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Being A Grownup Is Sweet

November 6, 2008 at 3:05 PM | 0 Comments

Break the bounds of Broadway with our coverage of the Brooklyn arts scene.

The sweet-toothed might be disappointed not to find a sugar emporium at the site of Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg--and that it is, in fact, a bar. So bring your own Ring Pops and candy beads when you check out this hive of activity during its flagship event, the Williamsburg Spelling Bee.

Held on alternate Mondays, the Bee is one of those hipster-y institutions that's easy to mock but hard not to enjoy. With real grown-up prizes and comedian Jen Dziura at the mic, it's way more fun than the now-closed "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" on Broadway--not to mention cheaper, even if you run up your bar tab. Pete's also regularly hosts a Euro-style pub quiz not to mention intimate concerts.

This weekend: Seattle folk rockers Whiting Tennis keep their Wimbledon wardrobes clean Thursday at 10. Four local poets read Friday at 7 at Pete's Big Poetry for a mellow start to the weekend. On Sunday, atone by stopping by rebel minister Jay Bakker's Revolution Church at 4 pm. As the son of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye, he knows a little bit about holding the attentions of a crowd.

Related Stories:
· Exercise Your Mind And Body At The Brooklyn Lyceum [Jaunted]
· Brooklyn Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: karenfoto]

Give Me That New Old Thing

October 30, 2008 at 11:00 AM | 0 Comments

Break the bounds of Broadway with our coverage of the Brooklyn arts scene.

Despite its old-timey sound, the Music Hall of Williamsburg wasn't around for A Tree Grows In Brooklyn: The combination bar and concert space opened last fall out of the bones of former venue Northsix, which itself found life in a former mayonnaise factory.

With three levels and two bars, it's far from a neighborhood dive, but there are some couches too--in case you prefer your indie rock basement style.

This week at the Music Hall of Williamsburg: It's sold out, but if you're savvy you can still catch nouveau glam rockers MGMT Friday (if you can stand all that glitter); Saturday brings the works of arcane folkie Rachael Yamagata, and not only the lonely will appreciate next Thursday's show by Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts.

Related Stories:
· Music Hall of Williamsburg [Official Site]
· Neither Arenas Nor Dives, New Clubs Hope to Succeed with More Style [NYT]
· Brooklyn Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Bryan Bruchman]

Dust Off Your Top Hats and Capes: The Opera is Coming to Brooklyn

October 25, 2008 at 2:30 PM | 0 Comments

Everybody likes to make fun of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with its insufferably ironic scenesters and their asymmetrical haircuts, but it's still one of the best neighborhoods in New York to find bold new ideas in music and art. Case in point: the 'burg will host the borough's first opera in years this November when OperaOggiNY stages a performance of Franco Leoni's one-act verisimo opera L'Oracolo. The company is renovating the 600-seat McCaddin Memorial Hall Theater on Berry Street between South 2nd and South 3rd Streets, and will welcome city opera buffs to its grand opening performances on November 6, 7, and 8. Admission is only $20, which seems like a bargain for a "real" opera, and there are dozens of great bars and restaurants nearby - Dressler comes to mind - where patrons can discuss the tenor's register over drinks and snacks. It will be interesting to see what kind of crowd is drawn to these classical performances in the midst of hipsterville.

[Photo: nag-brooklyn.org]

Related Stories:
· OperaOggiNY [Official Site]
· OperaOggiNy to re-open McCaddin Memorial Hall Theater on Berry Street [nag-brooklyn.org]
· Opera Comes to the Burg [Gothamist]
· Opera Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

The Egg: A Symbol of Life. Also: A Great Spot for Brekkie in Brooklyn

September 7, 2008 at 3:34 PM | 0 Comments

We had a day off in the middle of the week not long ago and decided to go out for lunch in the neighborhood. Having heard many rave reviews of Egg, a newish restaurant on N. 5th and Bedford in Williamsburg, we popped in to see if it lived up to the hype.

Egg is a small, modest joint specializing in breakfast, though they now have lunch and dinner menus as well. Their gimmick, if it can be called that, is that they use only free-range eggs, pasture-raised meats, and artisanal everything else. The atmosphere is casual and airy, with wooden tables and chairs that feel like they were taken from a third-grade classroom circa 1965. A cup of crayons lets you doodle on the paper tablecloth as you wait for your meal. Jenn made a quick sketch of the tattoo on the back of a girl at the next table, a skull and crossbones with angel/devil wings and flames, perhaps a tribute to lost love or something. The crayon drawing looked better than the actual tattoo.

Jenn ordered the Eggs Rothko, an egg in a slice of brioche with broiled tomatoes and a side of Col. Bill Newsom's country ham. I had a steak sandwich made from ribeye (my favorite cut) on Italian bread with Roquefort cheese. Both dishes were lovely, delivering the satisfaction derived from diner food with the culinary touch of a real chef using high-end ingredients. The only complaint we had was that the good colonel's ham was ringed with a generous layer of fat which could have been trimmed a little better. No big whoop. My steak sandwich was a perfect medium rare, and the Roquefort was both tangy and complex.

The big surprise at Egg came with the bill. Based on all the fawning praise, I expected the prices to be closer to Balthazar's than the Kellogg Diner, but our check came in at under $30. Egg seems to have found a pleasant middle ground between humble diner  and fancy restaurant. That it breaks new ground in the use of sustainable ingredients - they own their own farm in Upstate New York - makes it all the more worthy of accolades.

[Photo: Victor Ozols]

Related Stories:
· Egg [Official Site]
· Breakfast Coverage [Jaunted]

Brooklyn Music: Last Pool Party This Weekend

August 21, 2008 at 9:45 AM | 0 Comments

This weekend marks the end of an era for Brooklyn's awesomely (or insufferably) hip neighborhood of Williamsburg.

For the last three years, one of the neighborhood's undeniable summer highlights has been the pool party concerts at the (waterless) McCarren Park Pool, where indie rock faves like The Hold Steady, Of Montreal and the Black Lips have rocked out at free weekend shows.

But the city has decided to turn McCarren Park Pool back into an actual pool, which, to be fair, could be pretty cool come next summer. So indie vets Yo La Tengo will play the last ever pool party, this Sunday at 2 pm. (The non-free Clear Channel series at the pool continues next week with Sonic Youth.) If you're planning to show up for some nostalgia this weekend, plan to arrive early--lines this summer have been insanely long.

Related Stories:
· McCarren Park Pool Parties [Official Site]
· Brooklyn Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Penningtron]

Peerless Mexican Street Food in Williamsburg

August 10, 2008 at 3:40 PM | 0 Comments

We remember what it was like to backpack across Europe on a shoestring budget. A couple hundred bucks had to last through multiple countries, which meant that eating in restaurants was out of the question. Hence, the old backpacker cliché of bread and cheese on a park bench was elevated to a mantra, and delicious street food was a rare indulgence.

Penny-pinching visitors to New York who are "tuned in" enough to spend some time in Williamsburg, Brooklyn should make a beeline to the corner of Bedford Avenue and North 12th Street (across from the Turkey's Nest) for some of the finest - and cheapest - Mexican street food in the city. From Thursday through Sunday, a nameless food cart (we asked) turns out fantastic chicken, steak, and chorizo tacos for $2.50 a pop, along with $4 quesadillas and decadent elote (Mexican corn on the cob on a stick) with mayo, lime juice, parmesan cheese, salt, and red pepper. The food is straight-up yummers.

Take your Mexican feast across the street to McCarren Park, find a bench or a patch of grass, and chow down while assorted softball games are played on the diamonds. Plenty of people accompany their meals with draft beers poured into Styrofoam cups from the aforementioned Turkey's Nest, but drinking in public remains illegal in New York, and just because your beverage is in a unmarked container, don't think you can't get busted. I've seen it happen. Better to scrape together your remaining money and belly up to the bar for a digestif.

Related Stories:
· Turkey's Nest Tavern [New York Magazine]
· Street Food Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Victor Ozols]

Flight of the Conchords Learn To Avoid Willamsburg Waitresses

August 6, 2007 at 10:39 AM | 0 Comments

Sure HBO's Flight of the Conchords delivers travel tag lines like "New Zealand: It Is Not Australia", however the show, much of which is filmed on location in New York, features quite a few Williambsburg spots. For example, a tipster informed us last night's show prominently featured Fabiane's Cafe & Pastry on 5th.

While Kiwis Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement "dated" girls from this cafe, and enjoyed day old croissants from the cafe, non-fictional Willamsburg dwellers seem to appreciate Fabiane's food as well. Chocolate Creme Brulee, Tuna with capers, and most of the coffee drinks are favorites.

The service however, is less impressive:

On Saturday afternoons, you must order from the counter, and wait for a table, however long that may take. Meanwhile your dishes and lattes pile up on the counter edge ready to tip over onto your shoes. If you are able to find a table before someone else swipes it from under you, great. If not, too bad, so sad.

I wish I had known this beforehand, as I am not from the neighborhood. The girl bringing out the food from the kitchen rolled her eyes at me and then brushed past me when I asked her about a table. A civilized, mature employee would have just told me about ordering from the front, but this little baby butch punk wannabe did not.

Looks like Bret and Jemaine dodged a bullet by not getting into long term relationships with these waitresses.

Related Stories:
·   Brooklyn Hotels [HotelChatter]
·   Fabianes Cafe Reviews [Yelp]
·   Best Brunch Places in New York [Jaunted]