Neighborhood: January 2006 Archives

So there's this new club on Smith Street--white walls, futuristic white seating, crazy red branches creeping up the wall--O wait, that's Em, the new Smith Street Thai restaurant, my bad. But it wouldn't be a horrible club if only they hadn't played Dirty Vegas' "Days Go By" (aka that Mitsubishi commercial song) twice. But on to the food. As I mentioned before, the menu is extensive and fairly creative for a Thai place in this neighborhood, with a notable number of duck dishes. We started with a spicy squid salad ($6), which was served on iceberg lettuce, which seems to be a habit here. The sauce was a pleasing mix of lemongrass, lime, mint, chili, but I thought the squid tasted too much of the freezer. Both of the mains we tried were from the Em Special section of the menu, and both were deserving of their "special" moniker.  In particular, the Duck Thai Herbal ($14) had a complex flavor that tasted most heavily of lemongrass, though it was a tad salty and also served on a bed of lettuce (who eats this lettuce at the bottom of a dish). We also tried the Chiang Mai Noodle ($9), mainly because I'm a sucker for a good noodle dish. The dish's fried egg noodles sit atop the mound of meat (chicken) and veggies (potatoes, pickled cabbage), which lounge in a pool of yellow curry.  I would order it again simply for the novelty of the noodles and pickled cabbage, though I would have enjoyed a healthier dose of the cabbage. If Em can keep the quality up on the more expensive dishes and manage to switch out the music in its CD player, I think we have a Smith Street contender. Plus, it's BYOB!

Brooklyn Papers is reporting that the construction of Whole Foods at 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street in Gowanus/Park Slope has been delayed--again--by the slow removal of toxic gasoline storage tanks. Looks like they won't be outta there until March. The paper also delves into a bit of the site's glorious industrial history:

Going back to the 19th century, the land had hosted a lake, a coal yard, an oil-processing company and a radiator manufacturer. Oh, and it was also a junkyard at one point. Since excavation began in the fall, a lake of green water has overtaken the site, a consequence of digging below the water table.

This feels like a good time to remind Brooklynites that you should always have your soil tested before you plant edibles directly into the soil. I have heard that Columbia University will do this for a fee. Has anyone had their soil tested? If so, where?

There was gentrification, and it was good. [intelligent gentrification theory via Daily Heights]

"Man, this whole nabe has gentrified all to hell. I remember when it was a just cooled mass of magma and noxious gasses. Those days rocked. Only the hard-core lived here, and the vibe was great ... I had this kick-ass bit of rock, but then these yuppie lung-fish started waddling in on their fancy-pants fin-legs and drove up the cost of everything ..." more

A reader reports that the Carroll Court Pharmacy at Court and Carroll has closed its doors and will re-open as a bank. No doubt the bank will be a much more lucrative tenant than the rickety pharmacy (according to our tipster about $7,000 a month more lucrative). That block is starting to look like a chain magnet--Dunkin Donuts, the big Citibank. I wonder which storefront is next?

Update: The folks at 423 Smith are reporting it'll be a Chase.

I like a lot of things about Brooklyn, but one of the things that always makes me feel good about living here is how much creative energy exists below the surface, how much of it radiates from people on the streets, and how, just when I think I know everything there is to know about where I live, I learn something new. This happens almost every day, and it keeps my faith when I wonder if or when I'll give it all up for a less urban lifestyle. Today's lesson comes in the form of a very cool music/art/performance space that a reader was kind enough to mention, the Project Room.

It's housed in one of the two silos on Carroll Street overlooking the Gowanus (the other of which I've mentioned before is for rent), which automatically makes it kinda cool. From a careful look at this month's performances, I'd say if you're down with the theremin, you'll be down with the Project Room.

A little avant-garde: The description for the Jan. 27 performance of Talibam reads, "Think Media Dream-vintage Sun Ra organ blow-outs locking in with saxophone feedback and a single Plunderphonic-ed Keith Moon drum fill for 40 minutes." A touch hokey: The Peck Allmond and Kenny Wollesen show from earlier this month carries the warning, " this will be a quiet show!  audience members will be requested to take off their shoes, enjoy fresh herbal teas and free vegan snacks while listening on pillows." But, ultimately, pretty damn cool: This Saturday's Bobby Previte band and Jamie Saft Blues Explosion performances (8pm, $10) sound like the perfect antidote to same-old, same-old live music experiences.

(Image: That's Lucie Rosen playing the theremin from here.)

We have it on good authority that Abilene at 444 Court Street will have a soft opening tonight (Friday). There's been much discussion around if and when the bar (formerly the Red Room and several other things) would open, and ABrooklynLife is quite excited about the prospect of a new neighborhood drinkery. So cheers to another area watering hole--we're eagerly waiting the reports!

A few neighborhood restaurant transitions to report. The former 3 Bow Thai at 278 Smith Street is now 'Em, a much slicker and more modern space. In an attempt to separate itself from the other Thai establishments on the block, its takeout menus--a familiar mix of spicy fish cake, satays, larb, pad thai, curries etc--are folded like fans. The anomalies are the appearance of "moc duck" and some different sounding dishes like Chiang Mai noodle, cumin-smoked chicken and duck Thai herbal. As one who likes a variety of veggies in her dishes, I'm glad to report the appearance of snow peas, mushrooms, peppers, carrots, etc. Rice, however, will cost you: Coconut rice and Thai-sticky rice are $2 and jasmine rice is $1. (Perhaps this is the new way of Thai restaurants, but I'm still not a fan of paying for rice.)

Also of note is that Zombie Hut moved down the block from 261 to 273 Smith Street.The decor looks like it was lifted from the old and seamlessly set down in the new space, that is, notably, twice the size.

And last, but not least, Blue Star at 254 Court Street has morphed into South (same phone number) as of Wednesday. The nice man on the phone said the restaurant was aiming for a southern fish shack feel, with cheaper entrees, beer and wine. He also mentioned "better service" (was it bad before?) and said the raw bar and the po' boy would still be available. The funny thing was, I called yesterday because I'd never gotten around to going to Blue Star, and I was finally going to take the plunge. C'est la vie.

Yep, a big banner hanging above the old Leonardo's confirms the already confirmed rumors: The Dunkin' Donuts invasion of Carroll Gardens has begun. Shall we stage a boycott? Conspicuously drink cups of coffee from Le Petite Cafe, Brooklyn Bread, D'Amico or Giorgia's Place outside the offending store? I can't decide if this would be better or worse if we were discussing a Starbucks opening ...

Some people say groping leads to sex. I say, it's simply the foreplay before an American Apparel store opening--this one in Cobble Hill at 237 Smith right next to Banania. I actually like the label's anti-sweatshop rhetoric, but I can't help taking a jab at the ultimate hipster seal of approval in a neighborhood. Previously, a pit stop for form-fitting T-shirts opened in Brooklyn Heights. According to the company's website, a store is also planned for this corner of Park Slope. Happy shagging, I mean shopping. (For more barely-there advertisement pics, check out BlogNYC.)

I've often wondered why Brooklyn doesn't have its own magazine. When would the off-hand mentions of Brooklyn restaurants and issues in New York Magazine and Time Out get under the skin of some editorially minded entrepreneur and spawn a magazine? Like most questions I dream up, the answer already exists, this one in the form of The Brooklynite. The fledgeling mag's editor was kind enough to send me the first two issues of his magazine, which he helpfully pointed out is "the ONLY Brooklyn magazine to feature articles by a Pulitzer Prize winner and a Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee winner." The Brooklynite is free and distributed to Brooklyn businesses, but it is also arguably hard to find. It is, however, worth finding. Many of the articles are meaty, dealing with social or political issues facing the borough, and some deal with infinitely more pressing issues like what drink unites old Japanese people and Williamsburg hipsters? Subscriptions are $10 for two issues.

It's not often ABrooklynlife gets mail (seriously people, it's OK to say hi every once in a while). So, when we got an e-mail from the Brooklyn band Randy Bandits, describing themselves as embodying "the very nature of the BK in that they are smart, funny, sincere, sweet and tree-lined. If the Randy Bandits were a type of building, they would be a brownstone," it got us thinking, if ABrooklynLife were a building what would it be?

We settled upon that weird little Gowanus building that we talked about before (listed on bApple) that's still for rent. Oddly shaped, a touch quirky, with a modern sensibility that's informed by a sense of history, yep, that's ABrooklynLife in a nutshell.

And back to those Randy Bandits, they sound more like a rambling country saloon than a brownstone to us.  If that's your game, they play at Hank's Saloon Saturday night.

So if you or your blog were a building, what would it be?

So I was in Key Food on Court Street, torturing myself with sub-standard produce and refrigerated items of questionable freshness, when I hear this shrill young voice cutting through the Muzak din. "I want bacon. I want bacon. I want bacon. I want bacon." Lo and behold in the meat section, a young boy (perhaps 6 or 7 years old) is swinging around a support poll pole chanting the very phrase I was thinking when I woke up on January 1. His mother, with a full cart (how does this happen in this abominable grocery store?), is rooting through the frozen not-meat section of the grocery.

In a sad but probably inevitable move, Schnack on Union Street raised its prices. The new menu focuses more on burgers and dogs (now the black Angus beef dog from Stahl-Meyer), which according to its website will allow the restaurant to focus on specials. Personally, when I crave Schnack, it's the burgers I'm after.
I don't have a copy of the old menu, but I know the burgers suffered a price jump. I believe the single Schnackies used to be $1 and they're now $1.65.  Doubles are $3.86, triples are $5.25 and the quad is $6.90. Of course, toppings like cheese (.75) and lettuce and tomato (.60) are still extra. And it's hard to down a burger without a side of fries ($3.75) or onion rings ($5). Beer even took a hit, with Schwag coming in at $3.75 a pint--before I *think* it was $2.50. Normally, when we do a Schnack run we can be in and out with tip for $25. This time, it was more than $25 without tip. The rise in price won't stop me from getting my burger fix because I do love these little burgers, but here's hoping the extra cash will improve the very friendly but often confused service.