I have a love/hate relationship with Beauty Bar in Bushwick. I love it because it’s two blocks from my apartment, perfect for meeting someone when I don’t have the energy to wander far, and because I like the concept: you sit in genuine bright orange vintage beauty salon chairs (from Marlene’s Beauty Shoppe in Lancaster PA, in case you were wondering) while staring at cute retro stripy walls and ceiling lamps. And you can get a dirty martini and manicure for 10 bucks and cheap drinks ($3 to $5 beers) while listening to a different DJ every night. But I hate it because the sound system is way too loud. I was there last night and it was The Lord of the Rings night – bad for me because I’m not a fan – and as usual the volume was pumped right up and I couldn’t hear the person I was talking to. Beauty Bar opened in May 2009 and with its pretty décor it has potential, and serves as a much-needed bar on the Myrtle Av stretch of Broadway. They just need to turn the music down.
Beauty Bar Brooklyn, 921 Broadway Avenue at Melrose Street, Bushwick. JMZ train to Myrtle Av-Broadway station.
Film director Spike Lee and Absolut Vodka have teamed up to bring you Limited Edition Absolut Brooklyn. A blend of red apple and ginger, this new vodka goes well with a light-colored soda, like Ginger Ale, Sprite, or 7-Up. Creating “city flavors” has been a habit of Absolut since 2007. Currently New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Boston vodkas are available.
The bottle, which features a summer-colored “stoop,” was designed by Lee, who is also filiming a love story in honor of the borough. The film is just one aspect of his much larger “Stoop Life” movement. (See the trailer to his new film below)
Absolut has also pledged $50,000 in sales to Habitat for Humanity, to assist with their rebuilding of affordable housing in Bed-Stuy. A bottle of ABSOLUT BROOKLYN can be had for just $24.99 at most local liquor spots.
After you ride a crowded subway and traverse a crowded sidewalk, stand at a crowded bar and wave your hands (amongst the crowd) for a dry martini, it’d be nice to have some elbow room, don’t you think? That’s why we love Berry Park, a neat-o bar in Williamsburg’s least insufferable quartile (i.e., the one close to Greenpoint).
Essentially, Berry Park is what you get when you close your eyes and imagine the opposite of a New York bar — plentiful seating, clean bathrooms, affordable prices, and room to smoke. (Or, um, enjoy some fresh air.) BP features a pleasant and affordable menu of apps, sandwiches and entrees, with weekend brunches from noon to 4 p.m. The bar — or should we say bars? there are two — has 16 beers on tap and everything else you might expect.
berry park
But the highlight, of course, is the rooftop “beer garden” — presented in quotes because said spacious arena lacks the degenerate vibe we associate with the term. That being said, if we could strip all of our preconceived notions of beer gardens away, and recognize the term as simply a garden with beer, perhaps said label is appropriate.
Check out Berry Park at 4 Berry Street at N. 14th Street in W-Burg. 718.782.2829.
I’ll say this for those Absolut Brooklyn bottles — they’re pretty. Besides for that, though, Absolut’s newest city-inspired vodka might be more trouble than its worth.
To publicize the new brew, Absolut attempted a two-pronged approach. First, the company teamed up with director Spike Lee, a Brooklyn native, who designed the bottle and produced a neat-o spoken word video with local artist Lemon Andersen, featuring such linguistic innovations as “sloped parks” and “brightest beach.” Check out the trailer below, or watch the whole thing here.
Second, Absolut embraced the BK blogosphere, sponsoring Brooklyn Blogfest 2010 and treating a handful of bloggers to flip cameras and early-release Absolut Brooklyns in exchange for coverage. This business relationship angered certain bloggers on principle, while others were annoyed that not all of the sponsored parties admitted said sponsorship on their blogs, a violation of the FTC’s new regulations.
Absolut has been creating these nifty city bottles since 2007. Brooklyn was fourth on the list after New Orleans, Los Angeles and Boston — a position I take as a personal slight — but our borough is probably the first time these limited edition vodkas have caused such a fuss. And perhaps that is their most Brooklyn quality of all.
In an interesting form of protest, Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn’s Borough Prez, is threatening to — gasp — appear in a bathing suit in public unless Mayor Bloomberg reverses his decision to close the Gowanus “Double-D” public pool. Markowitz won’t be alone in his exhibitionism, as various city council members and other pro-poolers will be likewise suited.
The “Double-D” pool will take $200,000 to open, apparently. Is it worth it?
We’re just looking forward to all feeling better about our bathing-suit bods — seeing Markowitz in trunks is probably just as therapeutic as eating ice cream and watching The Biggest Loser.
Looking for a better way to cool down? We recommend Blue Marble, a purely Brooklyn ice-creamery with locations in Boerum Hill, Prospect Heights, and (newly) Cobble Hill. Plus, they added soft serve to their menu, at lease in some locations.
I’ve been spending a lot of time canoodling in Crown Heights these days — and despite the convenient Subway access and frequent drug busts, there was a time when I doubted I would ever be able to find a real restaurant (with waiters and everything) within walking distance.
Then I met Chavella’s.
Now, Chavella’s is actually in Prospect Heights, but still well within walking distance of my main squeeze’s CH pad. Anyway.
Chavella’s offers surprisingly authentic Mexican cuisine — the menu is full of spicy, succulent dishes, without a burrito in sight. Plus, it’s super-affordable: choose an inclusive brunch for $11.25, or à la carte options in the $3–$8 range. The drink menu is scant but satisfying, offering beer, sangria, red and white wine, and margaritas at times. (The Cinco de Mayo jalapeño margarita was a once in a lifetime experience — i.e., I wouldn’t try it again. It was delicious, but in a humbling, tongue-numbing sort of way.)
I recommend the tacos, which are $3 apiece, allowing for guilt-free experimenting, as well as the chiles rellenos con queso — the cheese-stuffed peppers that my Crown Heights amigo so enjoyed. But before you get to that stuff, be sure to order the guacamole app. It comes in an innocent looking animal-shaped bowl, but don’t be fooled — it will absolutely ruin guac for you anywhere else.
Judging by all the sunglasses, shorts, and sandals present along our sidewalks and parks, it seems that Brooklyners have full-on embraced the warm weather. But if you’re looking to celebrate Spring to a higher degree, we recommend taking a trip to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where 42 species of cherry blossom trees will be blooming throughout the month.
The first Brooklyn cherry blossoms 2010 are already flowering, including the Autumnalis tree located on Washington Ave. in front of the BBG’s administration office. After that, different Brooklyn cherry blossoms will bloom every week, and even though experts have some idea of when said blossoming will occur — see this neat article in Time Out New York — subtle variations in climate could throw off these calculations. But hey, that’s part of the fun.
If you’re digging the warm weather like us, you probably hate to go inside, even for some grub. (Or sauce.) To remedy this situation, Brooklyn Based brings us a list of BK food and drinkeries savvy in outdoor cuisine.
Rocky Sullivan’s in Red Hook features a surprisingly tranquil rooftop bar, perfect for knocking back a couple after a long day.
Crown Height’s Franklin Park provides a much-needed beer hotspot in the neighborhood with a serene front patio. And the 12 brews on tap aren’t bad either.
My Moon (pictured) in Williamsburg isn’t known for its food or wine selection (although both are perfectly acceptable), however the plant-rich patio is downright luxurious.
The Miss Brooklyn 2010 results are in, and some spectators — like the bloggers at the lovely Brokelyn — are wondering if Miss Brooklyn is even an appropriate title.
No offense to Mallory Hagan (this year’s champ), but the eligibility requires for Miss BK are pretty lenient – contestants can either live, study, or work in New York, in any of the five boroughs, to qualify for the Brooklyn title.
The 2010 victor Hagan moved to Brooklyn in 2008, which is a slight upgrade from that year’s winner — a Virginia transplant who moved to Manhattan in 2008.
