A few weeks ago, I heard about a restaurant in Brooklyn who was beginning a “Pay What You Want” campaign. This was the Santorini Grill on Grand Street. At first I thought, oh wow, how cool is that! Then I thought that this poor woman who runs this great Greek restaurant is going to be taken advantage of.

I try not to be pessimistic when it comes to human actions but I’ve seen enough people try to get something for free to know that this poor lady was going to get swindled out of a few meals.

Paula Douralas the owner of this three-year-old Brooklyn, NY establishment says that yes, some people have left without paying for the food. But what is interesting about this experiment is how the people feel about it.

Apparently some people are skittish about the whole idea. Many ask “what’s the catch?” Douralas says that some of her customers are paying more for their meals than they used to. It seems that people are worried about paying too little for their food. This has prompted the lovely cook to provide two menus to those who ask. One contains the prices she used to charge and one contains no prices at all. But she doesn’t provide that luxury for the check.

Williamsburg in one of the trendiest neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and Bedford Ave. is the heart of the enclave. Bedford Avenue has amazing places to eat, especially between N.5th and N.7th. One such spot is Fabiane’s Cafe and Pastry Shop. Even if you are not really into the Williamsburg scene, you will be into the delicious delectables offered at Fabiane’s. 

Additionally, it is not overrun by hipsters, but is frequented twenty-somethings of all different lifestyles as well as long-time residents and families. The eatery, which also offers a wide selection of desserts and serves breakfast all day, offers a multicultural menu of food that is strongly influenced by the owner’s Brazilian heritage and French culinary training.

This combination inspires a uniquely delicious selection of standard and new world dishes and desserts. For example, if you are interested in a classic French breakfast, you may enjoy a baguette served with fresh jam and butter on the side. Or, you may enjoy ornate French toast with fresh strawberries and freshly made whipped cream.

You may have to wait a minutes to snag a table inside, but it is well worth the wait. Through big bay windows, you may observe passersby on the street as you enjoy your meal. And, in the warm weather, Fabiane’s offers outdoor seating, so you may simultaneously enjoy your meal in the fresh air.

With a wealth of non-native New Yorkers forever influxing to the five boroughs and especially Brooklyn etiquette that should have long ago been established as consistent and never wavering sometimes gets mucked up. Staying to the right on the sidewalk for example to allow the faster and crazier New Yorkers to jut around you is a pretty standard “rule” that gets ignored all too often.

More significantly though is the new New Yorker’s disrespect of bagel culture. It is not that they do not appreciate the greatest carbohydrate New York and Brooklyn have to offer, it’s that they do so all wrong. Some of these people do something that would have any self respecting Brooklynite feeling defeated and angry. They have the nerve to toast perfectly good bagels ruining their doughy softness and making them into just some regular old toasted bread.

A Brooklyn bagel is not the same as those dumb things you get in a frozen bag at your local supermarket and to toast one is a crime against culinary justice. A nefarious and vile act that should be grounds for sending people to some Brooklyn salt mine deep in East New York.

This might not be Brooklyn news but apparently it is to some.

It’s January and though it is once again unseasonably warm here in New York it still feels like prime time for a cool refreshing Winter Ale. I have been spending the last few months doing everything short of binging on the excellent Brooklyn Winter Ale. Wandering around bars and music/comedy venues last week it seemed to be on tap at almost every place we stopped.

Good! I know it can get a little bland to keep getting the same beer at spots with upwards of 7 beers on tap and yet there I was. I think the reason I kept returning to it is the flavor felt full without ever feeling overwhelming and the beer was just heavy enough to allow for long sustained drinking. It may not seem like Brooklyn news at this point since the line started showing up in well stocked delis around October but I think they’ve hit a stride with this particular brew and I thought it seemed worth letting everyone know that now is the time to dive in.

Of course if you aren’t a fan of winter ales or Brooklyn Brewery in general I don’t know that we should even be talking to each other at this point.

I was biking down Grattan St. in Bushwick this morning and to my delight, my suspicions that a new joint was opening up were correct. It’s a ramen place called Shinobi, or something like that. They put up their sign the other day, which means they’ll be serving delicious treats pretty soon, probably by September, if my innate food sense is correct.

And the best thing is, I know it’s going to be delicious. Because one, hipsters won’t stand for sub-par ramen. And two, because there’s a reputation Bushwick has to maintain as emerging food center.

It started with Roberta’s. Then came Momo and The Morgan and Arancini Bros. and pretty soon, this new ramen place, which will probably be better than Momofuku, or if not, at least more local.

Oh and by the way, I’m blowing up Cain’s Tavern‘s spot, too. It’s a new bar on Wilson and George St. It’s cute and hip. What else would you expect?

My mom’s moving back to New York soon. She probably wouldn’t be able to afford (or want to live in) one of the dumpy Manhattan studios in her price range. So all of the above are reasons why she should just buy a loft in Bushwick.

The Union Bar, which is appropriately located on Union Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is my new favorite spot.  I recently went to hear my friends’ band, The Big Takeover, play a gig there, and we all had the most marvelous time.

Both the upstairs and downstairs of the bar are refreshingly spacious. A very sizeable crowd came out to dance a few hours away as they played, and the experience was shockingly not claustrophobic. The bar serves food and drinks; I haven’t eaten there yet, but I would certainly recommend its beer on tap.  On Fridays, after the live music ends, there is a karaoke competition.

The crowning glory of the Union Bar is, without a doubt, the full size indoor Bocce court. We did not have a chance to play (waiting list was way too long), but it is yet another reason to return to the bar. The official bocce season recently ended, but you can still go to the bar and form your own unofficial team for the evening. During the season, the bar hosts league tournaments!

The Union Bar literally offers something for everyone; from the types of music it hosts and plays to the activities it offers. For more information on The Union Bar, visit www.UnionHallNY.com.

Crif Dogs has finally made it east – to Brooklyn. Continue Reading

The Archive, rest in peace, has finally been replaced. Swallow, don’t get any dirty thoughts, is a bit better suited to Morgantown 2011. Industrial lightbulbs provide arch light, the saggy cushions have been replaced by movie theatre style seating in the back and cutesy European style granite tabletopped tables, and the baristas actually know how to make a macchiato. The gorgeous red Marzocco esperesso machine glowed and bubbled, the music was recognizable without pretension, and in general, it is friendlier and less of a hey-please-watch-out-for-my-mac-book-pro-charger-cord kind of place.

For the scenesters in Bushwick, Cafe Orwell still gets it done, but for the main strip, Morgantown needed a more hostpitable cafe, one where you can actually meet someone for a date, or even better, talk about life and literature, without getting the hairy eyeball from the people sitting next to you.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Archive. And the way I’m describing it makes it out to be the kind of cafe where everyone regards you with a sneer. In fact, people were generally friendly there, but it was the vibe that made the difference. The Archive had been in place for years, and so had the people working there. That said, I’m thankful that there’s a clean coffee slate in my new neighborhood.

It’s out with The Archive and in with Momo Sushi Shack, a fantastic new edition to the community of cool grocery stores, cafes and bars by the Morgan Ave L. If you’re a Bushwick resident and you’re into amazing and beautiful looking Japanese food served up in an unpretentious space with a great vibe, Momo is your  new favorite hangout.

I wandered over to Momo, the work of the guys behind the popular Bozu in Williamsburg, a couple of weeks ago and quickly fell in love with the utilitarian long, heavy wooden tables and benches, the low lighting and concrete floors, and the friendly service from co-owner and head chef extraordinaire Phillip, who took the stress out of ordering from an unfamiliar menu. He asked how hungry we were, we said how much, and he whisked away our menus, telling us he’d bring us out a selection of food that we would not be disappointed with.

And we were not disappointed with what came out of the kitchen. The miso soup was tasty and piping hot (Momo doesn’t cut any corners and makes the stock properly with kombu and bonito), the pork and chive gyoza was lightly fried just right, and the selection of sushi bombs featuring cuts of fish like big eye tuna and organic Scottish salmon, presented alongside a trio of soy sauces infused with varying degrees of wasabi, was fresh and flavorsome.

But best of all was the pork belly. This is no regular pork belly. It’s sliced thin, and each slice, set prettily in a fan shape around a big white plate, is drenched in a sweet mix of soy sauce and sake and topped with a delicate drop of wasabi cream sauce and cilantro. Everyone who dines at Momo must indulge in a dish of these mouth-watering morsels of meat. To die for.

As a postscript, Momo doesn’t have a liquor license just yet, but that’s okay: it just means you have to get a drink at Roberta’s around the corner before your meal.

Momo Sushi Shack is located at 43 Bogart Street (between Moore St & Grattan St), Bushwick, Brooklyn. By the Morgan Ave L train.

If you’re in Bushwick and need a bagel and free wi-fi in a hurry, Café Orwell is for you. It’s situated near the Morgan Ave L on Varet Street, a few doors down from my favorite place to get air for my tires, Post Bike Shop, and makes for a nice place to sip, munch, read and type,  provided you can work with the loud-ish music and the somewhat dimly lit surrounds.

Cafe Orwell doesn’t do eggs or bacon for breakfast: it specializes in the vegetarian bagel. I usually get an everything bagel with veggie cream cheese, avocado and tomato – they’re big and juicy, and a pretty good deal at $3.50. They also have muffins, various toasts, sandwiches and other such items. The coffee is pretty good I hear, but alas, there’s no freshly squeezed orange juice for non-caffeinated folks like me (only glasses of bottled juice for $3 – rip off).

Café Orwell is located at 247 Varet St (between White St & Bogart St), Bushwick, Brooklyn. By the Morgan Ave L train.