Food and Drink: August 2007 Archives

Seems like there's a lot to do this weekend. This event, a cocktail demonstration and farmer's market tasting, happens on Sunday at Flatbush Farm in Park Slope from 4pm to 6pm in the bar(n). It's $40 per person with limited seating so reserve now if you're interested. Cocktails will include

• Rye with blackberries (or raspberries), mint and homemade ginger beer,
• Gin with peaches and homemade thyme syrup, and
• Aged Rum with honeydew melon and non-local lime juice.

Chef Stephen Browning will be whipping up assorted tapas including heirloom tomatoes, deviled eggs, olives, corn fritters, house-cured pickles, watermelon, pulled pork mini buns, as well as assorted toasts with house-smoked salmon, goat cheese & spicy peppers, radishes with butter, and white anchovies. The tasting is in conjunction with Slow Food NYC and Panforte Productions. Bon appetite.

So two big changes today at Caputo's on Court Street. The first is the new counter woman, who while trying desperately to be nice, didn't seem to be connecting with the hodgepodge of old neighborhood Italian-talking regulars and new neighborhood Italian-goods lovers. Second, she kept telling people to use "the number system" (though I missed it, there is apparently a board at the front of the store with numbers). Today, anyway, the combination of new person + number system was not going well. No one took one, and when someone finally did, everybody was pissed when said person appeared to skip the line. To an outsider, this might seem like a small thing, but at a never-changing institution like Caputo's it's a pretty big deal. Still, I'll endure new people and numbers if it means I can continue to enjoy easy access to the best lunch meats, fresh mozzarella, pasta, etc., in Brooklyn.

Finally did a walk-by on this, and the change to Rocky Sullivan's at 34 Van Dyke Street in Red Hook is complete on the outside. Love that the bar has its own Wikipedia page. We didn't go inside as we were rushing through Red Hook for our papusa fix at the ballfields. Anyone been?

Bar at Smith and Sackett streets goes from Bar to Bar Great Harry. The name feels very British, doesn't it?