Taste of Red Hook is Tomorrow.

This benefit for Red Hook Initiative is happening tomorrow from 6-9pm at Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer, and tickets are still on sale.  There will be drinks and food from dozens of the best local establishments.  Too many to name here but you can go to this site to view the list.  There will also be a silent auction. 

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.

Smorgasburg is here!

Smorgasburg, which as you may be able to tell from the name originated in Williamsburg, has been slowly making it's way towards us.  They had expanded to DUMBO and starting this weekend, October 6th, they'll be at Pier 5!  You'll have about a month and a half to take advantage of this deliciousness every Sunday between 11am and 6pm.  The great part about this location, something  that the others lacked, is a lot of seating.  They have dozens of long benches at Pier 5, as you can see below, with shade and beautiful views!

The Total Gowanus Immersion.

Check out this event that we're sponsoring! The Total Red Hook Immersion was so much fun we're psyched to meet people out to have the same awesome time in Gowanus.  This neighborhood has so many great bars, shops, restaurants and venues.  If you haven't explored this hood now is your time.  It isn't until October 5th so mark it on your calendar.  You can find out all the info you'll need on BrooklynBased. 

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.

Farmer's Market on Pier 6.

There's a newish farmer's market, as you can see in the pics above, at Pier 6 on Sundays.  When we went last week they had picnic tables set up and it looked really nice.  One vendor sells homemade pop tarts and another has great looking breads.  There was also a table with a huge variety of pickles and a fish monger!  There were a few other tables set up but it was pretty small in general.  Delicious array of treats, though!

Fact or Fiction Trivia Tonight.

Thought we'd share this really awesome sounding (and free!) event that's happening tonight at The Bell House, 149 7th Street.  It's called Disalmanac Fact or Fiction Night.  It's a trivia night with a twist (more on that in the description below).  It starts at 8pm but you may want to get there early and claim a spot for you and your team. 

In a truly special event, TrivWorks - NYC's corporate team building specialists and producers of the largest public trivia nights in NYC - has partnered with Disalmanac, the Web's home for fact-like facts, to present the ultimate test of trivia knowledge at The Bell House in Brooklyn!
TrivWorks founder David Jacobson leads a high-energy team trivia competition on a wide range of topics ranging from history and science to pop culture and current events, while comedienne Sharon Spell tests individual audience members' ability to discern facts from deceptively "fact-like facts." Disalmanac creator Scott Bateman will be on-hand to hand out a trove of theme-appropriate prizes, as well as talk a bit about Disalmanac: A Book of Fact-Like Facts coming out in September 2013!

Last Chance for Flicks.

Next week, August 27th, will be the last day to catch a free outdoor movie at Valentino Pier.  Summer is coming to a close and if you haven't taken advantage of this awesome event yet now is your chance.  The last film of the series is Red Hook's choice and this year Red Hook chose "Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead". This night is presented by PICKETT FURNITURE and HOME/MADE.

Carnival in Red Hook!

Calling all vendors!  The Visitation Church Carnival (98 Richards Street in Red Hook) is set for September 14th and there is still time to rent a vendor table for $40. Tables will be set up on Verona St.  Call the rectory at 718-624-1572 for more info.  For those wanting to attend this event, it begins at 11:30am and it should be fun!

YMCA Pool Party!

Saturday August 24th between 4pm and 7pm the Dodge YMCA, at 225 Atlantic Avenue, will be having a pool party.  Now most of the special events at this facility are open to the public but the flyer we saw said "bring family and friends" so we're not sure if you have to show up with a member to get in or not.  We just gave them a call to ask but the gentleman we spoke with wasn't quite sure.  You may have better luck getting an answer, (718) 625-3136.  If you are a member or know one then you'll definitely be able to enjoy this big refreshing pool.

Hometown BBQ Preview Dinner.

Last time we checked there were only 16 tickets remaining for this preview dinner event at Hometown BBQ, which opens later this month.  There may be less by the time this posts so we wanted to get this out and spread the word before they were all gone.  You can buy tickets through Underground Eats.  This sounds awesome.  It's a first time look (and taste of course!) of this long awaited BBQ joint in Red Hook with a small group of folks as well as some BBQ education. 

There's a Snake in the Library!

Here's a great free event for children that you should put on your calendar!  It's called "Erik's Reptile Edventures", (not sure if the misspelling of that last word is supposed to mean something or is simply a typo?)  At 1:30pm on August 20th, which falls on a Tuesday, the Carroll Gardens Library will be full of reptiles and amphibians.  Children will learn about these creatures and be able to handle them also.  Some of the animals on the list are Snakes, Lizards, Turtles, Frogs and Salamanders.  Pretty cool!

Music in Cobble Hill Park.

There are two more opportunities this summer to see performances in the Cobble Hill Park music series.  One is coming up this week, August 8th, 17-year-old folk artist Nadim Silverman.  And Adam Smale's Jazz Quartet will be performing the following Thursday, August 15th.  Both begin at 7pm.  It's a beautiful park and wonderful that they have these free summer concerts. 

Pirate School at Waterfront!

This isn't actually a school for pirates, although hopefully for the kids in the audience of this one man show it will feel like it.  This Sunday, August 4th, at 1pm Waterfront Museum presents this vaudville show for kids of all ages. There's a little description below.  It sounds like a lot of fun. Click here for tickets.

During Pirate School! the bumbling professor Billy Bones teaches youngsters how to be good pirates with lessons on how to stand, talk, sing and laugh like Buccaneers; cannons boom, skulls talk, cutlasses drop and pets run amok. Ultimately Pirate School! aims to satisfy children’s universal curiosity about the briny Buccaneers of yore while subtly boosting their self-esteem and citizenship skills by prompting them to be more empathetic, responsible, courageous Corsairs.

Firefighter Cook-off Tomorrow!

July 31st is the third annual Fairway Firefighter Cook-off! It starts at noon tomorrow at 480 Van Brunt. Firemen from Brooklyn Heights and Red Hook square off on the grills.  Much like Iron Chef, there will be a secret ingredient revealed at the cook-off that they will have to use.  Winners receive a $500 Fairway gift card and a donation from Fairway to the charity of the winner's choice.  Should be fun! Come on down!

PortSide NY Dinner, Tickets on Sale Now!

We blogged about the PortSide NY fundraiser dinner last week and we now have more news.  Tickets are now available for this July 30th event.  If you'd like to buy tickets click here! This event will begin at 6:30 at Fort Defiance, 365 Van Brunt Street. More info is below!

Tues 7/30/13 at Fort Defiance
365 Van Brunt Street

Red Hook, Brooklyn NY 11231 

6:30pm cocktails 

7:00pm dinner

Come join us as we rally the troops over dinner at the noted Red Hook establishment Fort Defiance, named for a waterfront fort which existed down the street during the Revolutionary War.  You will get a PortSide insider update, a cappella singing and fine dining.

  

To buy your tickets, donate if you cant make it, or donate on top of your ticket price, click here!     

From Manhattan, catch IKEA ferries from Pier 11, Wall Street:

• 5:20pm gets you here for cocktails
• 6:00pm gets you here for dinner
• 6:40pm gets you here fashionably 10 min late for dinner

We would like to thank our sponsors!

 

Fort Defiance and St John Frizell

Fish donated by Pagano Seafood 

Shuttle bus from IKEA to Fort Defiance donated by IKEA

Songs of the Sea performed a cappella by Ken Schatz, Frank Woerner, and Heather Wood

Graphic Design by Diane Painter Velletri of Design Diseno NewYork  

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.

Wine Dinner at Red Gravy.

We received an invite to this wine dinner at Red Gravy, 151 Atlantic Ave, and thought we'd share it with you. It's on July 16th starting at 7pm and will be featuring wines from 5 different regions of Italy.  Wine makers will be present so those interested in learning about these wines will be able to ask plenty of questions we're sure.  It's $125 per person plus tax and gratuity.  If this sounds like fun you can RSVP at 718-855-0051.

Benefit Tonight for BGI.

You can still get last minute tickets for the News Views 2013 Benefit tonight supporting the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.  You can go here to purchase or buy one at the door at the supporter level for $175.  The event will be held at Liberty Warehouse at 260 Conover St, which is a great location with amazing views.  Here's what BGI has to say about what you can expect for the evening.

Open bar, live music, dessert and after-party at Hometown Bar-B-Que are included. Enjoy the hot-and-sweet music of The Michael Arenella Quintet! Festive summer attire suggested.

This year’s event will feature tastings of seafood and land-food from some of South Brooklyn’s distinctive eateries, including: Brooklyn Crab, Court Street Grocers, Fairway Market, Fletcher’s Brooklyn Barbeque, Hometown Bar-B-Que, Littleneck, Luke’s Lobster, Mile End, M.O.B., Petite Crevette, Robicelli’s, Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies, Watty & Meg, and more!

We'll also have a fabulous silent auction, featuring goods and services from local businesses, including: A Cook's Companion, Blue Marble Ice Cream, Chez Moi, Circa Antiques, Collier West, Columbia Street Crossfit, Consignment/Eva Gentry, Dodge YMCA, Dvir Salon, Fairway Market, Film Biz Recycling, Finetune Pilates Studio, Four & Twenty Blackbirds, Greenhouse, Jalopy, Kaight, Kittery, Littlefield, Michael Arenella, Néda Boutique, New Body Bootcamp & Wellness, NU Hotel, pok pok ny, Ride Brooklyn, Rolling Orange Bikes, The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club, Runner & Stone Bakery and Restaurant, Rico, Tres Belle Spa, Turnstile Tours, Twig Terrariums, Uncommon Goods, and Yoga with Rebecca!

We look forward to seeing you on June 26th in Red Hook! Get your tickets today!