Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up
Ethiopian cuisine at Ghenet’s original Manhattan location. Photo by Tien Mao from Gothamist. Opening This Week: Ghenet 348 Douglass St at Fourth Ave, Park Slope; (718) 230-4476 “Mother-and-daughter team Yeworkwoha Ephrem and Sosinna Degefu open a Park Slope spin-off of their Nolita Ethiopian restaurant this week. The menu will skew lighter than Manhattan’s, with grilled…
Ethiopian cuisine at Ghenet’s original Manhattan location. Photo by Tien Mao from Gothamist.
Opening This Week: Ghenet
348 Douglass St at Fourth Ave, Park Slope; (718) 230-4476
“Mother-and-daughter team Yeworkwoha Ephrem and Sosinna Degefu open a Park Slope spin-off of their Nolita Ethiopian restaurant this week. The menu will skew lighter than Manhattan’s, with grilled meats and fish replacing sautéed dishes.” [Time Out New York]
Smoke Joint Owner to Take Over Petite Basam Space
393 Lewis Avenue, Bed-Stuy
“I was surprised to come home from work today and run into the owner of the Smoke Joint out in my neighborhood, outside the recently shuttered Petite Bassam on Lewis Avenue. Apparently, Ben (the Smoke Joint guy) is setting something up there to start ‘soon.’ We chatted a bit, and he said he wanted something cheaper than Petite Bassam (which was a good place, but always seemed a bit expensive for the neighborhood) and a little ‘different’ from the Smoke Joint.” [EaterWire]
The Best Coffee in Bushwick
This week, NY Press hits up a couple of neighborhood coffee shops. Potion Café (248 McKibben Street), which is “by far the most aesthetically pleasing café in Bushwick” serves “strong coffee, good pastries, mid-range bagels,” $3 Red Stripes, and sandwiches, such as the recommended cheddar and pesto croissant. Archive (49 Bogart Street), on the other hand, is “devoid of personality” and serves “prepackaged paninis and salads and soup.” On the plus side, the baristas are friendly.
After the jump: A new cooking show is looking for sexy Brooklyn singles, and the L Magazine reviews Beer Table…
Single Foodies Needed for Cooking Show
According to Gothamist, the Feed Me Show is looking for “a few attractive Brooklyn singles.” Those chosen to participate will be set up on blind dates and will have to cook for each other. Their kitchen shenanigans and awkward first-date conversations will be filmed at Williamsburg’s own Brooklyn Photo Studio and then streamed on the web.
Fancy Shmancy Brews at Beer Table
427 B Seventh Ave, Park Slope
“The bar features three taps and a cask, rotating through gourmet beers familiar only to subscribers of niche magazines, and wide varieties of similarly select bottles, ranging in price from $5 to more than I’m accustomed to spending on a 24-pack… The menu uses the taster’s language to describe probably made-up beers like Piccolo Birrificio Seson-ette (‘juniper, chinotto peel, coriander, white wine’) and Grado Plato Strada San Felice (‘chestnuts, dry, bark, nutty sweetness’).” [The L Magazine]
PS- A cafe/market along the lines of Choice in Clinton Hill would be a godsend,
Yes…good, simple, affordable food is exactly what the neighborhood needs. A place to grab a bite on a regular basis–burgers, BLT, panini, salad, what have you. Petit Bassam was ok but too fussy in my opinion. And please PLEASE let it be have good, friendly service. I was burned one too many times at Solomon’s Porch and won’t go near that place now.
Hopefully the new owners will not bring the Smoke Joint model. They have a place next door to Smoke Joint called Little Pig that serves gourmet comfort food. An oxymoron, I know. They serve a meatloaf sandwich with muenster cheese and caramelized onions, and a great chicken and corn chowder. I think this kind of menu work well as it is a good hybrid of familiar food, but done up a notch from the current neighborhood offerings. It’s al about introducing approachable food first before serving a very limited, specific cuisine that diners have to be ‘in the mood’ for.
Ben on Petit Bassam – “but always seemed a bit expensive for the neighborhood”
And yet you have houses selling from 700K to a mil. Don’t believe the hype on incomes and disposable spending in the “new Bed-Stuy.” Many new homeowners (especially those with families) are house poor and won’t be spending on any restaurants regularly and singles won’t be mingling there much if you don’t have a liquor license and not open late.
And then there’s the not so secret class gap issue in Bed-Stuy/Stuyvesant Heights. Just who are you going to be catering to and are there enough of those numbers to support you? All the Crown Chickens are doing fine, but the space and it’s many bougie incarnations at Lewis Ave and McDonough have consistently faltered. Figure it out.
My advice? Make it a rockin’ fun family place for all that’s very reasonably priced. Or better yet, a diner. And please DELIVER.
Wishing you well.
The place on Tompkins (between Jefferson and Putnam) is Common Grounds. But it’s really a coffee shop/bakery; very limited stuff to eat.
What’s the deal with the place on Franklin just past the corner of Greene where the B52 bus turns?
I’ve got nothing to invest Dave, because I bought a place in the area about two years ago with my wife and all our money is in that. We’re fixing it up slowly, and in the meantime, our dream has been to make some kind of move in the area – restaurant, cafe, hangout spot.
We’re both designers and I work in hospitality. Maybe we can team up in some way? you can drop me a line at pepstein@gmail.com
I second Kush…the steak frites is very reliable. All their food is quite decent and the price is right. Plus the owner is a super sweet guy.
Yes….Royal Rib House on Halsey off Throop is excellent. Too bad they dont have a sit down restaurant.
Also…Kush is excellent as well and very reasonable. The salmon is to die for as well as the chicken . Good luck in trying to get the creme brulee’ as that is often sold out.
I feed Barbara’s cats on my back deck. I like her (and her cats)