Smorgasburg & Bklyn Flea, coming to Crown Heights

 (Above) "BERG'N" the newest eating, hanging, drinking spot to land in Brooklyn and most audaciously, in Crown Heights. Soon to be sharing Winter customers with the Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg

Whoa.

I like food. And much in the same way I like to have my good t-shirts dry-cleaned for reasons of practicality and pampering, I occasionally enjoy spending more than I should on small portions of obsessively prepared, delicious food.

In other words I like Smorgasburg.

And they've just dropped the word that they're going to be in Crown Heights for the winter weekends starting on Nov 8th & 9th placing them at 1000 Dean Street the newest of recently renovated commercial spaces in the western end of the neighborhood. This will place them back to back with Berg'n which I have been to twice but yet to review because I want to get a fair sense of Berg'n before I proclaimed it the latest and tastiest Beer-eteria I've been to. Oh see? there that went.


Eric Demby, Smorgasburg & Brooklyn Flea co-founder says there'll be between 100 and 110 vendors each weekend and that they'll be set up with more permanent stalls. Of those, five to 10 will be cooked-food stands and more from the "packaged-food contingent." In addition to food vendors from Smorgasburg there will be marketeers from the Brooklyn Flea in the space, making for an enclosed experience of food, shopping and meet up spaces. ("Whooohoo 360º!!" says the marketing staff.)

Snips aside it's a brilliant move. Berg'n the venture co-funded by GoldmanSachs (is this the first time they've invested in Crown Heights?) has been packing them in, even in these pics I took on their second day open just before lunchtime.

(Above: owner and Ramen Burger creator Keizo Shimamoto, he nimbly prepared one for me)

I'd figured it would be the convenient lunch destination for whatever businesses filled 100 Dean Street. Now this merge of offerings that attract and overlap like-minded customers boosts all the player's profiles and profits, and will probably go a long way to keeping Berg'n profitable despite the weekday afternoons when people traffic is lower.

(Above: A Ramen Burgen, bun of ramen noodles in between a tasty hunk of shredded beef chuck, juicy steak tomato, arugula and special mayo sauce, seconds later it became part of me)

I haven't written about 1000 Dean (the old Studebaker repair building long since under used) being made into a wide open ready to go commercial space mostly because I haven't heard of a main tenant being announced. Bergen and Dean streets run straight from Brownsville(Ocean Hill now, yeesh) East New York's end of Crown Heights and continue west straight to within blocks of Brooklyn Bridge Park. Bike lanes and buses on both streets. It's exactly what I've been saying to potential property buyers for years now, follow the bike lanes, there on lies a plan.

So all this new business in Crown Heights could be cool. Downside I can imagine now there'll be more new people who haven't gone through the crucible of moving to Crown Heights, meeting neighbors and becoming aware through hard and soft interactions not to be a entitled douche. So let's so come November how much fun it is to be around here on the weekends. Between this and Starbucks having opened today on the other end of Franklin's now crowded commercial corridor (mostly from Eastern Parkway to Dean St) we'll really get a sense of how much of the conscientious character of the neighborhood stays intact as we develop forward.

From the left; Mighty Quinn's (BBQ), Asia Dog, Pizza Moto, & Ramen Burger,
(clearly you can't sell food here without a compound name)

Look at those scant lines of people up there, it won't be that way when the Smorgasburg train comes to Crown.

More details from the folks at Gothamist: http://gothamist.com/2014/09/25/smorgasburg_crown_heights.php

Photo Wed 012914: Lonely Soldier on Schermerhorn Edition

With scheduled construction of a hotel to the left of it (from this angle) and the largest tower in Brooklyn slated to go up to it's right, this lonely little building is at more than a few interesting intersections on Schermerhorn Street at Downtown's edge.


In Downtown Brooklyn, Schermerhorn Street is a heat sink, to borrow and adjust the term for a computer part who's principal purpose is to suck all the heat to one location. In computers this is useful because heat sinks sit on or next to fans and vents, that allow the heat to be dispersed. Lonely Livingston Avenue, sitting parallel between the active avenues of Fulton Street and Atlantic hadn't been as useful for decades.

In my life time of several decades it's been home to city offices, like the Board of Education (now moved to midtown in an effort to reign in their ranks) and state service offices like medicaid, unemployment and the bureau of child welfare. Other than that, the back side of a municipal parking garage, occasionally wafting with the fragrance of urine, a small sadly neglected city park, and a few other odds and ends were all I could tell you about Schermerhorn  until about ten years ago when the condo boom erupted in downtown Brooklyn. Since then there are a few tony developments. For example the "Be@Schermerhorn" is complete with an anchor retail tent in the style of a whole-foods-esque, which made me laugh because I remember when a hotdog and a person in need of medical attention was much of what you could reliably find on Schermerhorn, and those days weren't long gone when that particular condo and market went up. Which could account for some of the issues they had filling the vacancies before an angel swooped in and saved them.

I found myself downtown this week. "Found" being a disingenuous term for my guilty pilgrimage to Brooklyn's own ShakeShack, which besides staying delicious, stands as in this era as an appropriate if unofficial greeter to the western edge of Fulton Street and the Downtown Brooklyn shopping area.

Travel home by chilly bike (I'm a blogger remember) I came across many freshly vacant lots, (which I've learned from Brownstowner are owned by Steiner Development and slated to be discount hotels) some already deep in the throws of new residential construction. There wasn't much time for me to take in the flurry of new before I can across this lonely outpost.

I also found this sate-photo I've highlighted to be pretty hilarious as you can see where the lonely soldier stands in regard to the development.

This gritty little building shares the block with the mega development "The Hub" as reported on Gothamist (seen below) which as shown in this rendering will not only be a major real estate development but the new largest tower in Brooklyn (It'll be 52 stories) will push the borough's vertical profile further to the stratosphere.

That of course means it'll become a commercial destination. With BAM, "The Theater for a New Audience" on Rockwell as well as the high-rise residential tower 66 Rockwell all one block away it's guaranteed to be a hot spot. And that doesn't even include the Two-Trees mega BAM tower slated to go up across the northern nub of 3rd Avenue and Flatbush, which would add another cultural center, replacement library (there's debate about whether it's a replacement library or not) and residential tower. This area now has potential to be a consistently vibrant and enriching center in the way it hasnt been since the 50's when it was just around the corner from rows of Brooklyn's theater district. All of this development no doubt benefiting from tax exemptions, and the market cultivated by buildings like "Be" and the Barclay Center just (technically) three blocks away.

Personally I'm curious to know how all all this will embrace the African Street Fair that has been part of BAM's spring Dance Africa event for over a decade. Since the Two-Tree's project is aimed at the footprint of the street festival, it would make sense to me that some sort of connective supporting relationship be made.

Other than concern for Dance Africa and the annual street festival, I got no gripes about all this mind you. I don't want massive condos towering over and killing classic city and neighborhood sight-lines in Prospect or Crown Heights and the like, but this is Downtown, it's were massive projects should be. Hopefully since so many are residential the city has plans in the works to address the reality of the thousands new people who will be using nearly century old infrastructure in that area, and new school with all those some of the cash from all those new tax payers would be good too.

Vaguely I recall seeing a few residents on Schermerhorn and my guess (+mischieveous hope) is at some point in the down and out 70's or 80's a resident bought this building, thus ensuring a place in the glistening tomorrows to come. Of course it could be that some speculator came along at the right moment and there's nothing romantic about this building, but eh, in a life less ordinary, I'll vote for the romance.

So maybe it's good if there's a hold out relic from the past sticking up like a thumb against the new. Judging from the generic glass-rectangle-rific architectural design of many of these new projects it might be the easiest way for new comers to see what character looks like.

Photo Wednesday 112713 : New Prospect & Produce on Bedford Av Edition

(Above produce and cheese(!) among other rarified items)

There's a new market selling what seems to be the same type of upscale and higher quality produce and goods gentrifying neighborhoods have come to expect. It opened yesterday but as I was passing Monday night, peering through the mint condition glass windows, the manager invited me in for a chat and look around. More on that later. First, a little from Spike Lee.

Among people I know, one of many famous lines we are prone to recite form the 1991 Malcolm X film is, "We didn't land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock, landed, on us!" The line a turning point in the character Malcolm X's orator ability to speak to the disenfranchised African-Americans of that moment, spoken by Denzel Washington with his characteristic and halting fire delivery.

The initiation of development in neighborhoods like Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant, usually by developers and land owners who'd ignored the neighborhood or provided minimal service obviously brought in folks and trends, which we all messily blanket with the title gentrification. So much of that gentrification being so culturally, economically and visibly different from what had been in those and other areas of New York City, I personally think of that movie line often.

Sometimes gentrification's not so bad. Having something seem to come from out of the blue, and land, or pop up, in your neighborhood space, something the neighborhood was lacking, for example commercial variety, lifestyle options and the neighborhood self-sufficiency it had, can be the upside. Like everything there's trade offs, but despite the fact that we (myself loudly at times complain about it's ills) gentrification can often give as much as it takes. That's a vague paragraph (and I left it grey in my first draft) but I'll add this distinction. Who gentrification gives to is often where the problems spike.

As I've mentioned all over this blog, I was born in Crown Heights, (until I was born in Prospect Heights, which many seem to only recently realize is in fact still Crown Heights) except that real estate dictates, as well as two decades and landmark preservation have more sharply defined what Prospect Heights is. Anyway, I've seen a lot. For example, my father learned in business school the value of reading the New York Times each Sunday. He was the only person in the family who did this. My Grandfather to name one, was more than happy with the New York Post, but hey, he voted Republican. My dad on the other hand was one of the few, if not only people on Prospect Place between Vanderbilt and Underhill to read the Times at all. This was partially because of how hard it was to get the Times. No one sold it anywhere east of Flatbush Avenue, okay maybe a rare few bodegas had less than ten copies but it was never consistent which ones had it. My father would take me out on Sunday to walk over to Park Slope's cornered edge, Grand Army Plaza and Flatbush Av where the newsstand had nearly a bunker made of stacked New York Times bundles. I've lived the same story of walking a distance sometimes long, sometimes shorter, for reliable meats, produce, cheese, and hardware supplies (despite Mayday being very well stocked) to name a few needs and no it doesnt make my life instantly better to have fresher hamburger, munster, fine grit sandpaper and the sunday classifies, but it helps.

I have a label for posts called, "Gentrification I Can Believe In" for that reason.

There are certain basic things that neighborhoods have, that Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant had which were lost, in some cases, referring specific to shopping needs, replaced for a generation with owner apathy and bare shelves.

I always wanted my neighborhood to come back. I was too young to know about how great Brooklyn was in the 40's & 50's, how much neighborhoods then were solvent and self-sufficient, but the little good I had know from my elementary school days, that little bit that had dried up and flaked off by the cracked out late 80's and early 90's, I wanted at least that much back.

I always knew it could come back, and little things like the rebuilt park on Prospect and Underhill, or the rebuilt Franklin Shuttle and it's stations, or the rebuilt Brooklyn Museum facade, always seemed to suggest a rebirth was moments away. After all, there's a thousand reasons why Crown Heights, and frankly all longstanding neighborhoods in Brooklyn should be thriving. Central of those reasons in my mind is the fact that the basic infrastructure for those neighborhoods, water, power, transportation, roads are here and have been, though they may require extreme upkeep in some situations. Frequently the other key elements; schools, decent residences, (structurally at least) are existing too. So I always knew a thriving Brooklyn could and I believed would come back. What I an afro-caribbean-latino Crown Heights born Brooklynite never expected is that "we", the people in my life, on my block, in my family wouldn't be the stars of the spectacular comeback I knew was coming. Today, frequently, to look at bars, town halls, l'artisanal food markets and (Ha!) New York Times articles about the neighborhood, we're not.

But we all still need provisions.


On the corner of Prospect Place and Bedford avenue there was an auto supply shop, from what I recall it was the kind of place you'd find cans of motor oil, heavy plastic formed jugs of anti-freeze and racks of fan belts plus more. My guess is the store was a hold over from the day when Bedford Ave was all about cars, their showrooms and that industry. After moving back to Crown Heights from Clinton Hill I noticed this retail spot was a bodega in the classically depressing urban sense of the word. Wide isles, bare shelves and low nutritional values seemed to be their stock and trade. Along with loosies and what else I could only speculate. 

My long frequent walks pass this store headed for greener produce inspired me to write a long post about it, other retail spaces on Bedford and Franklin that I felt could use some of that damn gentrifying. But you know, the good ones. Life and the fact that nothing offers less return on my investment than this blog kept that long series of "Gentrification I Can Believe In" posts from being written, and then Franklin, frankly, exploded with gentry. Okay it hasn't gotten pass Prospect place going north and something that I think is unseen and goes beyond simple explanation is keeping gentrification's appetites for rare cheese from flowing south on Franklin from Eastern Parkway. However on a certain highly publicized stretch of Franklin Avenue, there is more pomp and cheese then anyone could have guessed at and there's more on the way.

Meanwhile Bedford one block away, hadn't seen much commercial development until early last year when a bodega on Sterling started getting a make over. Till now the biggest thing to happen on Bedford commercially was the opening of Catfish, between Park Place and Prospect Place, the Creole themed bar and restaurant which full disclosure I am a huge fan of. Yes, there is Brooklyn Exposure a lovingly inviting spot that seems to have the market cornered on every form of respectable nightlife from dinning to comedy shows to full on musical performances. Brooklyn Exposure seems to be powered by love as much as anything, I've been once and the people so great I imagined them to all be family. But Catfish is still the biggest point of interest from Atlantic to Empire Blvd.

The issue for Bedford is partially it's a very wide two-way street. I have a theory that you need a higher density of thriving businesses for streets larger than one lane one-ways. Which in my mind is part of why Williamsburg's end of Bedford Av flourished so easily. Brooklyn Exposure is just a block away from Catfish but it feels like a trek at night. Catfish's great food and drinking selections plus a warm wide inviting space have kept it humming with people since last year, but their red neon sign might as well say "City Limits" for it's solitary standing on Bedford Av. I'll grant Cafe Rux Dix opened on the corner of Park Place this year, a fine french inspired cafe, but it's subdued lighting and vibe don't light up the corner it's on, probably by design. Beyond these three outposts, there are also many condos and recently built or rebuilt apartments on Bedford, two at the intersection of Bedford and Prospect, one more up the block on the lots that had been home to a community garden that was found to be unofficial but dense with trees. Despite that there still hasn't been much else in the way of commercial action on Bedford. Until yesterday.

I was almost face to glass, trying to make out the brands on the densly packed market shelves when the manager came toward me. I admit I wasn't in the mood to be waved off, they'd been constructing whatever this business was, I thought, "...for months and I'm sure they're not finished". I made it a few feet from the entrance when the same manger came out and invited me back in. 

The new market on Bedford and Prospect place is not large enough to be a supermarket, but it is in-line scale-wise with "Bob & Betty's" that well lit, well stocked, often organic market on Franklin and Lincoln. The manager of this new market on Bedford and Prospect, Reuben, told me the building owner (who somehow got all of their tenants out and remodeled the corner apartment building above, with raised rents and all new occupants less than a year ago) contacted him because he manages another market in Williamsburg where the building owner lives. Reuben looks and sounds like a Brooklynite to me and he claimed he was.

The easiest way to describe the zeal with which he should me around the market, would be proud father. The market is open but still being stocked he boasted through an excited smile that never left his face. "We're getting all local produce in this section, most of our produce will be locally sourced" Reuben exclaimed through un-checked excitement.

Reuben told me he'd submitted a business plan for the space, and couldn't understand what the previous store manager did in the previous desperate space. Now the shelves are lined with a variety of items you'd find easily in Park Slope or Fairway. Fine crackers and cheesy selections (which I do enjoy by the way, love them crackers and the cheese that goes with) along with virgin olive oils, imported pastas, hummus, sarabeth jams and… you get the idea.

There will be custom coffee selections and fine meats in the weeks to come, between all Reuben described, what I'd seen of the new layout, new floors, fixures and food, I think this space is going to light up a lot more of the neighborhood.

 
The new well stocked food market on 1426 Bedford Av at the corner of Prospect Pl. is called "Brooklyn Born Mini Market". It was written on a flyer Reuben handed to me as I was leaving. I had nothing to do with it. But I like it and it seems about time.

I'll check in on the market, reporting what I see on this blog, because I'm curious and well I'm tired of having to walk away from my neighborhood.

UPDATE:
As of Dec 15th the store seems much more stocked than on day one, however the juice bar and coffee isn't set up yet. This hasn't stopped me from shopping there three times, and giving back minutes and miles for not having to walk to franklin for basic provisions. 

UPDATE 2:
I continue shopping happily at Brooklyn Born Mini-Market into 2014 and I've noticed more and more people each time, though not yet any crowds. I still think it's all great except I wish the lights weren't such cold fluorescents but hey it was dark and suspect for year on Bedford so little steps. One other thing I've noticed since the market opened is voiced displeasure from people I presume to be new-comers to the neighborhood. In one case a couple discussed as they walked pass and I was exiting. I heard the male say,"what do you mean bougie?" His female friend replied with a sneering exhalation of  what I guess was disgust. "It's, It's not REAL" she said, as I watched them walk away.

Photo Wednesday 092513 : Just Kiosks Me Edition

Kiosks are being erected all around the west end of Crown Heights (and I'm presuming the rest of Trending Brooklyn) evidenced by the two I saw rise up on Franklin, one by the subway stop, the other by my fave Chinese spot. Clearly both get a lot of foot traffic.

As usual in New York some folks are against it. Some friends even, wish the kiosks (which really aren't traditional kiosks, these only have a map in a radius around the monolith's location) weren't here.

One friend felt the kiosks make the neighborhood feel like Times Square. My response, compared to what it once was, it kinda is. With all the (illegal?) airbnb action around the way, we in Crown Heights really could give midtown a run for its foreign money. Thrown in all the newcomers and short stay (soon to turn over) renters and there's valid reason to have a map every six blocks in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is huge physically. Combine that with the never ending tug of war on what name denotes which hood and you have a need for neighborhood maps.

Personally I was initially surprised that our residential area should get such official treatment but then I saw that the maps accurately depict the neighborhood as "Crown Heights" and I was won over.

More housekeeping happening in the hood, this time along Washington Avenue where a number of trees were pruned for what I'd say was the first time in 20 years at least. I'm betting the Sandy storm aftermath has something to do with this preventative mantainance. 

Also for months now the road work on Nostrand Av has been resurfacing that long neglected road and it looks like work  between Atlantic and Eastern Parkway is nearing completion.

What changes have you noticed?

 

Photo Wednesday 07/03/13 : Independence Edition

Biggggg past week and weekend saw the closing of throwback hole in the wall venue, BPMStudio.




Pride and pageantry and Ru Paul thousands more proud folks floated down 5th ave in the City

And a new cafe emerges on Bedford Ave and Park Place taking over my brief beloved burger spot.

Clearly we're free to do what we want, (?) whether we're being watched, eh, who can say.

Have a Happy and safe Fourth of July!

Photo Wednesday 06/22/11: Candy Countdown Edition

Candy Land Bk Style, The candy colored interior of the shop. originally uploaded by b'klynborn.

"Lemme take you to the Candy Shop..." like most 50 Cent lyrics I find even thinking this in the tune of his jams both catchy and inappropriate, plus this post is supposed to be my "Photo Wednesday": Candy Shop centric post and so far I have you thinking bout a over-hyped rapper instead of a new entrepreneurial venture on Franklin Avenue, which is, ta da: "The Candy Shop"!

But I guess that's to be expected, my blogging habits have been sporadic which is no way to cover the Brooklyn Spring just concluded, in which I saw more than a few new businesses blossom.

For now I'll spill guts on Candy Shop, it is what it sounds like, no hipster ironies here, not recreational medicine hub, but in fact a story selling candies of various sorts including the kind of giant lollipops usually found on Coney Island or Oz.

In fact I was recently informed that the Candy Shop had intended on opening sooner than this and was held back because they didn't have a license to sell candy in jar. Who knew you need a license in NYC to have candy in a jar?!? Is that mind-boggling to you? It is to me, I mean you can put a fish in a jar with no permission or regulation and that's a living creature, but trying putting Swedish fish in a jar, liable to get written up.

Anyway the proprietors of the Candy Shop are the same gents who brought us the "About Time" store across the street from Candy Shop's location on Franklin Av between Park and Sterling. As many in this edge of Crown Heights (or Crow Hill) know these young men are very active in supporting community events and progress.

The Candy Shop from what one of the owners told me, will also serve as an exhibition space, so have your proposals and what-not ready.


Candy Countdown, originally uploaded by b'klynborn.

This photo of the countdown to Candy Shop's opening was taken on Tuesday so in fact there are 3 days to go, with opening day being this Saturday 6/25

The details on the shop as reported on the "IloveFranklinAveBlog" (note the blog refers to the name of the store as "The Candy Rush") are as follows:

The scoop on “The Candy Rush”

The Candy Rush is a vintage Candy Land and Ice Cream shop by day and eclectic event space by night. The founders, Kevin Phillip and Garnett Alcindor, are on the quest to deliver the ultimate treat experience with their vast candy selection and fresh organic ice cream, delivered by Blue Marble Creamery. The Candy Rush will offer thirteen of Blue Marble Creamery’s best tasting flavors. Customers will be able to customize their ice cream selections by adding their favorite fruit and candy toppings. The candy store also offers homemade juices, root beer floats, milkshakes and fresh brewed coffees topped with your favorite ice cream.

The 1200 square foot dessert spot showcases handmade countertops, tabletops and a candy-coated bench, built with actual candy. Guests can eat out doors on the beautiful deck.

At The Candy Rush, a container of ice cream can range from $2.50-$4.00. Homemade juices made by Chef Shani Porter, will be $2.50 for 12 ounces, and $2 between 3pm-5pm on weekdays. The candy store is stocked with an assortment of candy, including hard-to-find vintage candy and modern day favorites. Customers can choose to purchase various candy combinations starting at $8.00/lb.


The candy store will also sell made-to-order candy gift baskets, great for any occasion.

Grand Opening Event

Lets get the confetti and sprinkles; ice cream lovers of all ages are invited to come celebrate! The grand opening celebration will officially kick off on Saturday, June 25^th at 10am. The first one hundred scoops of ice cream will be FREE for attendees.

Creditable press and bloggers will receive an all-access pass, in which they receive free samples and gift bags.

The Candy Rush Announces Grand Opening Event

Grand opening (open to the public)

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

733 Franklin Ave

Brooklyn, NY 11238

Free Entry 10am-10pm

Now if I can only get some creditable  press credentials for my anonymous blog... Dare I say it's gonna be sweet... (couldnt resist)

Photo Wednesday : 03/30/11 : Dressing Up & Dressing Down in the Hood

The tiles of the new Chavela's on Franklin Ave in Crown Heights.

I was passing by one night last week and noticed a handsome crowd galavanting inside, as I approached with a small bag of groceries, a regular dude was entering and let me in. I looked around 180 degrees and connected eyes again with the regular guy who then informed me, "they're not open" he apologized as I walked out.

Chavela's isn't the only new biz dolling up:






Ah yes these flags were needed because an (actually) underground pawn shop is not tacky enough. Is this legal?

Sweeten the winter: Beny's Delice : Photo Wednesday 02/09/11

Just barely made this PhotoWednesday... so much to do...

anywhoo... Last few weeks have found my rummaging through me old stomping grounds, Clinton Hill,(Fort Greene! Bed-Stuy!) And along the way I wandered into a delightful display of delicious decadence distracted me and I was a decidedly directed into the den of desserts that is Beny's Delice.

The pictures are more demonstrative:

I got the cheese cake on a bead of short bread, very yummy. and a banana chocolate tart of some sort.

Both are on the top shelf (natch') and toward the right side

The interior is very rustic in a cutesy folk meets french cosmo kinda way. I liked the wall paper so much I'm thinking of using it for my laptop...they should put it on their website...or does noone do desktop-wallpapers anymore?



Staff quite nice, attentive and appropriately proud.

Apparently they've been open since last summer 2010, to think I used to live around the corner from the view above, what else is going on in my neighborhood since I've been gone? Suggests?

A new Star on Bedford : Photo Wednesday

A new Star on Bedford is born.

Happy New Year! After a much needed vacation, I'm back on blog.

Since moving back to Crown Heights a few years ago I've made an attempt to check out as many local food spots as possible with the intention of adding a little light and awareness to these generally small business that are a vital element of thriving communities.

Even with the accumulation of local blogs and the New York Times' discovery this past decade of Brooklyn there are still places under-seen who make more than a little hash.

I spotted a corner restaurant on Bedford and Park Place about a year ago and was immediately intrigued because of it's signs advertising African Cuisine and the fact that I could never tell if they were open or not. The entrance right on the corner and it being one of only two restaurants on that stretch of Bedford from Atlantic to Eastern Parkway I went in and I'm still not sure what I found. The place was less than stocked with cooked or other food, the person behind the counter a nice enough woman seemed more caretaker than proprietor. I took a menu and left. Never to return.

So imagine my surprise last week, when I noticed activity and then a new awning and signage. Now advertising BURGERS in large capital letters. Other signs intrigued. Halal offerings seemed to paper the entrance as well as effusive "YES, WE'RE OPEN" signs. It seemed they were trying to reach out.

Upon entering a number of apparent changes. While still a simple food shop, the interior was brighter and seem more spacious. New menus, a working fridge half stocked with beverages, a large tv merrily blaring sports and more importantly people, cooking, food.

"Alpha Star Burger" is the name of the place and they are under new management.

I met Smokey mid 30ish guy appropriately dressed in a fry cook's hat, apron and easy smile.

He explained they've been open only since the beginning of this year. When asked why the name he reminded me that the previous name had been "Alpha Star". I don't know smokey's background but with all the Halal references and his complexion I assumed a broad swath from the Middle East to Southern Asia. Smokey corrected me, he's from Fresno.

I mentioned my experience with the previous place and Smokey expressed some surprise at how key things were left undone, there are exterior lights which worked but the blown bulbs had not been replaced) and he felt there was a good potential between the location and the food they offer.

Finally I asked the money question, "why burgers?" "We've made burgers for 15 years... were good at them." he spoke in all confidence.

How could I not try one.

The double cheeseburger was my choice, chased with a Coke, in a glass bottle.

Alpha Star Burger was winning me and the meat wasn't even off the grill. Pictures tell the story of the burger best from here:


I was so busy eating I almost forgot to take a pict with the Coke bottle involved. Not Kosher, Halal and very good!



Afterward, I wanted to order a second, even though my stomach was bursting with joy and burger all a sudden.

While I was there, during my 15 or so minutes at least 5 customers came in off the street, seemingly for the first time (no banter between them and Smokey who seemed up for it) there were also a couple cops who just seemed to be around for a moment.

The meat was tender juicy, the burger held together only deliciously coming apart as I chewed it and the cheese I liked though I'm not sure what you all might feel about it, it tasted similar to the cheese in baked macaroni I've gotten from Halal shops all over Brooklyn, which I love.

My take away, it's bright, looked clean, the burger was delicious and now all of a sudden I have to put in work to not go in a buy one daily.

*Alpha Star Burger is located on the corner of Bedford Avenue and Park Place in Crown Heights Brooklyn. Two blocks from the Franklin Shuttle (Park Place Station). Besides burgers they have a menu of diner and Halal fare, and I was told they're working on getting cappuccino. The phone # is on the awning above, give them a call and see if they deliver for you.

Photo Wednesday 11/17/10 New To Market Edition

hah. I just noticed my last few photos all seem to happen in the wee hours of the night. Working 55 hour weeks will do that.

and yet there is no end to the activity on Franklin Ave day or night. And it's good stuff at that as witnessed by today's Wednesday photo featuring the new market opening between Sterling and St. Johns in place if the former "Nairobi's Corner" daycare. (in Crown Heights of course)

Word on the skreet is it's a new market that will feature an eat in area an specialize in Asian items. The skreet also claims this new business is a spin-off of current Quasi-health/fruit market, Nam's.

stay tuned for more.

Soon Come: new bar on Fulton from some Bklyn veterans

I'm mining Brownstoner heavy today, they have word on attempts by the Pratt Area Council to bring business to another short under-utilized strip of Fulton Street, near the Clinton-Washington subway station. According to the article their efforts have reached fruition, a new bar is on the way, to be called "Hanson Dry" (after the dry cleaner of the same name that used to occupy that spot, I remember people leaving church at St. Luke and St. Matthew around the corner and picking up their drying at Hanson, ah change, maybe now traffic will flow the other way)

And the crew that's bring Clinton Hill, this new watering hole, the some of the same folks who brought us SouthPaw, Soda, and Franklin Park. I'm down, when's Sean bartending?

More details at Brownstoner: http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2010/06/prohi_vets_brin.php

Day One, Brooklyn Bridge Park

If ever in doubt on how to express joy and fun, check in with a kid. Above, a little girl puts in some Q/C on the lawn opening day of One Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Normally my Bk nature event of choice to start of May is Sakura Matsuri the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens (and it is going on as I write this Sunday afternoon) but yesterday I broke with tradition to take in the newest bit of greenery in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The park is as a sapling to a tree. Much of it isn't complete...

Ponds aren't filled,



bike paths are roped off,

stairs and a granite structure meant to invoke natural rock formations and provide riverside seating offers a sign instead of the full on experience.


What is in effect is the lawn and the location. Situated over a former port authority pier, (which you can see in dozens of old NY movies) I was happily struck by all the new angles I had of old familiar subjects. In that way it reminds me of the long replacement pier built on the west side of the village. That pier extends so far into the Hudson it feels like you can walk to Hoboken, and it offers great views down river.

Similar for the new BK Bridge park, great angles on the Bridge towers. I was also excited to see some serious destro-porn in the form of the old National Building in various stages of destruction.


The space also provides a much needed parallel view back at all those South Street Seaport gawkers.


The work in progress park has a pleasant cozy feel. But bring your sunblock because all the trees at this time are saplings and there is absolute no shade to be found.

And despite all that, I loved it. I'm very excited to see more.