternoon is a socially acceptable part of their life), Bar Great Harry opens at 2pm on the weekdays. It also has a lovely selection of beers.

I see the two Franks more than I see my friends, that's how often I catch them meandering between Frankie's 457 Sputino and their new spot, Prime Meats. I won't ruin New York Mag's article for you, but a few highlights: The Franks are friends with Six Points boys; we've got Stumptown Coffee Roasters to thank for the soon-to-be best (perhaps only?) cappucino below 2nd Place, and there will be an upstairs speakeasy-style bar. I hope my Six Point Craft Ale Brooklyn sweatshirt will get me in!

Photo: NYMag, see the whole slideshow!