Bastille Day!

                                                                                                          Flickr/hsingy
One of the coolest annual events in the area has to be the Bastille Day celebration on Smith Street, which is coming up this Sunday.  The center of these celebrations is definitely the petanque tournament. The photo above will show you the scale of this event and the quote below from smithstreetbk.com talks about how this all goes down.

With the help of neighborhood resident John Quadrozzi, who for the past 11 years has been donating and spreading the sand with his trucks, the joie de vivre of our heroes at Bar Tabac,  and the participation of many other Smith Street chefs, we produce the biggest Bastille Day party (the French equivalent of our 4th of July) and Petanque Tournament outside of France in the world -- right here in Brooklyn.

Nightingale 9 to open next week!

Some of you may have heard of the new Vietnamese restaurant opening across the street from Smith Canteen on Smith street.  It's called Nightingale 9 and is owned by the chef and co-owner of Seersucker, Robert Newton. Now, we've been keeping up with them on Facebook and last we heard from that, they said that the opening announcement would be soon but we just saw on Grubstreet (pic above) that they are opening next week!  We are really excited to try this place, and from the buzz going on about it we're sure so may others are too and it'll be packed.

Kittery on Smith.

It seems that when a good idea blooms in the area many more follow.  Burgers and ice cream have been the latest trends with several places opening up around the same time throughout the hood.  Some were just okay but others were really good.  We like this latest trend the best.  Seafood!!!!  It all began with Red Hook Lobster Pound, still a favorite spot, and Littleneck, Brooklyn Crab followed.  Next is Kittery.  Taking the spot of the short-lived Diego at 305 Smith Street this new restaurant is still in the process of renovations, the outside has been redone, as you can see in these photos.  Seafood shacks?  Keep them coming!

Apparently we're not the only ones who love Smith Street

It must be Spring - the film crews have descended on Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill. So don't bother trying to park in front of our new office at 296 Smith Street this evening. They'll be filming something called N.L.P.I. (recently seen blocking traffic in DUMBO). Anyone know what film this might be? It's not Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. So what is it?

REALTY COLLECTIVE ADDS ANOTHER BROOKLYN LEGEND!

REALTY COLLECTIVE ADDS ANOTHER BROOKLYN LEGEND

Just over a year ago, Realty Collective was thrilled to announce their acquisition of Manzione Real Estate, a well loved and respected fixture on the Columbia Waterfront and Red Hook scenes for 30 years. Frank Manzione built his stellar reputation by creating and nurturing strong client relationships and business practices. When he decided to sell the company, he was looking for someone with the same kind of drive and energy to continue and expand on what he’d already so carefully established, so he approached Victoria Hagman (co-founder and President of Realty Collective) and here they are. Wisdom & longtime connections plus a future forward, youthful vision = the perfect combination.

And the Collective is growing.

In early March, another longtime BK legend, Angela Vita, approached Frank Manzione about purchasing Vita Real Estate. It was a no-brainer to recommended Realty Collective, being happy with the smooth transition and continued success after selling and merging with Victoria and her team.

So today, they are once again, thrilled and fortunate to announce their acquisition and merger with Vita Real Estate, who brings 30 years of experience and service to Carroll Gardens. They are pleased to welcome Angela Vita to their Collective. Not only does she bring her vast wealth of experience, but they now have a new office space at 296 Smith Street (in addition to their original space with Manzione Real Estate at 223 Columbia Street).

Realty Collective is so excited to continue serving their communities and continuing their love affair with Brooklyn and spreading the word!

To learn more about Realty Collective, please visit us at www.realtycollective.com

New Barbershop on Smith

Persons of Interest, a new yet old barbershop that opened at 299 Smith Street a couple of weeks ago, has a great retro feel because....well...it is retro. The space had been a barbershop for decades before the new owner took over and kept the original chairs and mural on the back wall but fancied it up otherwise. There is a great vibe when you walk in. Maybe it's the tropical mural on the back wall or the smell of aftershave in the air, but it's very relaxing. Probably more expensive than the previous barbershop but I'll bet there's a bit more pampering as well. A list of their services is below.

Haircuts: $40
Clean ups: $20
Beard Trims: $15
Shaves: $30
Buzz Cuts: $25

Dubuque- 548 Court St

Hot off the press from Realty Collective! A new restaurant is under way at 548 Court St. The space is in its final touches and will be named Dubuque. We found this information on the space over by 9th St. written by our friends over at Brownstoner back in May:

"Here's an early word on what's to fill the space at 548 Court: a man working there said he plans on opening a burger place, with other open face sandwiches with some fancy touches like truffles. They were just approved for a building permit and construction looked to be in very early stages, but hopefully this place will measure up to the other popular restaurants on that lower stretch of Court." GMAP

Anything with truffles makes me salivate. We are looking forward to it! YUM!

Where have I been?

I have been getting on the F train at Carroll Street over the last couple weeks and was shocked to find this building at the Bergen Street station on the corner of Warren and Smith the other day. How did this get built so fast and what is going here? Looks like the firs floor will be retail and maybe apartments above. I bet you'll be able to feel the train rumbling in your sleep!

Char No. 4 - doesn't really belong on Smith Street

Ultra swanky, Char No 4 , just opened on Smith Street but it feels like you stepped into a posh Manhattan whiskey bar instead of something off the F train.
Although it does not exemplify that homey Brooklyn feel that most other eateries try to emulate it does however create a sort of excitement that I have not found within the neighborhood. It felt alive and bustling and it was filled to the brim on a Friday night. We had appetizers and 2 rounds of drinks at the bar (fried pork nuggets,crispy cheese curds, and the homemade pastrami) because the wait was over an hour . Everything on the menu is either meat or fried so dieters be ware!
I wasn't really blown away by any of the appetizers but my entree was very good. I had the house made sage pork sausage and it just melted in my mouth and had perfect accoutrements. My portion size was more then enough for me and then some but my boyfriend ordered the $20 scallops and he only got 3 perfectly made scallops and some sweet potato puree. Needless to say he was still hungry.
Overall it was a very nice dining experience and the staff was very accommodating. I have heard their brunch is more then descent so I wouldn't mind finally finding a good brunch place in Cobble Hill. Why can no one in CH/ CG get brunch right? Wow that Miriam is closed I drive down to Kevin's in Red Hook but it would be nice to walk just down the block for some good brunch.
Also why don't they have a website? for such a high end place its frustrating that they cant seem to throw up a simple website. I had to rely on yelp and menupages to get the jist of the place.