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Sweet Melissa Closes Shop in Cobble Hill
And the Winner Is…
Thanks to everyone who commented on one of our posts last month. We picked a winner at random this morning for the One Girl Cookies Cookbook contest–congrats to Jessica of Brooklyn Heights. We’ll be sending a book straight to her home, and we hope there will be plenty of baking going on. Remember, the One Girl Cookies DUMBO shop just opened at 33 Main St. (corner of Water St.), so go by and say hi when you get a chance. Pick up a Whoopie Pie for us.
Northern Thai Coming to Cobble Hill’s Columbia Street
I’m always fascinated by how many Thai restaurants we have in the BoCoCa hood. And none have stood out enough to keep me coming back for more. So I was super, crazy-psyched to hear of the impending opening of Pok Pok Ny, a Portland, OR-based eatery featuring a James Beard awarded chef and outstanding Northern Thai street food. Known for its fish sauce chicken wings, it will open at 127 Columbia St. (in the old 5 Burro and Pit Stop space: so expect a big outdoor component). According to the Brooklyn Paper, “The new Thai joint will open by March, offering Brooklynites acclaimed dishes such as hoy thawt…and egg-and-mussel crepes inspired by street markets in Thailand.”
Superbowl in Brooklyn (Go Giants)
With a classic northeast face-off coming to a head this Sunday, you may be looking for a place to watch the game in BoCoCa–or just somewhere to order amazing food. Here’s a few tips in case you don’t have an, AHEM, game-plan.
Brooklyn Based gives a great Borough-wide guide to Sunday’s festivities:
The Bell House will be showing the game on its big screen, with color commentary in the form of a live feed of Super Bowl-related tweets from the funny folks at Witstream, plus drink specials and hot food from Urban Rustic. If you’re heading to North Brooklyn, you can catch every play (and commercial) in movie theater-quality and surround sound at Williamsburg’s Nitehawk Cinema. Brooklyn Bowl will be throwing its annual Super Bowl bash, with plenty of Blue Ribbon fried chicken to go around, Brooklyn Winery will be offering a 92” screen, hanger steak-chili, and buckets of Brooklyn Brewery beer, and The Knitting Factory will have a 12-foot projection screen running with free snacks and the option to reserve special party packages. Finally, if you just aren’t into football, you can while away the evening watching classic sports-themed sci-fi flicks at The Way Station’s Too Nerdy for the Super Bowl event.
Buttermilk Channel (524 Court St.)-Need a last minute game day take-out order? Pick-up some of Buttermilk Channel’s famous fried chicken (Half Chicken) $13. Other accompaniments include Baby Back Ribs, Fingerling Potato Salad, Cole Slaw, Bread & Butter Pickles and Dill Pickles. To order, call 718 852 8490 or drop by in person to.
BARK & SIXPOINT’s 1st ANNUAL TAILGATE PARTY-Price:$75 per person; Pre-Game Starts at 5:30pm. For reservations, call 718-789-1939 or email events@barkhotdogs.com. And if you’re staying home to watch the game, check out the special SUPER BOWL CATERING MENU HERE for a full arsenal of game day fare.
Schedule: 5:30pm: Pre-Game Snacks
Chips and Cipolinni Onion-Sour Cream Dip
Sixpoint Beers and Pop
Super Bowl Squares Raffle Sign Up (Sixpoint and Bark prizes given at end of game)
6:30pm: Kick-off
Hot Dogs, Sausages, Wings, and Jalapeño-Cheddar Croquettes
Still more non-stop pours of Sixpoint, and some surprises
Halftime: Epic Sky-box Buffet
Choucroute Garnie, Shells and Cheese, Bark Nachos, Baked Beans, Cole Slaw
Second Half: The Endless Nosh
More free flowing Sixpoint Ales
Hot Dogs, Sausages, Wings, and Jalapeño-Cheddar Croquettes
Brazen Head (228 Atlantic Ave)-Think $1-off cask beers and free chili (beef and veggie)–plus with other snacks after 6pm. The game will be showing on four screens.
Vinegar Hill House (72 Hudson Ave)-Hike it over to Vinegar Hill for classics like wings, artichoke dip, seven-layer dip and three kinds of pizza.
Carroll Garden’s Patch also did a great round-up. Here are a few of their picks:
Angry Wade’s (224 Smith St.)-On Super Bowl Sunday Angry Wade’s features an all-you-can-eat menu with barbecue turkey, pulled pork, roast beef sandwiches and bratwursts from Wisconsin. The cost: $50 for men and $35 for women. Wade’s opens at noon, and til 3 p.m., well drinks and drafts are $1 off.
Floyd (131 Atlantic Ave.)-British soccer games are shown at Floyd every weekend but on Sunday the Super Bowl will be screened too. Floyd is known for its cheap and diverse beers, and they open around 11 a.m.
Cody’s Bar and Grill (154 Court St.)-Cody’s is Steeler territory through and through. It’s also one of the neighborhood’s classic sports bars. No fuss, no specials, just a good old fashioned bar with lots of TV’s. There will be food too, we just don’t know what’s in store, yet. Cody’s opens at noon.
Downtown Bar and Grill-(160 Court St.)-Downtown is another classic sports bar, but with some classier touches– mussels, anyone? Get there early. Downtown opens at noon.
PJ Hanley’s Tavern (449 Court St.)-PJ’s is called the oldest bar in Brooklyn by the management and the location has been a pub since 1874. Opening at 11:30 a.m., PJ’s will have beer bucket and pitcher specials.
Red Hook and Boerum Hill Get Italian Newcomers
A wood-fired pizza from Sottocasa in Boerum Hill
Walk east about a mile or so and you’ll find Sottocasa at 298 Atlantic Ave (between Smith and Hoyt), which was recently reviewed in the Village Voice. More pizza, in the lines of beloved Lucali on Henry St., it serves brick oven deliciousness and a few salads to boot. The pizza oven had to be “crane-lifted over the building and lowered into the backyard because the old floors of the brownstone space on Atlantic Avenue couldn’t handle the weight,” according to the Voice, and the high quality ingredients (and selection of wine and beer) make it a perfect neighborhood joint for date night or an evening with the kids.
Brooklyn Heights Getting a Le Pain Quotidien
Coming to Brooklyn Heights main drag soon, an outpost of French bakery chain Le Pain Quotidien. According to Brooklyn Heights Blog, a reader actually saw the architectural plans from the carb palace at 121 Montague St. We’ll still be heading to Smith Street’s Bien Cuit for our fresh-baked cravings, but for those express train commuters and north Heights dwellers, this should be a boost to your day.
Brooklyn Botanic Gardens Boogies It Up
It may be a while until the spring flowers push through the (almost) frozen ground, but the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens wants you to party with the posies. Its Lush Boogaloo & Latin Soul Dancy Party is an evening celebrating the Garden’s collection of over 6000 tropical orchids–but with the added fun of booze and tunes. The event takes place Friday, 10 Feb, from 8pm to midnight at the Palm House and features live music from boogaloo band, Spanglish Fly. Not only will you take in the beauty of these 
gorgeous flowers, there will also be an open bar and all kinds of Latin eats–like our favorite icy treats, Mexican fruit paletas by La Newyorkina. Also expect classic 45s spun by WFMU’s Mr. Fine Wine and DJ Turmix, a behind the scenes tour with orchid curator Dave Horak, and posing for leaf portraits with graphic novelist Aaron Birk. Tickets are $65 each and you can buy them here. Just remember ladies, tropical orchids can equal bad hair weather, so plan accordingly.
Cobble Hill Getting New Middle Eastern Restaurant
All that is old is new again. This adage is especially true when speaking of the coming soon Middle Eastern eatery/lounge, Levant, named after the owner’s original region (including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Israel). The restaurant is taking over the space of current Middle Eastern restaurant Palmyra (Court St. between Degraw and Sackett) and the food will be Jordanian-based.
According to one half of the husband/wife ownership team, Sara Abus, “Our food is a bit different than Lebanese food because we use different kinds of spices. We do however have a particular dish in common called Manakeesh. They are a cross between pita and pizza, though the dough is made differently than pizza dough,” she says. “Our restaurant will be serving around 20 different kinds of Manakeesh, some which will be authentically Jordanian and others that will have some American influence. They will be served in twos or threes because they are smaller than regular, individual size pizza. Levant will also have a variety of mixed grills including Shish Kebob, Shish Taouk and Kafta. The Mazzeh (appetizers) will have around 10 different items including hummus and baba ghanouj. We will also be offering an Arabic burger which contains parsley and onion and is stuffed with feta cheese.”
Brunch will include Arabic breakfast specialties like ground beef with eggs, pastrami with eggs, and potatoes and eggs. And of course, there will be Falafel. Three different kinds to be exact: Jordanian falafel (made with chick peas and fava beans), Syrian falafel (made with only chick peas) and Egyptian falafel (made with only fava beans). Wine and beer will be available and you can expect it to open for business in mid-February.
One Girl Cookies Launches Own Cookbook
One Girl Cookies has become a fixture on the bakery scene in BoCoCa. Tucked away at 68 Dean St. next to Bar Tabac, it’s transformed from a tiny little Cobble Hill cookie store my friends stopped in off the F train to a destination for after-school snacks, cupcakes and cakes for parties, whoopie pies and those luscious macarons. So it should be no surprise that we’ve been treated to a One Girl Cookie cookbook with all the beloved recipes we’d like to know so well (it went on sale 10 January).
In addition to the baking tips, you’ll get a primer on the background of founder Dawn Casale (who left her job as an accessories manager at Barneys New York to open the store) and get the inside scoop of how she fell for her baker husband. FYI, if you check out the upper right side of our blog, you’ll also see we’re giving away a book to a lucky winner! Just comment on any post in the remaining weeks of January and you’ll be in the running to have the cookbook sent straight to your home. Good luck!
Carroll Gardens Outpost of Bourgeois Pig Open for Biz
Buh-bye dusty Calpurnia Wine Bar, he-LLO Bourgeois Pig! Yup, another fabulous, trendy bar/cocktail lounge has opened its doors at 387 Court St., and this one is a BK outpost of the already popular East Village space. Draped in velvet and lit by vintage chandeliers, the Bourgeois Pig is all about chilling with some wine, cocktails, small plates and fondue. A perfect winter hang. Best of all, if you can sneak out in the beginning of the week, they’re offering half-priced bottles of wine on Monday and Tuesday evenings. You can take a look at the menu here.
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