a lot of consumption... exclusively food

zero thought all vibes; sharing taste one newsletter at a time

What a week, tasted some things, didn’t write enough, but as things settle in around the house, I am very excited to have some time to sit down and enjoy the space for more focused and specific creative work. Here it is, the only real writing from this week for your enjoyment.

Greenpoint w/ Chris and Adam

My buddy Chris was in town this past weekend, and we decided Saturday we would tour Greenpoint establishments. Here are our stories… dun, dun.

Karczma

Stop one was Karczma, an authentic Polish restaurant with a farmhouse feel. It it true Polish, large portion sizes and classic options like Perogis, Kielbasa, and Golabki which Chris and Adam called blumpkins for the entire day disrespecting my heritage and I didn’t even choose or request eating here. Overall, the food was solid, the vibes were a bit off, I left the restaurant and felt a strange relief, not sure if it was because I was so full or what, but something put me on edge while eating there. I mostly enjoyed the carrot and horseradish slaw and the kielbasa. I was underwhelmed by the Golabki, in comparison to my father’s and Veleska’s, both of which I think could rank nationally.

Sunshine Laundromat

Just off Manhattan Ave sits an active laundromat with local’s washing their clothes, but at the rear of Sunshine Laundromat is a doorway… not just any doorway… a doorway to a speakeasy and not just any speakeasy… a pinballers paradise with 8 or so pinball machines, a skiball game, a full bar, and a back patio which has a no smoking sign although we spent a good hour in that back patio and while we were not smoking at least 80% of the others who ventured back there had a very specific reason to do so and that involved lighting up—not just your classic Malboro or new age artisnal nicoteen go to, the Baby Blue Spirit, but there was also a rotation of swisher blunts being passed among a birthday party. The backyard is surrounded by other buildings but overcasting the area is a giant church which I immediately pointed out noting, “woah thats kind of a vibe” to which without hesitation the most recent gentleman toking the communcal blunt responded, “this place is a whole vibe.” We took out 3 bucks and each played a game of Pinball. Adam played Jaws, Chris played Bad Cats

, and I played Metallica. We each got a beer, Chris and Adam sampled the house draft the Sunshine Lager, and I had an Allagash Surf House.

Peter Pan Donuts

Solid donuts, they were running low by the time we got there… the donuts were light and airy, the staff were nice and sitting with friends to get donuts while people watching others get shakes in an old timey diner setting felt like I time traveled back to the dat and age where people went out to get soda pops. I think Peter Pan is worth going to if you are in Greenpoint, but I personally think Sandy’s on Leonard are better (iykyk).

The West Brooklyn

After becoming increasingly bloated, we decided to walk from Greenpoint to Crown Heights, if we could make it… we couldn’t, not because we didn’t have the will, but because it began raining and we decided to stop by the closest coffee shop at the time and that was The West Brooklyn, a nice, earthy bar with Whaler’s and Kombucha on tap in addition to espresso-based coffee drinks. I snagged a ginger kombucha in an all bets off attempt to max out my bloated belly in an attempt to relieve the pressure, if you know what I am saying, and Chris and Adam both got quad-shot cappuccinos. We then hopped on the G and took it to Bedford since it was not running the full route due to maintenance over the weekend and then we began a 1.7 mile trek to introduce Chris and Adam to Bisou.

Cent’Anni

After introducing everyone to Bisou and sitting criss cross apple sauce on our apartment floor because we still don’t have furniture, we all (Sabrina included) decided to head out and grab some food. We had noted Cent’Anni in previous trips to Franklin Street but never went in; this time, we decided to take a peek. Honestly, Cent’Anni really won me over, pretty honest pricing, solid service, and a nice atmosphere, we hope to see our waiter, Connor one of these upcoming Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday’s, becuase we are looking to become regulars at a place of business other than the nearby bodega which I frequent for necessary Celsius runs when my coffee crash begins around 2 pm. That was our Saturday excursion in Brooklyn.

Picnic in Prospect Park

Sunday, we met some friends in the park for a low-key kickback. Bisou was the star of the picnic, but a bit of a handful for a hot second. He eventually chilled out, thankfully… the park is a tough place for him, seeing all those well-behaved dogs off leash fetching tennis balls gets him agitated. Anyway, we had a few drinks and snacks I tried a Mellow TBD from the market, which was pretty enjoyable and we all caught up, played some games, and talked about getting Sabrina and I into Dungeons and Dragons. I had been feeling a little under the weather, maybe a cold or allergies, when we got home around 8:30, I layed down for about 30 minutes and fell asleep for a nice 12-hour slumber.

Lemongrass Thai

Bangin Thai food. I got standard Pad Thai noodles with Tofu and was blow away at how well they cooked the tofu, I also happened to be nearing a low blood sugar crisis which was converging head on with a caffiene crash after not eating any food other than a few snacks during the picnic the day before and beginning the day with a coffee at home and then an iced latte on our morning walk around PLG, all that being said, the Thai wa great and we topped it off with some Mamman coffee where we were asked if we had watched Overcompensating—see last post… and then got the last of the days coffee cake (2 slices) for the price of one slice… it pays to be cultured.

Family Dinner on UWS

On Tuesday, we ventured to the UWS to have family dinner with some of my friends and teammates from college. Some shredded chicken sliders, gnocchi and hot peppers, a summery Mediterranean salad (our contribution… I shattered the dressing on the way, which led to a split-second internalized meltdown), and some strawberry shortcake sandwiches. The food was great, but as an extrovert, it was really it was just nice to see everyone.

Briscola Trattoria

Last night, Thursday, Sabrina’s Aunt and Uncle came into town and we all went out to dinner, after perusing the options on Franklin we landed on Briscola which had some really great dish options, but not necessarily all of what you may be looking for… i.e. a pizza, but besides that the food was solid I had a cacio i pepe with asparagus and most of the bread for the table. We then hopped into the Canary across the street to watch the end of the Knicks game (I can’t even lie, the energy of being in New York with the Knicks playing well is pretty amazing, I am still salty about the Stones losing 4 close games, but that’s history for now).

Thanks for tuning in. I am barely finishing this one up, and I will probably have some grammatical or spelling errors, so please forgive those. Let me know if you have any suggestions of thoughts related to what type of stuff you want to read from me, I need more inspiration and ideas.

with love,

derek