The Flying Lobster is Open!

The space at 144 Union Street, formerly known as The Coffee Den, has recently reopened as a wine bar and is owned by neighboring restaurant, Petite Crevette, owner Neil Ganic. The spot is dimly lit, has dark red walls, and gives off a very romantic yet sinister (in a seductive kind of way) vibe. Perfect for getting out of the coming cold weather and sipping on a glass of deep red wine. It'll definitely be a great place to send people while they wait for a table at it's sister restaurant. If you've ever been to or strolled past Petite Crevette during their peek hours then you know how busy they can get. As far as the name goes, The Flying Lobster, well their is a funny story behind that which is best summed up below with this excerpt from offthepresses.com:

The wine bar's curious name is a joking reference to an incident involving Ganic which received a great deal of publicity in 2009. As the story goes, a couple at Le Petite Crevette sent back their lobster, complaining about how it had been cooked. Ganic reportedly responded to this affront to his cooking by bringing a fresh lobster to the diners' table, asking them, "You think my fish is not fresh? Look how fresh this is!" Some accounts had him throwing the crustacean on the table. Thus: The Flying Lobster. So, I guess the man has a sense of humor about himself.

Made in Brooklyn Tours

These guided walking tours around Brooklyn with a "made in Brooklyn" theme have been going on for quite a while now. Here's a little snip from their website.

Each tour is a celebration of the creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of Brooklynites. On Made in Brooklyn Tours the stars of the show are glassmakers, metalsmiths and woodworkers. They make wine, chocolate, bicycles, furniture, ceramics and more. Each tour is a unique experience! So come with me, a native and proud Brooklynite, and “See who’s makin’ it in Brooklyn!”

This Saturday, October 8th at 1:20, will be a special Makin' History in Red Hook Tour, which includes an inside look at The Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is led by local historian John Burkard . Meet up is at the IKEA Ferry and the cost is $35.

Insideschools Meeting

The school system in New York, specifically finding and applying to middle and high schools, is a little tricky. Luckily their are organizations, like Insideschools, that can help. They are having a discussion at the Carroll Gardens Library next Tuesday, October 11th, from 6pm-8pm (6-7 will be about middle schools and 7-8 will be high schools). It's free, of course, and you can ask all the questions you've had about getting your child into the school that best fits them as well as any queries about the application process. Insideschools managing editor, Pam Wheaton, will be their to lead the talk and answer your questions. The library is located at 396 Clinton (at the corner of Union Street). For more info about this organization go to insideschools.org.

Dekalb Market Growing

Dekalb Market is adding new vendors, as well as more shipping containers, for this fall. Sounds like they are more than doubling what they have right now. If you've never been to this market you should check it out. It's an indoor/outdoor market with local vendors selling food, crafts, clothes, etc. And now it's expanding. This all starts on October 15th and we're all very excited to hear that Jacques Torres is in the line up. Here's a sneak peek of some of the line up that we got from their website.

Pip&Estella | pipandestella.com
Her vintage home wares are inspired by the Satis House, as described in the Charles Dickens piece, Great Expectations. Sana says, “sunlight filtered images of Satis were lovely, albeit aging and let’s not forget, inspiring.”

The {New New} Etsy | thenewnew.blogspot.com
A Vibrant collective of cross-discipline handmade artists devoted to supporting one another in developing their creative and business potential within the New York tri-state area. The group shares the tremendous resources that New York City has to offer, mentors new craft business owners, and seeks out new marketplace and business opportunities for its eclectic membership. Their container will have a rotation of 10 artists featuring 1-2 artists each month.

Jacques Torres | mrchocolate.com
All products are hand crafted with premium ingredients. Every ingredient that goes into a Jacques Torres confection is made from scratch – from the marzipan and the marshmallows to the peanut butter. Each product is a celebration of chocolate in its purest sense and never contains preservatives or additives.
No extracts. No oils. No preservatives. No essences. YUM!

MeeheeNY | meeheeny.com
Made with all high quality fresh water pearls, precious and semi-precious stones and sterling silver MeeheeNY encompasses a unique delicate beauty. Dekalb will be their second home along with the Soho location.

Cinema Rush

There may be more people filling the theaters at Cobble Hill Cinemas for the next few months. These people got a great deal too. They paid $15 on Groupon for 2 tickets, 2 popcorns and 2 sodas. How many people bought this deal? A whopping 7100! Great business for this historic theater that's been around since the 60's. Unfortunately, the deal has ended but this isn't the first time Cobble Hill Cinemas has had a Groupon deal so we're sure it won't be the last. Next time we catch it in time we'll post about it and you too can enjoy a deeply discounted cinematic experience.

Red Hook Meeting

Tomorrow, Wednesday the 28th, there will be a Red Hook Civic Association meeting at 7pm at PS 15 (Sullivan St between Van Brunt and Richards). Issues to be discussed will be as follows:

-Safety issues and current concerns discussed with the 76th precinct.

-Transportation issues, including possible jitney bus service to lower Manhattan.

-Issues concerning traffic congestion.

Everyone is welcome to come and bring friends. Also any neighborhood concerns can be brought to attention.

Spotlight on Drawing!

We've already blogged about the Red Hook Fall Flea earlier this week but now we wanted to spotlight one of the kids activities we heard about going on there. K.I.D.S, which stands for Kentler International Drawing Space, has a free art education program for children and their parents on weekends. They will be at the flea on Sunday to present Drawing Together between 11 and 12:30. The organization, located at 353 Van Brunt, has been around for a while and if you'd like to learn more about it check out their website. Here's a bit more on what you can expect for Sunday's activities with them.

Kentler International Drawing Space and K.I.D.S. Art Education invite children and their adults to draw BIG and COLORFUL using handmade stencils. The workshop will be led by Teaching artist MEGHAN KEANE.

Designed for ages 4 & up
with their caregivers (no drop offs)

Drop-ins are welcome!

Space is limited, so please be on time.

Battersby coming to Smith Street

Walker Stern and Joseph Ogrodnek taken from Zagat.com

Two great chefs, Joseph Ogrodnek, who has been a sous-chef at Gramercy Tavern and Jean-Georges Vongerichten's The Mark, and Walker Stern, former chef of The Vanderbilt and sous-chef at Eighty One, are opening a restaurant on Smith street next month! They will be taking over the space that used to be Patois at 255 Smith Street. Not only are these chefs very experienced and amazing, they are also friends! So, please show your support and hit their new restaurant, Battersby, which will have a contemporary American menu. Here's a blurb from Zagat to entice you further.

Ogrodnek says they're aiming for a "tightly focused, constantly changing" contemporary American menu with the same quality you'd find at Manhattan's best, but "more approachable" and served in a more modest setting. Upping the ante, he and Stern will be the only two people cooking. "You wouldn't believe how rare that is in the restaurant world," he says, adding "The chef behind the menu is rarely in the kitchen during service, let alone actually cooking and plating the food."

Top Three Egg Creams!

As we all know egg creams, a combo of milk, traditionally chocolate syrup and seltzer, are back after being hard to find on menus for decades. These retro bevs are now featured at several restaurants in and around our hood. Here are the picks for top 3!

#1 Henry Public- The perfect combo of especially creamy milk, chocolate syrup, and seltzer spritzed from an antique seltzer bottle for an ultimate old-timey effect. Not too bubbly, not too milky. Just delicious!

#2 Farmacy- This egg cream wins as much for taste as it does for ambiance. The place is warm, homey, and takes you to an era we can only dream about (or pretend we live in for the 20 minutes or so we're in there enjoying this beverage). Ask about the different flavors too, such as vanilla and coffee!

#3 Fort Defiance- Featured as a top egg cream in Brooklyntheborough.com's best of the borough egg cream contest this is definitely a choice egg cream. The one we had was not as chocolatey as the other two but the milk and seltzer were right on.

Go on an egg cream drinking spree for yourself and tell us what you think!

Red Hook Fall Flea

This weekend, Sunday the 25th from 10am-5pm to be precise, come down to the Red Hook Fall Flea at the PS 15 playground at Van Brunt Street between Sullivan and Wolcott. It should be a lot of fun and plenty to do for both adults and kids. A musical performance by Audra Rox begins at 2pm and a few kids activities throughout the day include a drawing workshop, futball class, movement class, and Zumba! You can also help out the local school, PS 15 whose PTA is sponsoring this event, by bringing classroom donations of pencils, flare pens, markers, crayons, glue sticks, tape, copy paper, liquid soap, or hand sanitizer. Check out the vintage clothing and furniture, hand crafts, local food, books and more! So, we'll see you there!