Tagged: brooklyn
Stuck in a J-Hole, The Kosher Bagel Hole
The Kosher Bagel Hole of Midwood seems undervalued/undervisited by non-ultra Orthodox Jews, even though (or maybe just because) it is across the street from da deified Di Fara’s Pizza on Avenue J. The lines at the Kosher B. Hole can be long too but they generally move faster, since Dom across the street has been making every pie by hand for fifty years. The bagels are as good as the best in the city.
Wait in line with exotic Semitic characters in the wilds of Midwood. If you get there at the right time of the morning, you may get the most perfect hot bagel in history, even if the whole bag is rarely like that. You just need a few. Crispy on the outside and piping hot on the inside. You know what I’m talking about. The rest of them will be good too.
Whatever you do not eat that morning, SLICE AND FREEZE IMMEDIATELY.
Lines out the door before Passover and an 8 day closure. Check the Jewish calendar for holidays.
Pretty sure these places are not related to the “Bagel Hole” in Park Slope.
Kosher Bagel Hole
1423 Avenue J
Brooklyn
Kosher Bagel Hole
1431 Coney Island Avenue
Brooklyn
Trains: Q to Avenue J
Le Crepe Et La Vie (Pancake Life)
There are a growing number of businesses in Ditmas Park that sell multiple dissimilar things . There’s a bar/flowershop and now a new combination bar/guitar shop. Against all odds, the flowershop bar works great but the idea of drinking in a music store is a horrifying thought. Most of my memories of guitar shops include assholes playing Alex LIfeson riffs and the like — but I guess I could see myself stopping in to buy strings or picks. The latest dual-offering in Flatbush is Le Crepe Et La Vie, a combination creperie and thrift store. Nothing precious or conceptual here, just an older guy who appears to be Greek with his wife running a small thrift store in the back.
I went there with my daughters a few days after they opened and the owner, Konstantino, let them try their hand at making crepes. Although I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone about it, the pictures are below. Now he’s too damn busy to offer up such things. We were just lucky — and because of his warmth and delicious fucking crepes I’ve been back several times since.
Konstantino is hilarious and always complains about how busy he is, with a proud smirk on his face. I asked him, “You didn’t want to succeed?” I get the feeling he thought he was opening a business as a hobby as he nears retirement age — but now he’s completely overwhelmed because this hood really needed a place like this.
Horribly Defaced “Masstransiscope” Restored Again
In late 2012, I stopped looking at the amazing moving mural behind the grates in the Dekalb Tunnel because it had been horribly vandalized/tagged. It was the last cool thing you’d see before the Q train crossed over the Manhattan Bridge into Disneyland and your day filled with buzzwords, acronyms, dumb branded websites, advertising, and even worse bullshit that all of that. This live animation by artist Bill Brand never got old but after it happened I mostly opted to stand on the south side of the train, with the view the Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty. Nothing to sneeze at either. I’m not sure when the mural was fixed because it was too depressing to look at after the damage was done. Apparently it was restored in 2008 too, probably for the same reasons.
Who knew? It’s back! Take the Q or the B train from Brooklyn into Manhattan and check it out. Look to the right side of the train after it leaves the Dekalb station.
The Best Frozen Dumplings in Bulk
There are several places in NYC to get amazing, real deal pork/leek dumplings in frozen form, usually $10 for 50. It’s great to have them around for a quick snack, side dish, or a meal in a pinch. Kei Feng Fu in Sunset Park’s Chinatown is comparable to Manhattan revered Prosperity Dumpling. My kids rated these, slightly smaller potstickers higher than Prosperity, in an unintentional, side-by-side taste test (I was running out of one or the other).
The best dumplings might be from Lam Zhou (144 E. Broadway in Manhattan), though I’ve never purchased the frozen variety. If you’re in Queens, try Lao Bei Fang Dumpling House in Elmhurst, though the last time I was there they seemed a little too doughy.
You really can’t lose with any of these places — but Kei Feng Fu wins Brooklyn for me, so far.
How To Prepare Your Frozen Dumplings
- Fry dumplings in a little oil for 2 minutes
- Add a cup of water and cover
- Cook for 10 minutes* or until water is gone and the dumplings start to sizzle in the pan. If water is gone too soon you might want to add more. You don’t want the raw pork to cook for less than 10
* 2024 note: a comment in 2018 said “My Lord, please do not cook them for 10min. Adjust to 2 tablespoons of water, it shouldn’t take more than 5min for the water to boil off. Leave in pan until you smell toastyness (like toast Browning). Source: am Chinese, have been cooking dumplings for 10+years.”
Kei Feng Fu
4801 8th Avenue
Brooklyn
Note: The place is on 48th street, not on 8th avenue. It’s the first building around the corner. Look for the graffiti tags that they obviously have no interest in painting over. This is a real dive.
Train: D to Ft. Hamilton
Best Deals: Ba Xuyen
Nothing undiscovered here. I don’t think too many people who’ve tried it would argue that the Banh Mi at Ba Xuyen in Sunset Park’s Chinatown is as good as it gets. These damn sandwiches are also $4.50, tax included. Don’t be stupid, just try this place. Perfectly toasted french bread with grilled pork, meatballs, vietnamese BBQ patty things, more. 8 in all. Pickled daikon, carrots, cucumbers, jalapenos, cilantro, you know the score. And of course the pate, which is what guaranteed that my kids wouldn’t eat it. You can ask them to hold the pate, though I’m not sure why you would want to do this. Start with the number #8 (grilled pork) and work your way up to #1, the kitchen sink option. FrancoViet sandwiches rule.
“My wish is that one day scientists will be able to harness our food photos and turn them into fuel.” – Jon Wurster
Ba Xuyen
4222 8th Avenue
Brooklyn
Train: D to 9th Avenue
Shayna’s Punim
Joyce, owner and cook at Shayna’s Restaurant reminded me a little of my favorite grandma in appearance (but not white, Jewish, or Canadian). Real deal home-cooked Trinidadian food going on in her confines. Her freshly made Roti is one of the best gluten-based objects I’ve found in the borough. I was confused when she asked me if I wanted the chicken wrapped up in the Roti versus on-the-side, so I said yes. Golf-ball-sized pieces on the bone but I don’t think that sweet lady was trying to choke or kill me. It wouldn’t have been possible to pick it up like a burrito. She asked me if I wanted it hot and she didn’t believe me when I said yes. She seemed proud of her chilies so gave me the hot sauce on the side. It was good but not as hot as she claimed and it wasn’t enough. I used it all too quickly, since it was a giant, 1500 calorie Roti, probably. Delicious.
I need to go back and try the Doubles, tamarind-sweetened fried bread filled with curried garbanzos. Apparently they run out quickly in the morning, even though they seem more like a lunch-type sandwich.
She’s soon to be featured in a book about the immigrant experience and hangs with a top chef. Some good pictures of her work here, thanks for the story and the tip Ditmas Park Corner!
Shayna’s Restaurant
907 Church Ave
Brooklyn
Train: Q to Church or F to Ft. Hamilton
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Soul Legend Melvin Davis at Littlefield, Brooklyn
Some singers never lose their voice. Everyone can think of a few that have. Other voices were never great to begin with so it doesn’t matter so much when they start to go downhill. Melvin Davis has never lost his great voice. At Littlefield in Gowanus on Saturday, he sounded the same as he did on his great singles from the mid-60s, which I have to admit I wasn’t really familiar with. It was a real joy to watch this thrilled, deeply gracious 71 year old guy talk about his life in music and sing his never-hits. Davis has had in hand in so many different a) labels b) instruments in Detroit during its 60s musical hey day. He recorded for the amazing Fortune label but was also Smokey Robinson’s drummer for two years, on hits like Tears of a Clown, etc. Think about the thunderous drums on that track. Maybe it’s because he didn’t only focus on singing that his voice never got shot.
Melvin Davis never made much money. “My values don’t start with money,” he said humbly with a smile. “Not that that it isn’t on my list.” Adorable. This is a big man we’re talking about. Literally, the dude has gotta be at least 6’5 too. He thanked the popular Northern Soul movement from Blighty for appreciating all his obscure songs that didn’t make him any money at the time but that are in our hearts now. He showed real gratitude that he could come out and play to excited audiences, because of this renewed interest.
The Brooklyn Rhythm Band backed Melvin with a super-pro vintage sound and authentic playing. Completely complementary and not the slightest bit distracting,
Humbleness was the overriding theme of the night and it didn’t stop with the star of the show. Afterwards, I noticed Norton Records co-honcho Billy Miller waiting in line with a crowd of fans who wanted to meet him. Not only is Billy his personal friend of Melvin Davis — but he’s also reissuing some of his early work on Norton! See below. But he patiently waited with other fans get a word because above all Billy and his wife Miriam Linna are themselves big fans. Also, Norton’s business was recently savagely humbled by Frankenstorm Sandy, when their entire warehouse in Red Hook got destroyed — but they landed on their feet with the help of legions of fan volunteers.
This great show was brought to us by Brooklyn-based series called Dig Deeper. — and I reckon we should all stay on their list and keep an eye out for what else they have in store. Barbara Lynn is teed up to play Littlefield in Mid-October
Update: Just saw that Dig Deeper posted a video clip of the first song Melvin Davis did at this show, which I missed. It’s was Chains of Love, which I just saw The Dirtbombs do earlier in the day and probably their best known song. I did not know Melvin Davis did the original.
Cut-Off Signs, Revolving Doors
Lately I keep noticing vintage but cut-off signs. This one is around the corner from my apartment on Foster Avenue, the street that cuts up Ditmas Park and Fisk Terrace/Midwood. Somewhere around this building lives a girl I kissed once at Sycamore then took out to dinner one time. She moderated comments online for a large new organization. The net-net is there was no there there. Really, I think it was just kind of rude for the Chinese restaurant to cover up the sign like this.
Brooklyn Wort: Undiscovered Beers, Heartbreak
Q: Why would someone drink from 1-5 in the afternoon on a Sunday?
A: You’re breaking up with me
Brooklyn Wort is an annual homebrew competition sponsored by Sycamore, my neighborhood bar – and Brooklyn Homebrew supplies place. I don’t have an interest in making my own beer but I do like trying experimental hooch, so I rode my bike over to Bell House in Gowanus on Sunday, September 8, 2013
30 home brewers who reside in Kings County poured their soul and hoppy tears into cute little tasting glasses (see above) with the hopes of winning a prize of $1000. The first beer I tried, “Jaded Hipster” APA, was amazing. I figured I had a winner right there — because not one of the next 10 came close. Several didn’t even come close to being drinkable. But then I tried “Fresh Squeezed Orange IPA Not From Concentrate” and I knew I had tasted something even more special and delicious, so I voted for the nice folks behind that one. I have no idea who won but it was great and I’m relieved I didn’t die or get a BUI on my way home.
After I arrived back in Ditmas Park, I sent a gchat instant message to the lady I’ve been seeing the past 4 months. A sweet, beautiful, and sexy young Puertorriqueña — but I guess it’s true I had been pulling back a little on the whole thing and she was starting to notice. She flat out stated that I was breaking up with her. I was so drunk and weary. I guess I was in no position to to be having that discussion at that moment. I think she had a few too. But I realized for sure that I was in fact ending it, though it took another 12 hours. It really sucked to be a part of that. She was clearly hurt but I was relieved, so I guess that’s pretty telling. Then later in the day I ate the last of the mayo that she whipped up freshly and furiously with her sexy arms the week before.
Downbound Ghosts in South Slope
Lying cold beneath the stroller underbelly of Park Slope, enjoy these historic ghost signs while you can because condos. Stop by Sea Witch with it’s cozy beer garden, good beer selection, and excellent fucking sandwiches.
Train: R to Prospect Ave
EZ Directions to Basquiat’s Grave
“This way…but first lie down on the ground and I will show you my face”
Down the road sandwiched between Kensington and Sunset Park/South Slope is historic Green-Wood Cemetery. There are some incredible monuments and tombs dating back to the mid-1800s. Green-Wood loves to have visitors and even seems to boast its own tourism bureau! I actually think they sometimes have activities for kids, so check the schedule. Round up the little ones and bring em down to the graveyard.
To locate Basquiat’s modest resting place, enter the grounds on Ft. Hamilton Parkway near McDonald Ave (Saturday and Sunday until 4 only), or on 5th Avenue for a longer, scenic walk (every day). Make a left when you enter the cemetery (the road is called Border Avenue) and take it to “Grape Avenue.” When you reach the intersection of “Fir Avenue,” start cutting through diagonally until you reach a row of small headstones. See map at the bottom of this post for more details
Just be respectful. Don’t treat him like you might Jim Morrison.
On the way to locating Jean-Michel, a large tomb caught my eye — and so did the words “The Eminent Minstrel” and “None knew him, but to love him.” Interesting placement of comma. Turns out he was William West, leader of one of the most successful minstrel acts in history. I wonder what that does for racial tensions within the art community resting at Green-Wood.
Trains:
Closest: F to Ft. Hamilton Parkway (entrance to cemetery only open Sat-Sun 9-4)
Works: N/R/D to 36th Street (take a nice long walk through the length of Green-Wood anyday. Enjoy tons of beautiful things and historic creepy things).
Flatbush Savings and Loan Scandal
Criminal activity on the corner of Flatbush Ave and Nostrand. Who do I ask if the letters are for sale? I might like to use the F on the new developer and then hang it somewhere awesome.
Undiscovered Brooklyn 