Goodbye Plexiglass!

Ruben Liquor Store has been in the neighborhood, on Court street and the corner of Baltic, for 34 years. They had some problems back in the seventies which made them put up plexiglass to protect themselves and their merchandise. Much like New York itself, the area has changed drastically since then and Ruben is now ready to change as well. The store, although some plexiglass is still up between 9pm and midnight, is undergoing renovations and customers will be able to walk around freely and browse the liquor and wine selections. Although the regulars weren't dissuadeed by the glass the owners are hoping this will attract new customers with a more welcoming atmosphere. They will be opening back up in August so if you've been in there before and were put off by not being able to browse for yourself go check out their new look!

New Bakery on Smith.

Bien-Cuit, which means "cooked just right" in french, is a new bread bakery at 120 Smith Street. The space used to be Heights Books, who bought and sold used books. The new exterior, as well as the interior, is clean and simple, showcasing the beautiful and scrumptious-looking breads and pastries. They have what you would expect at a french bakery, tarts and croissants, but there are a lot of unique things on the menu as well, such as house made mini fudgsicles, pizzeta, and passion fruit & verbena spritzers, too name just a few. They also have a variety of breakfast and lunch sandwiches and these looked especially interesting and different. A open-faced breakfast sandwich they had, for example, consisted of quail eggs, heirloom tomato, Bulgarian feta, and truffle salt. All on their freshly baked breads, of course. The food looks amazing and the only downside is that it's a bit pricey. Check it out for yourself and tell us what you think? Does the quality match the cost?

Kite Festival!

Here's an activity that sounds like it would be fun to participate in or even just watch. Brooklyn Kite Festival 2011 will be held at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 1 on August 13th between 11am and 3pm. You can bring your own kite or make one there! There will be free kite-making supplies (first come first serve) and even instructional workshops. There will also be food, of course. Ice cream has definitely been promised.

Interested in volunteering at the Kite Festival? Send them an email at bkylnkitefest@gmail.com

Stories Tonight

The Hoyt Street Association has been putting on Free Stories in the Garden (that's the communtiy garden on the corner of Hoyt and Atlantic) this summer and tonight is the very last night they'll be doing this so if you're in the neighborhood you should really go check it out if you haven't already and if the weather's looking good. It starts at 7pm and they urge you to get their on time please. It's mainly for children but, of course, all ages are welcome and encouraged to come too. So, it's free and the garden is really shady and beautiful, as you can see in the picture above. What more could you want? Oh yeah, Mile End is right across the street if you want a picnic dinner or a snack!

Blue Bloods!

You may see some of the cast from Blue Bloods around the neighborhood. They'll be filming here tomorrow. Among the cast members are Donnie Wahlburg (I'm sure many readers know who that is and in fact at one point may have owned a Donnie pin or T-Shirt or pillowcase!). Other cast members include Bridget Moynahan, Will Estes and Tom Selleck. Blue Bloods is a crime drama, as you can see from their poster below, that revolves around a family of New York police officers. It hasn't been around too long, this is only their second season. So, walk don to Court Street in Carroll Gardens tomorrow and maybe you'll see some action!

Morris Hubbard at Brooklyn Flea.

Today is set to be the hottest day of the summer and this weekend doesn't seem like it'll be letting up. You'll be sweating and schvitzing through Sunday if you ask us. Do you know what you might need to help you out? Why Sweat Rags and Schvitzing Clothes of course! And you're in luck because the Brooklyn-based lifestyle brand, Morris Hubbard, will be at Brooklyn Flea this Sunday selling just that. According to their press release this is the first summer these rags and clothes will be introduced and "they can be carried, worn in the pocket, around the neck, head or tucked in a tote bag for every day use or in a clutch for special events like those lovely outdoor August weddings". They have a very vintage feel but don't worry, your brow will be the first to be wiped with these adorable clothes. Check out their facebook page to see more pictures or learn more about the brand!

Popcorn and moonlight.

Summertime in New York means public pools, outdoor concerts, and one of our favorite summer activities outdoor movies! These are happening in so many different places around the city, it's really hard to keep track. A couple of our favorite places to see are right in the neighborhood. The aptly named Amazing Garden is a tucked away community garden on Carroll and Columbia. On some weekend nights you'll find a small group of people watching an old classic film being projected onto the side of a building. It's pretty magical. We couldn't find anything online but they post fliers by the garden for upcoming films. The second venue is at Valentino Pier. Being right by the water, it's a beautiful place to hang out any time of day. Of course, both are free. Bring your own chairs if you want a seat. Go to this link if you want more info on the movies at Valentino Pier.

Arrrrgh!

We've all heard of the famed Coney Island Mermaid Parade but have you heard about the Pirate festival here in our very own neighborhood of Red Hook! On Saturday, July 30th between 11am-5pm head down to IKEA Eerie Basin Park and join in all the pirate-y activities. No there won't be any pillaging but there will be live music, a visiting schooner ship, public tours of the Mobile Nature and Maritime Museum on Wheels, a children's show, and costume contest! It should be a fun time and what better area to host such an event than Red Hook! Can't arrrrrrgue with that.

Like Butter.

Butter by Nadia, which is actually a dress designer and not a maker of dairy products, will be having a sample sale at House of Butter, located at 405 Van Brunt Street, on July 29th. They promise an "intimate shopping experience with Champagne, snacks, and deeply discounted butter". I don't know about you guys but this sample sale is making me hungry. Check out www.shopbutterbynadia.com to check out her stuff and if you like it stop by the sale between 5 and 8pm and buy some butter!

Dekalb Market Opens This Weekend!

Back in April we reported on the Dekalb Market coming to Downtown Brooklyn, at 332 Flatbush avenue Ext. Well, months have passed, we have been waiting anxiously for it's arrival, and it's finally here...almost. July 23rd, this Saturday, will be the first day they open their doors to the public, although some vendors will be outdoors through the warm months. Open seven days a week not just on the weekends! This is all very exciting. The list of vendors is below (taken from an article in Zagat. They were especially psyched about Robicelli's and Maharlika so you may want to keep those in mind). It's all making us very hungry!

-Robicelli’s (cupcakes, whoopie pies, brownies, cookies, and ice cream sandwiches plus candy and items from Liddabit Sweets amongst others)

-Joe The Art of Coffee

-Sour Puss Pickles

-Maisy's (Soul Food)

-Tea by Tiffany

-Cuzin's Duzin (Doughnuts)

-Maharlika (Fillipino)

-Wright and Goebel Wines (Wine Bar)

-Nile Valley Juice and Salads (Vegan)

-Cheeky (Cajun)

-Pasticcio (Italian)

Music in Cobble Hill Park

Music in The Park, Cobble Hill Park specifically, starts July 21st and runs for 4 weeks every Thursday. So that's July 28th, August 4th and August 11th as well. We've listed details about who's playing and whatnot below. They are all free and begin at 7pm, which should be a cool enough time of day on any hot day to come out and enjoy.

July 21st - Suzanne Sherman Propp (family friendly folk).

July 28th - The Claremont Strings (continental and classical music favorites)

Aug 4th -Nate Schweber (singer/songwriter)

Aug 11th -The Crustaceans (acappella with Colgate 13 alumni)

Cool Off!

Recently we blogged about the Red Hook Poll at the Red Hook Recreation Center. If you're looking to cool off during these hot days, such as Tuesday's 100 degree weather, there's no better place to do that than one of New York's outdoor public pools. Red Hook isn't the only one in the neighborhood, however. In fact the Double D pool, on Nevins between Douglass and Degraw, recently opened for the summer after threats that budget cuts would be shutting it down indefinitely. After showing a lot of support to keep the pool open, including rallies and a facebook petition, on July 2nd residents in Boerum Hill and surrounding neighborhoods celebrated the victory with a good old fashioned pool party and BBQ. The Double D is open from 11am-7pm daily. Go take a dip!

Kosher Restaurant on Atlantic

Pardes, at 497 Atlantic Avenue, has been opened for about several months now and, in the restaurant world, that's not exactly new. We have yet to get over there, though, and would love any input from anyone who'd like to share their experience.

According to Wikipedia, Pardes refers to a legend of a sacred orchard or the four forms of Biblical exposition. As we're talking food here, I'm going to assume the owners named the restaurant with the first definition in mind. It's a kosher restaurant with very interesting menu items such as Bronzino tartare with carmelized butternut squash, licorice gastrique, lemon confit, and hazelnut oil or duck breast, with vanilla barley, charred corn, carob, and tarragon. And, of course they have to have pizza on the menu but this za has roasted tomato (pretty standard) fresh basil (okay) and beef cheek (wha?!?).

So any comments would be welcome. Has anyone tried that beef cheek pizza?

Writopia Workshop

Here's another fun thing for kids to do in the neighborhood over the summer. Writopia Lab is a five day intensive workshop and the coolest part is that at the end of the session the kids, ages 8-18, get to read what they've been working on at Bryant Park or Barnes & Noble at NYC Writopia events. The workshops are at 123 Columbia Street, Freebird Bookstore and Goods. Summer sessions go on until September 2nd but the next workshop will start next week. Times are listed below. This sounds like a really unique and fun thing to add to your kid's summer activities!

Monday-Friday, July 18-22

• 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Ages: 8 to 9
• 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Ages: 10 to 11
• 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM Ages: 12 to 13
• 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM Ages: Teens

New Laundromat

The new laundromat on the corner of Henry and Sackett is now open for business. It's a relatively small space but not crowded yet for the most part and less expensive than any of the other laundromats in the area. The two women that we've seen working there are extremely nice and welcoming. They have drop off service and dry cleaning at their sister business right around the corner on Sackett, Li's Dry Cleaners. All around this is a great new spot and even though there are a ton of laundromats and dry cleaners in the neighborhood, the fact that this one is more affordable definitely gives it the edge.

PS 29's new look

PS 29's playground has been through a lot recently. While the playground is still in the process of being rebuilt, the courtyard area has had a facelift. The large open space has now been painted into a baseball diamond, although there are still basketball hoops hung and kids can play that as well in the area. The space nearest the school has also been painted. Five circles, each with different games in the middle, including the elementary school staple hopscotch. The kids must love this make over, both PS 29's students as well as the public, who get to enjoy this park after school hours!

Kids Concerts

We let you know about some great kids programs at Carroll Gardens library last week. Here are some more fun things to do with kids this summer and beyond.

PS 29 and Friends of Carroll Park bring you the kids summer concert series. On July 27th you can enjoy children's music band Starfish, Karen K and the Jitterbugs will perform August 17th and Bubble do Beatles are having a show on September 25th.

All performances start at 4pm at Carroll Park. There will be refreshments beginning at 3:30. No rain dates mentioned.

Karaoke Night

Looking for something to do tomorrow night. Sing your heart out at PJ Hanleys for their weekly Thursday Karaoke nights. Apparently, they give out a free shot for every song you sing. That seems like a catch 22 since most people need the shots before they have the guts to get up and sing and by the time most are on stage singing they don't need any more to drink. But maybe you're the type that needs no encouragement to belt one out or maybe another shot will make you a little more courageous and able to sing more adventurous songs, like Motorhead's Ace of Spades. Either way, a free shot is pretty enticing, so head on down tomorrow and let us know how it went....if you can remember.

MacBeth!

Shakespeare in the park is on it's way! We're not talking about Central Park though, it's coming to our neighborhood at Carroll Park! Last year the Smith Street Stage put up Romeo and Juliet and this year they'll be performing MacBeth. The acting and text will be the stars here since there will no costumes or set. With a small, talented cast and live music this should be a great event to come out for. Bring your own seating. Performances run from July 13-17th at 7pm and 19th-24th also at 7pm.

Summer Swimming!

photo taken from nycgovparks.org

July 5th marks the first day of the outdoor 5 Borough Summer Swim Program and a great place to take advantage of this program would be the Red Hook Recreation Center. As you can see from the picture above it's huge. The price to join this gym, at 155 Bay Street, is $50 and their pool is said to be less crowded than most other outdoor public pools. This is year 29 for the swim program, which includes lessons, training for swim teams, and recreational swim, is an all ages and all levels program. And according to the events listing in the Village Voice, if you swim more than 25 miles you receive a free t-shirt. Click here to learn more.