Three South Brooklyn Halloween Parades.

This weekend will mark the start of Halloween celebrations!  As you already know, unless you're new to this area, we really do it up for Halloween in our hood.  There are so many activities for kids starting this Saturday.  And three parades! You could probably hit them all if you wanted.  Carroll Park will have one on Saturday at 11:30am, Mother Cabrini Park's (above and below) will be on Sunday the 27th starting at 10am and the annual Halloween Parade that's actually on Halloween is at Cobble Hill Park and starts promptly at 4pm.

Good Indian Food coming soon to Carroll Gardens.

In a recent blog about a Columbia Waterfront District Beer Garden coming soon, we joked about how the neighborhood could also use a great Indian restaurant.  A friend reminded us that their will be a great Indian restaurant in the hood, and sooner than we thought.  316 Court Street (above) will be the new home to Dosa Royale said to be opening around the end of the month.  You may have already sampled their food at Smorgasburg so you may know what to expect, although we haven't seen an actual menu for the new place. It is expected that they will serve Southern Indian cuisine and, of course, dosas.  Check out updates of their progress on their facebook page.

SB Children's Garden Pics.

The South Brooklyn Children's Garden, on the corner of Sackett and Columbia Streets, has come a long way.  They had a bake sale last weekend and the turn out was really great!  We took a pic of their spread of baked goods as well as hot foods at the table in the background and took this opportunity to take some more pictures of the garden's recent improvements as well.  They've decorated for fall, putting out bails of hay to sit on.  The picture at the very bottom shows the gardening tool area with freshly decorated pumpkins drying. 

Gowanus Open Studio 2013.

We've blogged about the Brooklyn Studio Tours, which was based in the Red Hook and Carroll Gardens area back in June.  Now Gowanus is having a an open studio tour as well.  It is what it sounds like.  Artists open their studios to the public.  The dates are October 18th-20th.  Studios will be open over the weekend from noon-6pm.  Click here for more info.

Film Shooting Today in Carroll Gardens.

You may see Liam Neeson in the neighborhood today or one of the other co-stars of the Feature Film Run All Night (Vincent D'Onofrio, Ed Harris, Common), which is shooting today in Carroll Gardens.  We saw this sign on Henry near 2nd place.  You may be able to tell from the title and that it's starring Liam Neeson that this is a drama/thriller.  "An aging hitman is forced to take on his brutal former boss to protect his estranged son and his family."  Maybe we'll see some stunts!

The Princess Bride Screening!

Here are a couple events going on this weekend at Carroll Park.  The first is very exciting.  A screening of the film The Princess Bride this Friday at 7:30pm in front of Robert Acito Park House.  This movie is a classic loved by kids and adults alike.  The next night, October 19th, from 6-9pm is "Scary-oke".  They'll have hot cider and snacks and a 10,000 song library for you to choose from.  Suggested donation of $1/per song.

New Salon on Clinton and Atlantic.

Salons are popping up a lot throughout the area.  It seems like every corner we turn there is a new one.  We recently blogged about Fox and Jane on Court Street, which took over the old Nectar spot.  Here's one we spotted on Clinton Street right near Atlantic Ave.  It's a cute little place called Color Haven, painted the lovely color lilac on the outside.  It's simple and clean on the inside.  The sign below says "complimentary blow dry with any color service".  Not sure if that applies all the time but it's probably a good bet.

Chili Cook-off this Sunday!

This Sunday, October 13th, is the annual Gowanus Yacht Club Chili Cook Off.  This is for amateurs as well as pros, as they have two divisions.  This is a pretty big event (it's been going on for 12 years now!) and should be a lot of fun.  If you'd like to hang out and watch stop by around 3pm but if you think you may have the best chili in town then bring 2 quarts of it by 2pm to the bar, located on the corner of Smith and President.

Our New Neighbors.

Right next door to our Columbia Street office, at 221 Columbia, a new space is now open to the public and has been for a little over a week now.  As you can see from the outside "Juice, Yoga, Art", this is a multifunctional space.  The restaurant that used to inhabit the space, Fultummy's, has been gone for a while, it's nice to see the spot up and running again.

412 Court getting liquor license.

Vinzee's Magic Fountain has been closed for a while now at 412 Court Street in Carroll Gardens.  It wasn't too surprising as it was rarely busy with patrons.  The space is really big and they have an outdoor area as well (not sure if that can be used as Vinzee's never had tables out there) so it really seems like a prime spot for a restaurant.  We noticed this sign above for a liquor license for J and W Restaurant LLC.  We have not been able to find out about what type of place this will be but we'll have updates as we hear them.

PumpkinFest Tomorrow.

Mazzone Hardware presents the 9th annual PumpkinFest tomorrow, October 5th from 10am-4pm.  It will take place right outside of their store on 4th Place between Court and Clinton.  Admission is free and, as you can imagine, they'll have tons of kids activities.  Music, face painting and pony rides to name a few.  There will also be...well...pumpkins of course.  Thousands to choose from and design. 

Oktoberfest Dinner.

Just because summer's over and the Atlantic Antic has come and gone doesn't mean that festival's are also a thing of the past.  October is here which means Oktoberfest! There will, no doubt, be many Oktoberfest celebrations throughout Brooklyn.  Here's just one sign we saw.  This seems like a tame dinner celebration as opposed to a drunken brouhaha.  The Zion German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Heights hosts this event.  It advertises dinner, dancing and raffles.  To learn more check out their website.

La Bottega on Columbia.

We are so sad to see Caselnova go.  They were our neighbors at 215 Columbia and the food was delicious.  The new sign up says a place called La Bottega will be opening in this spot.  This Italian Restaurant, which serves mainly paninis, has several locations throughout New York.  Good news for those of you who are gluten free, they have entire menu dedicated to you. 

New Tenant at Old Five Guys.

Now, this is irony.  The space at 266 Court Street in Cobble Hill that used to be a Five Guys Burgers and Fries will soon become a fitness studio.  We saw this sign recently.  It's called Pure Barre and according their website it "is a total body workout that lifts your seat, tones your thighs and burns fat in record-breaking time. Utilizing the ballet barre to perform small isometric movements set to fantastic music".  The Five Guys tiles are still up so it may be a little while before the transformation but this sign is a start.

Us and Them Filming.

We saw this sign on Clinton Street just south of Pacific.  They'll be shooting Us & Them, a new FOX series starring Jason Ritter and Alexis Bledel along with an amazing co-starring cast, tomorrow in that area.  You can check out more about who you may expect to see if you're around that neighborhood on IMDB. The show looks pretty good.  Part comedy and part drama.  You can see a preview here.

New Restaurants.

There are so many places opening up or "coming soon" in and around the neighborhood, it's almost hard to keep up.  Here are some pics we've snapped in the last week alone.  The place above is in Red Hook on Seabring and Columbia.  Camila's Cafe.  From the looks of their facebook page it will be a coffee shop of sorts.  The place below on Smith Street right next to Flight 001, is Hanco's.  They started out in that very small space at 85 Bergen and look to be expanding.  And lastly, the one below that, Taperia, is tapas on Montague. 

Bergen Hill Menu.

We haven't tried Bergen Hill yet but walked by and saw the menu, above, and it looks wonderful.  They've only been open a few weeks now.  We're definitely going to try it soon and will let everyone know if the menu is as good as it looks.  In the meantime, has anyone been there and would like to share?  We'd love to hear what you thought!  Also, if you'd like to see a pdf of the menu click here.  So many delicious sounding places opening up in the area (such as Hometown BBQ which opened less than two weeks ago), so little time!

Columbia Waterfront Fall Fest Pics!

The kids were happy, which means our table at the Columbia Street Fall Festival last week was a success! Columbia waterfront resident, Sharon, had balloon animals, face painting and glitter tattoos.  We had a great time.  Thanks to Sharon and everyone who came out!  Enjoy the pics.

Free Small Business Workshop Tonight!

There will be a free workshop tonight on the Affordable Care Act and it's impact on business.  It's presented by the SBA and the Carroll Gardens Association.  It starts at 6pm at 201 Columbia Street and runs until about 7:30pm.  Refreshments will be served as well.  To see this flyer up close and read about the upcoming workshops, as this one tonight is just one of many coming throughout the fall, click here.

New Salon on Court.

Replacing Nectar, which moved out of this space at 198 Court Street not that long ago, is a salon and "finishing bar" called Fox and Jane.  Apparently you can sip on some complimentary wine or beer while getting your hair done according to an article in TimeOut.  It's a nice intimate space.  Nectar is still serving out of Strong Place at 270 Court for the time being, although last we heard they were still looking for a new spot of their own.