Feeding Umi » bushwick

Narrows Bar

umi — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 21:13:49 +0000

Narrows Bar
1037 Flushing Ave.
Brooklyn, NY

This place is a little hard to find, but if you keep going towards Life Cafe on Flushing, you’ll find it to your right. It’s where the old gallery Pocket Utopia used to be located (which an artist friend of mine had a residency). It looks like a small place, but has a REALLY CUTE outside area (with a BBQ) with tons of space. Off the bat, once you go inside, the place is dark and cute with regular patrons, although it just opened. The bartenders are courteous and signature cocktails are straight on. Otherwise, they have an all night all the time special of bud & jameson or sol & jalapeño infused tequila for $6, of which the latter is my go to.

Morgan Old Fashion – The main alcohol in this is rum, but it’s beautifully made and a great new rendition on a classic drink. If the other drinks sound too girly for you, this is the tastiest way to go. (Other than the specials)

Lucky Lindy – Beautiful blend of St. Germain, Cava, and everything else to make your lady swoon.

Babushka – A great summer drink that’s fizzy and citrus-y. My other go to drink other than their tequila special and Old Fashion.

Caulfield’s Dream – Cute name, but the spearmint scares me off. Never ordered it, but it seems to get rave reviews…

I love that there’s a place right near by the Morgan stop. As much as Wreck Room is fun, I like that there’s a non-divey alternative in that part of Bushwick. Go there while you’re on your way to Roberta’s or Momo’s.

Venezuelan Restaurant in Bushwick

umi — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 03:44:41 +0000

So tonight I came home around 7pm, trying to prepare myself for a late night. You see, tonight is the NBA Draft and I had to wait for the picks by the Knicks. I didn’t feel like fussing over dinner and Tracy found this arepas place in the hood. I had to be home at around 9:30 to wait until potentially midnight. Yeah. So, we all had dinner at this new place that opened up in Bushwick Brooklyn. We all being REALLY big fans of Caracas Arepas Bar, we were all pretty excited.

Guacuco Restaurant
44 Irving
Brooklyn, NY

The Restaurant just opened last week and was really spacious and cute. It wasn’t completely trendy or hipsterish, but it wasn’t completely divey or local, either. There was tons of light, it seemed like a family run business, and there was a good mix of diverse backgrounds there… and it’s not yet too crowded. We sat down and our host was really sweet and nice.

First of all, there was fresh juice, coconut milkshake, which I got, tamarind drink, which is what Tracy ordered, and sugarcane/molasses in lemonade, which is what Ryan ordered. They were all really good and Ryan and Tracy’s drink was tart and refreshing. Mine was creamy and delicious with lots of shaved coconut chunks. Actually, mine was quite filling. The drinks were a good size, but still pretty expensive, considering… around $3-4 dollars a cup.

Next we ordered fried plantains with Venezuelan cheese. The plantains were candied, and pretty delicious. The serving was a pretty large and the plantains were hearty with a thick fried outside. It was good, but I don’t think I would be able to finish the whole thing on my own. Definitely share. It was a great snack, though and we poured the arepas sauce that they offered over them. There was a “pink sauce,” the “house blend,” and finally a “spicy sauce.” I was a big fan of the “house blend” and the spicy sauce” together.

Tracy ordered the vegetarian arepas, filled with plantains, avocados, a chunk of delicious white cheese, and tomatoes. Ryan and I ordered the vegetarian arepas, as well, along with the ham and cheese and the shredded fish in herbs.

The vegetarian arepas was delicious. The cornbread was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I think we are still a little partial to Caracas, but this place is a great substitute. The arepas are around $6.50, which I am told is definitely more than a little cheaper than Caracas. The cheese is different.

The ham and cheese was surprisingly delicious and different than what Caracas offers. It was hearty, a little salty, and the cheese was melty. There was a lot of ham and it was a great combination.

The fish… was VERY fishy and hearty, but in a good way. Does that make sense? It was really greasy and it actually made the arepas break and fall apart. Very hearty with herbs and cilantro and very satisfying… if not a little bad for you and FILLED with grease. All in all, I was very satisfied with everything I had. Come, visit me, get some arepas, and then get a drink at Bodega.

Porchetta to the rescue, or how Sunday sucked, but pork is wonderful

umi — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:24:08 +0000

This weekend was rough. I don’t know what it was, but the very idea of going ALL THE WAY to Port Jefferson to do my taxes was very… taxing. And in fact it was SO TIRING. And Sunday was just SO stressful… that the very thing I needed at the end of the day was a way to let off steam. For me, that very perfect thing is eating tons of pork.

All weekend, the two thoughts in my head were CREAM PUFFS and TAXES! I had it planned that on Saturday, I was going to plan for both, then we head into the city EARLY Sunday, come home, and then off to the dinner. I thought we would have some time in between and it wouldn’t be a big deal. Then certain things came up, namely WORK things, which were really annoying. I’m not going to get into what I do here, but I work in interactive online marketing, namely email marketing, and there were urgent messages that needed to go out Sunday morning and possibly Sunday night for two different properties within my company.

I feel like all I did Saturday was, cook brunch, bake some pâte à choux, egg custard, strawberry puree, and try to get stuff done for work. Those cream puffs… man. They aren’t too time consuming, per se, but you use SO MANY EGGS. Did I mention I went through 3 full carton of eggs for those things? I also have a tupperware filled with like 12 eggs work of egg whites. (the custard)

SUNDAY… I was still unprepared for. I usually always wake up right before 7am and go back to sleep… most days, even on weekdays. However, on Sunday, I forced myself to pick up my iphone and look up LIRR schedules. Fuck. I had to leave for the 9:42 train in order to make it for our 1:15pm appointment in Port Jefferson. The train ride itself is two hours, but the next train after that gets us in around 1:30 (at 11:20). Shitty, right? AND I was planning on making extra custard in the morning. AND I had to send messages to our database in the morning, but I didn’t have the lists I need. Regardless, I hop out of bed and I need to run out for more eggs and milk. CUSTARD requires like 6 egg yolks. Like wtf, right? There were no stores open in my neighborhood at that time, except for a 24 hour scary bodega. I take it. So at 7am, I’m making custard, and I calculate that we should get out of here at 8:30. I kick Ryan awake and of course we end up at Penn Station at around 9:25… like minutes after the train left.
: (

I call the accountant and I explain my situation and that I’m traveling 2 hours to see them on the weekend where there is a train only every 2 hours. They claim that they will see us as long as we come in before 2pm, so we decide to buckle up and find some breakfast. You know, not many places are open around 9:30-10am. We walk all the way to Resto, on 29th between Park and Lex, but they only open around 10:30. We spoke to someone who worked there and he suggested we go to Les Halles, because he wouldn’t risk waiting and missing our train. We weren’t very interested in Les Halles, so we went to K-town to have some Bibimbap and stew for breakfast. MAN. Delicious, filling, and hit the spot. The only damper to that situation is that I found a stray wifi signal and started trying to do that piece of work… I couldn’t log into marketedge and a coworker and I started to freak out. Yes, I could have gone to the office, but I didn’t want to subject Ryan to that and deny him his breakfast. That would be cruel and … you know, f it. Readers, I have my priorities in place. Bibimbap before slaving away for an annoying piece of work.

I always do my taxes myself… and last year I did Ryan’s taxes for him. However, I thought it might be beneficial for Ryan and myself (I had some questions about my mother) to have someone look over them for us. Gabby RAVED about this guy’s company (family owned) and he answered some questions for my mother’s old taxes for me months before… so I decided to check him out. I traveled over two hours, on two trains and a taxi ride to get there. They got me a good refund, AND they saved the day and put me in their conference room so I can work on my day job. YEAH. REALLY. I was like, “I know you’re doing my taxes, but… can I use your internet to finish my work? I have my laptop and everything” – yes, I’m a dork and a nerd. That piece of kindness allowed one of my coworkers to not have to go into the office (Oh yeah, something I did Saturday night … GRRRR – which added to my loss of time). It all worked out. The timing was good, but we were so close… like 5 minutes too close to missing our train back at 3:40, which would have meant waiting 2 hours until 5:30 and get back into the city by 7:30. DO YOU KNOW HOW PISSED OFF I WOULD HAVE BEEN? All these things are just… man. Got to me. Tired me out. I passed out for 2 hours back. Thankfully, we got back to our apartment before 6:30. I hadn’t drunk any water since 11am, and I was head achey and dehydrated. We were both pretty cranky. We would not have survived that trip without the Bibimbap to fortify us.

Ryan had to sit and he watched few minutes of Prison Break (like really? Is that what relaxes you? Seeing a prison inmate television show?), and I had to check up on a few evening work things. Then I had to fill the choux, which took a few minutes. I was stressing out that we were late and I couldn’t find the address to the place… etc. I just want to mention here that this morning I checked my personal email during a lull at work and there it was… his address in the last email he sent. DUH. I have a bad habit of not checking personal email in the weekend. I just… don’t. I usually don’t want to be near a computer on the weekend, so … yeah.

Ryan needs to be recognized for being able to put up with my Type A-ness sometimes. It crops up at times of stress and I have a list… and if things don’t stick to MY LIST, I freak the fuck out. And he just sits there and reasons, “Finish your Bibimbap, sweetie.” And he eats there in silence while I have my head buried in my laptop, and not once complains.

I didn’t have much to worry about, since everyone at Shai’s place is SO CHILL. They greet us warmly, I have a drink, and I feel a little better. Then, I saw it… the Porchetta… and angels sung and my shoulders relaxed… and my stomach grumbled. It’s so funny. I keep seeing Shai in that shirt, with the pig cuts. And he proceeded to demonstrate on his shirt (I guess that was the point), where the porchetta came from. It’s the area from the loins to the pork belly, and he rolled it up with delicious herbs, tied, brined, and cooked. It was SO moist and so juicy. I don’t think I have ever cooked a pork that juicy. (I NEED TO COOK IT WITH SOME PIG FAT, THAT’S FOR SURE) And everyone brought sides and there was SO MUCH food left.

The mac’ n’ cheese was awesome, haricot verts was refreshing, and all the potatoes with the pork gravy was great. I had like… almost 4 … technically 3.79888 plates of pork… Mmmm… I don’t need dessert, just pork. I’m not ashamed to say that I ate the big chunks of fat on the pork belly and it melted in my mouth. One of the best porks I’ve eaten ever.

Oh yeah, and there were cream puffs, and people seemed to like them. The best compliment of the evening was by the chef himself. Yay.

I might have been a bad guest and ate and run. I was exhausted, and it might have been too much of substances, like alcohol… snorting pig fat… pig coma… I got home, and in bed by 11pm. And this morning I was still tired, but in a much better mood.

Bodega Wine Bar

umi — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:32:41 +0000

The Bodega
24 St. Nicholas Ave.
(on Troutman St.)

Amy (pictured left) told us about Tandem, one of the cutest newest places in Bushwick, but we didn’t go until Ryan’s sister dragged us. This time around, we were ahead of the curve and Amy told us about this new winebar in town. The place is called “The Bodega,” and it’s really nice, very beautiful while being very understated. They have great a beer collection, alongside their great wines. The house red is $5 a glass and very pleasing. Ryan and I sampled a sparkling rose, which was airy and delicious.

I love that these places have cropped up. I should follow this post up with a write up on Tandem. The Bodega has been opened for 3 days and there was a good number of filled seats. It’s located close to Los Hermanos tortilla factory and Northeast Kingdom and is a block away from the subway, which is a plus. They are still tweaking their menus, and are glad to offer you samples to try out. (Although I can’t guarantee how long this will last.) While we were there, we got to taste some of their crostini samples (Ryan and I went for the ricotta and Amy went for the cheese with beets. After tasting, Ryan – he was hungry – wanted to offer to buy the rest of them off of her.) and the owner offered us some lambic to try.

You know, I am happy to say that the a lot of Bushwick establishments (unlike popular belief) is run by really really sweet people… which is really important to me. I want to enjoy being there. I think those running Roberta’s were nice, although oftentimes the service is a little slow, because they are so busy. I’ve had pretty good experiences at Northeast Kingdom, Life, and Tandem, and this place is no different… in fact I think they went above and beyond. Again, the personal service might taper off as they become busy, who knows? For now, those running the joint are native New Yorkers and lamented to me last night, “We really just wanted a place like this in the neighborhood…” I can’t help but rejoice that there is place like this in the neighborhood.

The price point is just right. The house wines start at $5 and go up reasonably, with not many of the glasses exceeding $10. Good selection available by glass and bottle. Nice belgian beer selection with a special beer selection that is apt to change. Love it!

Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos

umi — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:41:06 +0000

Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos
271 Starr Street
(between Wyckoff Ave & St Nicholas Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11237

Love this place. At a Laudromat show, we met the featured artist Maiko Susu Shioda (on the far left). (Picture – Left to Right: Maiko Shioda, Amy Lincoln, Kevin Curran, and Ryan Francis) She was in the States for a couple of days before returning to Japan, so we took her out for some Bushwick Tacos. You might also recognize this place that as the recent Brooklyn Taco place visited by Anthony Bourdain in No Reservations. (Although the DailyNews is wrong on which stations to get out in. Take the Canarsie bound L train, but NOT TO CANARSIE. Take it to the Jefferson Stop and get off on Starr St. It’s right there.)

There is indoor seating in the small restaurant next to the Tortilla factory, but there is also seating outside in the factory space where we sat down. Bring a six pack and get a delicious meal for $5-$6. Go up to the counter and fill out your order on an index card, then wait. It’s not entirely fast, but you’ll be rewarded with great toppings on the freshest tortilla you can get on this side of town. (Really soft and fresh out of the factory) You really don’t need more than 2 tacos, but some of us indulged in 3. I got one open face picata (with chorizo), $3, and a spicy pork taco, $2, and coule barely finish it all. (The large taco-like open faced monstrosity to your left is the picata.)

I would definitely go with the carnitas or spicy pork, here. Maiko claimed that the chicken and vegetarian options were delicious, also. The picata was topped with the usual suspects, including seasoned potatoes, on a slightly thicker and fluffier tortilla than a taco or burrito. It was soft and delicious. I could seriously just get that and be full. They have home-made picked peppers from their jar and Mexican soda. You don’t get tacos like this in Manhattan.

I will say that this place is probably equally delicious as our La Delicia bodega tacos. This place doesn’t have the El Pastor option of La Delicia, but it makes up for it for the little picata and cheaper prices.

Absurdist Burger Eating Gallery Love

umi — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:05:44 +0000

Ryan and I have been fans of Kevin’s impromptu art gallery, the Laundromat, named, because his loft space is above a laudromat. When Kevin came up with the idea of doing a show where the artists create the burgers, you know that I was all about it! Of course I’m there.

Yesterday’s Burger show got tons of publicity from NY Magazine and NY Post.

I got the “Spanish Invasion,” as it was recommended and the idea of combining salsa, lots of onions, and cheese on a burger just sounded right. And as much as the burger boat at the Rachel Harris burger tempted me, in the case of the Burger Boat, burger on a pita didn’t have the right bun to meat ratio ((tm) Ryan F.).

Going from left to right, top to bottom, is the Spanish Invasion, Rachel Harris Burger (with cubes of cheese, olives, and a plastic toy soldier), the Cheesy Koons (with a smiley face pickle), and the BURGER BOAT (complete with background and a blue vinyl sea)!

It was such a good idea. I wish the burgers had a little more punch, though. Still, my Spanish Invasion burger was cooked JUST RIGHT. It was juicy, meaty, with enough bread. I wish it was saltier, though.

There were other options, such as the burger burrito, which had a good concept. They stuffed the meat (full of cheese, onions, veggies, etc…) in cut up coke cans (I failed to get a picture of the coke cans). Then they put it on a tortilla. It was cool, but the resulting burger was a massive lump of yummy meat on a tortilla, which was a bit scary.

Some creations like the burger boat were a delight to watch, but I couldn’t imagine it being tastier than a crisp burger bun. Then, other creations like the Smithson burger, resembled a spiral something other than a Getty. You know, if you get what I mean.

Ryan and I were trying to convince Kevin to do something annually at Laundromat. Maybe something versatile like omelets! : D Or some stick towers with some sausages. I would eat me some towers of sausage and cheese.

Otherwise, it was a crazy good time in a brooklyn gallery loft, with some very nice paintings, installation art, and beer.

Staying in Bushwick

umi — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:00:48 +0000

Ryan’s lease is expiring on July 1st. In the end, we decided to stay in this apartment. Originally, Ryan was looking forward to moving to midtown due to the falling rent prices. However, even then, you aren’t going to get the amount of space you do in Brooklyn. You just won’t. We looked around Washington Heights in the 175-160s, and found very nice spacious apartments. However, the space is around the same, the price was a little loftier, and the moving costs were daunting. The commute would be the same for me, and we didn’t feel anything compelling drawing us. It would the same deal as we have now, just on the other side of town.

Sure there are some positives, such as yellow cabs will actually drop us off. (They are scared of crossing any sort of bridge, usually) We would be close to a lot of Ryan’s cohorts. There are other train options, other than the “L.”

Those things weren’t enough to drive us away. In the end, we negotiated the rent with the landlord to something more appropriate for the current market. He was reasonable, fixed our sink, and changed the other name of the lease. Some of the positives of Brooklyn is the unique favor, the up and coming gentrification, and general demographic is young kids. In the end, last week, we celebrated the decision by going to our local favorite pizza place, Roberta’s, where they cook the oven in a real huge iron oven. (You know, like Taboon, any place with a huge old oven is a fav of mine. Also in the outside seating, there is an old car that’s been gutted as a mini garden.)

They had a mouth watering special of ricotta, mozarella, prosciutto, topped with truffle oil. The whole thing was cheesy, without being over powering (surprisingly) and definitely didn’t disappoint.

Last time I blogged about this place, I complained about it no longer being BYOB. That is still a bummer, but they have a cute bar now, with a wide and reasonable bar list. They have several beer options for around $4 and a sparkling wine option for $6. Of course it goes up.

We shared the pizza with some prosecco, toasted to staying in the area, and promised ourselves that we will take advantage of our residency and discover more Brooklyn restaurants in the future.

If you haven’t been, it is definitely worth making the trip out.

Pizza in Bushwick, Brooklyn

umi — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:54:05 +0000

(Yikes!! It has almost been a month since anyone has last updated. We should come up with a regular update schedule. I mean, if only for the sole purpose of getting a treat once a week.)

We recently went to Roberta’s, a pizza place in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Ryan heard about it and was interested in trying it. It was also featured in the Underground Gourmet Review in New York Magazine. It is near the Morgan stop on the L, cute, laid back, with a bright red brick oven, and slightly indie vibe. It is spacious with seating for four or more on the long picnic tables. The outside seating includes two long tables shared by groups. It is BYOB with an extensive menu of personal pizzas, seasonal salads, and some antipasti.

I’m not a big pizza person, but when it is done well I can appreciate its comfort. I didn’t really like pizza as a child, because it was never done well. It was too cheesy and dry, the crust bland, or the sauce was tasteless. Over the years I’ve had some very good pizza and some very bad pizza. I only rarely “crave” pizza, but when I do mediocre pizza just makes me want to never eat it again.

This being said, I am not a big toppings fan. I like ham and pineapple or sausage and mushrooms. I like saucy Sicilians. (Oh wait, were we still on the topic of pizza?) I usually go for a plain slice with oregano and garlic sprinkled on top.

Here, they have non-cheese pizza (for the vegetarian-minded), a regular margherita, and then an extensive menu of beautifully crafted toppings on the pizza specials. We shared the Da Kine, which features pineapples, ham, jalapeno peppers, and ricotta. The jalapeno peppers went very well with the pineapple and prosciutto. The dough was chewy, and medium thin. Ryan dislikes bland dough and thought that this crust had a good flavor that complimented the overall creation. The pizza we had was delicious without being overbearing (too much of one flavor). The pie itself probably had a diameter of 12”. This place has me planning my next visit, which is always a sign of a good meal. Next time, I will probably try the Lupo with spring garlic, pesto, ricotta, mozzarella and prosciutto cotto.

Our bill for the pizza ($15) and soft drinks came out to $19 for two people. The pizza ranges from $8-15. A dish of olives is $5, other appetizers range below $10, and the drinks hover between $2-4. One pie is perfect to share and should be enough coupled with a beer or an appetizer. This is a perfect place to come with a group of people. You can order couple of pies and bring a few bottles of wine.

Ryan’s Additional Observations:

This place exceeded expectations food-wise, and atmosphere-wise as well. It’s too bad that we only discovered the place in mid-September because the outdoor seating seemed to be a great option. As Umi mentioned, I found the crust and dough to be above average, with an excellent amount of chew, without being doughy, and salty without being a salt-lick. Pretty perfect. My one main grip with the pizza is that while the crust is of a nice density, the rest of the pie is a bit too thin, which leads to the whole fork-and-knife approach, no matter how cold your slice gets. This is a minor grip because it tasted great, but the tactile experience of eating pizza is at least as important as the taste, in my opinion, and Roberta’s kind of falls down on that accord. It’s like all of the ingredients of a really good pizza, but not quite assembled properly. In the end though, you probably won’t mind, and if you live in Bushwick or Williamsburg, you’ll probably come back here a lot once you discover it.

I would also say that while it is very friendly with a nice staff, the service is a little wobbly, though you probably won’t mind. I didn’t, except that my table was pretty dirty when we sat down, and it wasn’t very well cleaned when they came by. But hey, this is a communal table pizza joint in Bushwick, not Le Bernadin, so it’s not a big deal.

Also, who doesn’t love BYOB?

—-

Edited: 10/3/2008 by Umi

Apparently Roberta’s is no longer BYOB, which is a huge disappointment to me.