Siggy's Good Food? Nope, It's Great!

Relish
225 Wythe Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 963-4546
www.relish.com

Siggy's Good Food
76 Henry Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 237-3199

HARD TO BELIEVE my first trip to Relish in quite some time would be overshadowed by a hole-in-the-wall organic kitchen in downtown Brooklyn, but that's the truth, people. And that's not to say the always-impeccable Relish wasn't up to expectations--Siggy's just flat out surprised us.

The Relish trip was decided-upon quite by accident. Jane, visiting for a birthday weekend, had only two simple requests for brunch: to sit outside and order off a menu that didn't bestow ridiculous names on its food. Is there a better Williamsburg option meeting that pair of demands? I think not. So, much to the chagrin of Mint who was working on a her usual day off, Sunday, it was off to the depths of Wythe Avenue.

Sunday brunch is better in the backyard at Relish

The beauty of Relish is always its menu of simple, delicious fare presented without pretense in neighborhood that quite literally thrives on pretense. My huevos rancheros were excellently cooked and the tortillas below still crunchy, somehow entirely unaffected by the pile of rice and beans piled upon them; the side of veggie sausage, while tasty, could certainly have been of larger quantity. Meanwhile, Jane was much pleased with her chicken sandwich. Best of all, though, was the towering Bloody Mary I received from the bar, thick, just a touch too spicy, and refreshingly cold on a warm afternoon.

After a visit to see Steph tending bar up at Dive 75 on a suspiciously slow Sunday, and after a game of Scrabble, quite a few bowls of chocolate candy, and a remarkable comeback by the US to dispatch Mexico 2-1 and win the Gold Cup, Jane set off across Central Park to find her way back to Murray Hill, while I set off to take the 2 train back into Brooklyn.

Meeting Mint off Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, we surveyed our usual options and decided, instead, to set off down Henry Street in search of something different. We came across Siggy's Good Food and were coxed inside by the adorable gray cat standing sentinel outside in spite of our apprehensions about Siggy's cozy, non-air conditioned interior.

Siggy's was refreshing nonetheless, a bottle of beer and fresh ginger-mint lemonade for Mint and I saw to that. The food, best of all, was not your typical vegan/vegetarian variety, as we had feared, focusing on organic offerings prepared with infinitely more touch and experience than many like-minded establishments. Mint's tofu, broccoli and soba noodles in Szechuan sauce, an overdone staple at many veggie friendly joints, was remarkably light, with all the flavor of soy sauce and spices without becoming too salty or overpowering the tofu, which was cooked very, very well.

Spotting macaroni and cheese on the menu I could do little else but order it, and so also chose a lentil garlic soup to start. The soup was wonderful, no real surprises, but the macaroni and cheese had to be the best I've ordered out anywhere in the City. Whole grain spelt pasta was an excellent, hearty choice paired with the tangy, organic blend of cheeses, and together the duo was gooey, sticky, satisfying, or try this: everything you look for in comfort food. Though, while at $6.95 (technically, it's a starter dish) the mac n' cheese is a pretty great value, I'm fairly sure its nutritionally void. You win some, you lose some.

Don't that just look delicious?

So, sorry, Relish, but you got shown up by some creative kids downtown. It's not that the food there was better, it was just that much more unexpected. When the stellar becomes status quo, surprises are just that much more surprising. Anyways, Mint is anxious for her first visit to your shimmery dining car quarters, so, no worries, you'll get your chance to shine for MEF! some evening soon. You just better hope we don't first go to Siggy's for brunch.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Absolutely, on both counts.

Mike Eats Greenpoint, Volume 2.1: Sapporo Haru, Revisited

Sapporo Haru
622 Manhattan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 389-9697

THREE REASONS WHY this topic is worth revisiting:

First, the original MEF! post on Sapporo was anything but comprehensive.

Second, there is now an over-abundance of sushi places in Greenpoint, all within a few blocks of each other, which only furthers the debate about where to purchase one's raw fish around these parts. Sapporo Haru and Wasabi were both excellent choices when they were the only games in town. Ah, but for progress. A couple of upstarts makes the decision tougher, the debate worth clarifying.

Third, in light of a recent conversation with Kevin (note: the two of us are no masters of sushi knowledge, unless Kevin is keeping something from me), expectations have been raised. It was pointed out to me that perhaps the test of good maki is whether or not each of the roll's individual pieces is distinguishable in texture, flavor, etc. An excellent point. Kevin finds that Wasabi's chefs do a better job of accomplishing this feat than do Sapporo's.

Roxie, on a recent trip; ume shiso roll as it should be, top

I have no desire to eat at all of the sushi newcomers and mainstays in Greenpoint to determine which is tops. That's expensive, people. I've been going to Sapporo for a little over three years now and I have no plans to stop. I enjoy the menu, I find the fish to be fresh, the service to be warm (on occasion hilariously erratic), and the prices to be reasonable. The green tea has the flavor of toasted rice, and the miso is exceptionally sweet without being salty. The waitress calls me "sweetie." That's enough for me.

That said, my ume shiso roll arrived with pickled plum paste rather curiously plopped atop my roll rather than inside it (see detail, left). I've never had that happen before. I can't explain it. My Brooklyn roll, which involves fried mint leaves and spicy tuna on the outside, arrived as Kevin might have predicted--a muddle of tastes (however delicious) with only the mint leaves recognizable by their crunch. Score one for Kevin.

It's enough to make me want to try Wasabi, just to see how the two stand up. But once, and only once!

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Perhaps, just perhaps, at Wasabi.

Bi Bim Bap'd!

Miyako
143 Berry Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 486-0837

THIS EXPERIMENT IS beginning to take on a life of its own. In the beginning, I held absolutely zero intentions for where Mike Eats Food! was headed (aside from maintaining its admittedly self-indulgent premise), and to date I've only paused on a couple of occasions to reflect on perks or bouts of nostalgia thus associated with its expanding niche in my life. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, indeed.

If I had to do it again, I might have reflected a little longer on the commitment to photograph and write about every meal, you know, before agreeing with myself to do it. I certainly think myself was a little hasty in talking myself into this mess but as I told Aaron this past weekend after taking five pictures of a bowl of pad thai, "I've made my bed, and now I have to lay in it." Aaron remarked, rather sarcastically, that I had "found my calling." I think that might be a bit strong, but his point is pretty clear: for better or, mostly, I assume, for worse, the line between me and this blog is growing ever-thinner.

I'm not sure if I'm happy about that. But that's where I'm at. This was evidenced once again this evening as Becky and I were brainstorming to find a place for dinner before visiting Roxie, who was guest bar-keeping at Soft Spot. Roxie added to the conversation by email:

"Mikey is the one with the FOOD BLOG, so I'd let him take you somewhere. I do highly recommend Miyako, which I'm fairly certain Mikey doesn't know about. I could be wrong though...It's happened once before."

Thinking about it, I actually can't come up with time that Roxie has been wrong, and she wasn't wrong tonight either. Miyako, and it's equal parts Korean and Japanese menu, turned out to be a great choice. Becky has been raving about Korean food since her relatively recent trip to Seoul, and I still hadn't tried it myself. I don't believe Mint had either. So, ignoring Miyako's Japanese half (and Roxie's actual recommendation of sushi), Becky, Mint and I sat down for kim chee.

We ordered our kim chee, a.k.a. spicy cabbage, served up both cold and cooked in a soft pancake-type dish, pah jun. While the red pepper sauce on the kim chee could certainly have been spicier, I cannot imagine a more enjoyable start to the meal than the pah jun. I could have eaten the stuff all night, a point I repeatedly made clear to the amusement (and/or annoyance) of Becky and Mint.

Mint ordered for an entree ginger tofu; Becky and I ordered variations of tofu bi bim bap, hers served warm in a large bowl, mine in a cast iron pot, a dish called dol sut. I imagine the difference in taste was negligible, though the egg that arrived fried atop Becky's dish was poached atop mine. We poured our sesame oil and hot sauce over the neatly-arranged tofu, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, and sprouts and stirred the concoction together, digging up from the bottom of the dish the rice and noodles, mine slightly burnt and crispy as they should be from the sizzling pot. (I think Mint kind of wanted to have fun stirring her dinner too, but ginger tofu is sadly not something you want to smash up with a spoon.)

Left to right: Bi bim bap; Food, all stirred up; Sushi? What sushi?

I can see myself really enjoying bi bim bap in the middle of winter, hunched over its steaming pile of deliciously dislodged ingredients and hiding from the cold. That said, I can see myself really enjoying bi bim bop anytime. Filling and nourishing, it's a fantastically unceremonious meal--how formal can you be when mashing up your dinner?--and it makes for a friendly table.

From Miyako, we headed up to Soft Spot, a bar Roxie is fond of frequenting. Tonight, however, Roxie was on the other of the bar serving up 2-for-1 happy hour specials (7 to 8 p.m.) as a guest bartender. The guest-tending spot is filled every Wednesday by a different invitee, as the Spot Spot is big on nightly draws (and tasteful nudity, left). For example, on Tuesday the happy hour special is extended all night, on Saturday and Sunday a bloody mary special is extended all weekend, and on your birthday you drink for free (yes, ID required). You can see why Roxie digs this place. And Roxie is never wrong.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: He wants to eat there again already. Too soon?

Thanks to Jeanie for pointing out a few omissions in my description of dol sut bi bim bap.

Williamsburg's Little Italy

La Piazzetta
442 Graham Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 349-1627
www.lapiazzettany.com

IF YOU'RE LUCKY enough to be out on Graham Avenue on the right weekend morning, you might catch a glimpse of the Virgin. She's hard to miss. She'll be the Virgin carried on the shoulders of churchgoers, her presence heralded by a makeshift marching band that makes up for in sound what it lacks in size and formality. It's a sight of such tight-knit community devotion I'd imagine even an atheist might smile to see it.

This is Williamsburg's Little Italy--meat markets, pasta shops, pizza joints, men's clubs, and old world charm--stretching maybe a dozen blocks up Graham Avenue, perhaps only three or four blocks wide, nestled between the BQE and Bushwick. There are more famous Italian sections of Brooklyn; there are certainly larger ones. I would still think La Piazzetta must possess one of the better Italian kitchens among them.

Both beautiful and casual

Emerging from this kitchen, Chef Francesco Cuozzo greets his tables and recites his specials on most nights, as he can, as he did this evening. Mint and I did not settle on one of these (though his antipasta plate assembled from a spread of offerings set up alongside the kitchen wall was tempting), selecting instead a few plates of pasta, calamari, and a bottle of wine (lots of selections in the low $20 range). Everything at La Piazzetta is reasonably priced, and, given the quality, an excellent value.

My stupid cameraphone takes terrible low-light pictures, so I have none to show you. But the whole wheat fettuccine with eggplant was terrifically hearty, needless to say perfectly cooked, and the tomato sauce was amazingly sweet and flavorful. Mint raved about the pancetta that flavored the red sauce over her rigatoni. For a relaxed, reasonably casual restaurant that serves up Italian fare of such remarkable quality, you really can't do better that La Piazzetta.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: One of the few Italian places he'll visit expecting to get a great plate of pasta.

Photos courtesy comevisitbrooklyn.com and La Piazzetta.

Garlic Knots and Board Game Night

Carmine's Pizzeria
358 Graham Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 782-9657
www.carminespizzeria.com

THIS WAS SUPPOSED to be the return of Mike Eats Greenpoint!, but upon calling Nassau Pizza (a phone number trusted to the point in won an spot in my cell phone) I was told by a less-than-interested robot-woman voice, "This. Number. Is. No longer. In service." Foiled!

So, I called Carmine's Pizzeria over in Williamsburg, which is located just a few steps from the Graham Avenue L-train station, in the hope they would deliver to way up yonder in Greenpoint. Why not call the previously-mentioned L.A.'s? Well, they didn't have garlic knots on the menu. A silly point, I know, but I really, really wanted some garlic knots. That, and Carmine's is some of the best pizza around these parts.

Garlic knots, hot and knotty

Of course, pizza and garlic knots are always better fresh from the oven, but with Mint's fellow St. Mark's Comics resident Kat stopping by with boyfriend Justin to play, what else, Nintendo Monopoly, delivery was the plan for dinner. Unfortunately, delivery took an hour to accomplish, which is par for the course at Carmine's, where there's always a crowd of customers lining up for pies, meaning that Monopoly didn't start till ten o'clock. Nothing like an all-night game of mortgages and property-management, I always say.

Thankfully, we chose to adopt the "short game" rules. Yes, I understand, that's fairly oxymoronic when you're talking about Monopoly. What's that--you want a recap of the game? Okay:

Justin got out to a great start, piling up the properties. I eventually coaxed him to sell me his "Luigi" for $500 (the equivalent of "Park Place" on a regular Monopoly board), which became a big deal later in the game. Kat and Mint, meanwhile, made up ground by successfully assembling trios of properties elsewhere on the board, and it seemed like they would threaten Justin's growing portfolio. But after I was able to collect all four transportation properties in a utility company trade with Justin and chanced upon buying "Mario" (a.k.a. "Boardwalk"), the money started flowing in and allowed me to end the game when Kat landed on my much-improved "Luigi." Rent: $1,400; Kat: bankrupt; game: over.

Exciting, right? Tune in next time, and perhaps Monopoly Night will become a regular MEF! installment. Loyal readers, may you only be so lucky.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Yeah, now that he knows Carmine's delivers up here, and having learned Nassau seems to have rolled down its metal gates for good.

BRUNCH!: Lazy Catfish

Lazy Catfish
593 Lorimer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 599-9055

BRUCH IS BETTER with drinks. It's even better with "free" drinks. A Lower East Side staple for some years now, the "three free cocktails" hook is always sure to lure in a brunch crowd, although Williamsburg-Greenpoint spots have been slow to adopt the trend. That's fine, there's better food to be had elsewhere, but the drink special is what broke any tie in favor of Lazy Catfish this particular weekend.

Becky, Logan, and a friend from Richmond met Mint and I, and we took up seats in the back of a very empty Lazy Catfish looking noticably more bar than brunch spot than usual (which is an accomplishment in a space with next-to-no-decorating period). For a moment we all second-guessed our choice. The reassurement started when the first cups of fresh-pressed coffee were poured. A collective sigh of relief was breathed, and we will offer this advice--do not be dissuaded by the bar-esque digs, the Catfish's kitchen is quite good.

Side note: I've looked everywhere for Pampero rum--no luck. Turns out,
Lazy Catfish has bottles of the stuff!

Mint and I have been many times now and although our opinions are somewhat mixed we generally agree the place serves up a good brunch. Good enough to keep us coming back. If you don't mind the absence of atmosphere, $12.99 for a well-assembled plate of standard brunch fare (best option: chicken waffles!) and three drinks included is not bad for Williamsburg. Well, unless you're out to be part of the Williamsburg Brunch Scene. Cause you're not likely to be seen at all at the Catfish.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Yeah, and he'll prolly whine about it beforehand, begrudgingly order when he gets there, and then tell everyone about how much he liked it. Rinse and repeat.

Dinner And A Movie: Cubana Cafe & "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End"

Cubana Cafe
272 Smith Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231
(718) 858-3980
www.cubanacafechulo.com

I OWE MARISA, like, a hundred dinners. Once upon a time, her brother's then-girlfriend helped me get an internship (and a paid one, at that!) at Hungry Man Productions. It was my first production industry gig, and it was a damn good one. Not a year later, after we had both graduated from Syracuse, Marisa helped me in the door at the College Music Journal, a.k.a. CMJ, where I stuck around for a few months working for the Music Marathon 2004. Another good gig, and a fun one to boot.

That same fall, I received a phone call from The History Channel. A resume of mine I had submitted to them months earlier had finally fallen across the desk of a fellow named Matt Hollywood, who recognized on it a web-magazine I had run because he once read an article on that site written by a former high school bandmate: Marisa. Dumbfounded, I took that job too. Fast-forward a little over two years, and by chance I'm freelancing at Country Living, which happens to be a Hearst Corporation magazine; Marisa works at Seventeen, which is also a Hearst publication. One guess where this story is headed.

Well, as it turns out, Marisa is leaving Hearst for a new job at Prevention, but in one final act of friendship lands me an interview with the head of Hearst Digital, who passes me along to the head of Hearst's video-photography department, where I will now, in all likelihood, spend some time working. This is, yes, the long version of the "Why I Owe Marisa One Hundred Dinners" story, but in all fairness to Marisa, I could not have made it shorter.

And so we arrive at Cubana Cafe (one dinner down, only ninety-nine to go) in Carrol Gardens, or Cobble Hill, or whatever you want to call it. For a Friday evening, the place was only lightly packed, and we were able to quickly grab a seat. The menu was as much Mexican as Cuban (a point I later found corroborated in a NY Times writeup), but simple and delicious, delivered almost as fast as our drinks. My poblano chile stuffed with shrimp and calamari ($9) was sweet, spicy, and filling, while Marisa had only good things to say about her 'buena vista pollo,' a pounded chicken breast with mango salsa ($8). Our order of boiled yuca ($3) was soft and garlicky, plenty for us both. Mix in a margarita and a mojito, and we were happily satisfied.

We then left to meet up with Mint at the Cobble Hill Cinemas, one block west on Court Street, for "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End." This is recommended if you a) only want to pay $9 to see the film, and b) don't want to watch it with 300 screaming yahoos. Now, after a miserable experience at the United Artists Court Street theater in downtown Brooklyn (added to the boycott list), I thought I would be happy about this latter point. No, Mint was right: people should be acting like yahoos during Pirates. It's more fun.

The film was excellent anyway. Really, it was. Certainly more of a coherent film than the second Pirates installment, "Dead Man's Chest," though not as wholly spectacular as the series' debut, "Curse of the Black Pearl." One the whole, however, the Pirates trilogy remains the most original bunch of blockbusters in the last decade: unlike Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Spiderman, note that Pirates had absolutely zero pre-existing plot. Yes, there is seafaring folklore to consider, but at the end of the day that's the stuff of setting the world the film exists in, and that backdrop was more than abundantly provided for in each of the other big film brands I mentioned.

And that's why Pirates and Marisa have a special place in my heart. Together. Aaargh.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: At the very least he'll have a mojito.

Patsy's: A Tale of Pizza and Pasta

Patsy's Pizzeria
318 W. 23rd St.
New York, NY 10011
(646) 486-7400
www.patsyspizzeriany.com

PATSY LANCIERI OPENED a soon-to-be legendary pizza parlor in East Harlem in the early 1930s. This much is accepted as New York pizza gospel. What happened in the years to come can only be described as chaos. The short of it is that Patsy's pizza pedigree remains intact to this day despite a family feud over its debated ancestral discipleship. The Grimaldi clan would have you bypass Lancieri's importance en route to its Brooklyn digs, while Patsy's very name itself has been enshrined as Manhattan's marquee pizza moniker.

Personally, I prefer Grimaldi's. Aside from the simple fact that walking over the Brooklyn Bridge to order up a pie at the always-packed Grimaldi's is the quintessential New York experience, the pizza is just better. That's it. But we'll leave this conversation go until I have a chance this summer to visit L&B's. Then we'll have an opportunity to make a proper assessment of NYC's pizza titans.

Mint and I didn't order pizza anyways. Not tonight. We ordered pasta (what can I say--I had pizza last night). It's odd, yes, to visit Patsy's and skip the pie, but I've had pasta from its kitchen before (albeit uptown, not in Chelsea) and it was perfectly fantastic.

Pasta cooked al dente, seafood cooked ad absurdum

Not tonight though. I ordered the linguine fra diavolo with seafood. The sauce was rich and spicy, but the seafood was overcooked, remarkably to entirely different degrees; the mussels were just slightly overdone, ditto for the tiny scallops, the calamari was quite tougher, and the shrimps were the worst of the rubbery bunch. Not a great review, I know, and I do like Patsy's. Mint's simple spaghetti looked infinitely more interesting. Luck of the draw? Perhaps.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: One does not normally go to Patsy's if one is not seeking pizza. Lesson learned.

Mike Eats Greenpoint, Volume 6: Paloma

Paloma
60 Greenpoint Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11222
718-349-2400
www.palomanyc.com

A HANDFUL OF newcomers are etching a whole new culinary face on the Greenpoint scene. Of note, Lamb & Jaffy, Brooklyn Label, and the excellent Queen's Hideaway are just a few, but leading the pack is Paloma. This haven of "urban American cuisine" is a blank canvas for its patrons, equal parts classy, communal, and striving for the creative.

Paloma's allure is its food, though it's simple menu seems unlikely to draw crowds down to the Greenpoint waterfront. Indeed, word of mouth does the trick and the crowds do come. They swing open Paloma's large wooden gate to find a sleek and sparsely-decorated interior, turntables assembled even before the first tables, and ultimately some of the most accessible food on this side of the East River. Imagine the comfort of Williamsburg's Relish relieved of its diner kitsch.

Coriander Pesto Seared Tuna Salad

The prices are manageable, the dishes extraordinary. The menu changes seasonally (expect a Summer menu soon), with both inventive highlights like Coriander Pesto Seared Tuna Salad and Parmesan Crusted Tilapia (both $14) and classics like Roasted Chicken with Potato Pancake ($12) or juicy Strip Steak and Fries ($19). My personal favorite, however, remains the Hominy Stew with Roasted Spaghetti Squash ($11), cooked so perfectly tender the tiny bits of hominy and squash might be confused for pasta.


The wine menu is decent, with five or six selections each of red and white wines, but the cocktails are worth a trip alone. House-infused vodkas lend a special flavor to almost all of them, standouts being the Vanilla Old Fashioned (made with a vanilla-infused 12-year bourbon), Pomegranate Gin Fizz, and Mac's Cosmo (featuring lime-infused 42 Below vodka). These are elegant cocktails that taste as good as they sound, and don't sound ridiculous when you order them.

Be sure the try the Chamomile Tres Leches (when it's not sold out), a thick, sweet pound cake soaked in a light chamomile-infused cream. One of the best desserts I've ever had.

It would be great to see more acts performing live, but with old Spanish flicks and Westerns playing on Paloma's great white wall, there's always something to keep you entertained aside from the food.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: As soon as he hears about a Summer menu.

Have We Discussed Brooklyn Label?

AT THIS POINT, pledging my undying love for Brooklyn Label comes as no surprise. We've discussed their brunch, their unbelievably delicious (and dangerous) ketchup, and even dropped a mention of their rich hot cocoa. How about lunch? With Roxie moving back up to the 'Point this week and specifically requesting a new venue for eats, how could I resit a trip to the Label? I couldn't, that's how.

Roxie also plans on snagging a few of my basil plants when I thin them out,
which, as you can see, are currently only wee l'il sprouts

On this trip I finally managed to resist the pull of the breakfast menu, opting instead for a tempeh reuben sandwich. (Ironic, right, one day after declaring tempeh sandwiches unworthy of elaboration? Go figure.) The vegan/vegetarian friendly reuben rivals even that of Hana Foods, a whole, thick slice of tempeh grilled and joined on toasted bread with sauerkraut, sweet dressing, and the tangy touch of Label's house ketchup.

Roxie chose The Egg sandwich, a veritable three-egg spinach omelet between slices of Balthazar bread. Throw in an order of onion rings, tomato-basil bisque, and two orders of hot chili-spiced Mayan cocoa and you'll understand why I needed no dinner. I love Brooklyn Label, that's why. In fact, I'm certain I could eat my every breakfast, brunch and lunch there and never get tired of it. As for dinner, methinks a trip to Paloma is in order...

Mike Eats Pizza! In Brooklyn! (Finally!)

IT SEEMS ODD that a blog about consuming food written by a blogger based in Brooklyn is only now, after almost three months of blogging, getting around to the one food for which Kings County is world-famous: pizza! Though I suppose stranger things have happened.

First, as you may have noticed from the now-broken chain of un-commented upon daily Menu posts below, I've been rather absent as of late. This was partly due to unispiring cuisine, but also on account of some early, early call times after which I returned home exhausted. Yesterday, for example, began at 5 a.m. The quantity of coffee I drank would have been more efficiently administered intravenously.

Last week's trip to Migita Sushi: as memorable to us as
axing eight federal prosecutors was to our Attorney General

I offer this not as an irrelevant tangent. It helps explain why I was lazy enough to order a pizza last night. I say "lazy" not because I consider pizza an inferior, couch-potato food, but because Greenpoint is a historically Polish neighborhood and pizza is not a prized Polish tradition. So, if you're going to channel fat and grease into your body via pizza, you might as well get a top-notch pie.

Now, while Williamsburg has some quite authentic Italian options, Greenpoint is lacking. What Greenpoint has is Baldo's (way over on Nassau--and suspect to boot), Nassau Pizzeria (further up, but I'll grant them the reputation of having a decent slice), and L.A's (on Manhattan Avenue just south of Greenpoint Avenue itself.) Of the trio, L.A. is your best bet. For $10 (takeout only) on Monday and Tuesday, a large regular pie ain't a bad way to go if you're trying to keep it cheep and you don't feel like trying too hard.

L.A.'s pizza isn't quite as good as it's predictable menu of Italian fare, and it's hardly fine dining, but when it comes to quick, enjoyable Italian food in Greenpoint, you'd do well to look no further. If it's fine dining you want--head over to La Piazzetta on Graham.

Some people will eat pizza regardless of the time, place, or impending heart failure. I don't normally consider myself part of that group. But after eating a few slices last night I was reminded of how even an average slice in Brooklyn is better than twenty slices anywhere else. Except, perhaps, Patsy Grimaldi's. Viva la pizza!

Mike Eats Greenpoint, Volume 4: Pete's Candy Store

Pete's Candy Store
709 Lorimer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 302-3770
www.petescandystore.com

PETE'S CANDY STORE simply must be considered one of the best bars in Brooklyn, and any "best of" list overlooking it isn't worth the paper it's printed on. On a most basic level, Pete's qualifies with a beautiful bar, a stylish back room set up for bands, and an outdoor garden. It's small, which keeps things intimate. It's relaxed. It's classy. It's stage is booked with worthy artists and musicians every single night of the week, not to mention trivia nights, bingo nights, Scrabble night, stand-up nights, and The World-Famous Pete's Spelling Bee with BobbyBlue and Jenisfamous (accept no substitutes.)

It's a Spelling Bee!

It's worth mentioning here, in a blog about food, because Pete's does indeed serve sandwiches (if not candy)--your choice of five or six hot, pressed sandwiches ($7) ranging from pastrami and swiss with sauerkraut to tomato, basil and mozzarella, served up with a pickle. Mmmmm, pickles.

Anyway, it's hard to live anywhere up north in Brooklyn without making a pilgrimage sooner or later. It's hard to not get sucked in with so much going on. I do suggest going on a weeknight, though, when you don't have to fight the crowds that flock in on the weekend. Just check out the website to see what you're getting yourself into. And if that picture of Matty smiling into the camera isn't enough to get you onto the L train, well, then you're dead inside.

Mint and the Exploding Ketchup

Anytime
93 N. 6th Street
(b/t Berry & Wythe Sts.)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 218-7272

FIRST OF ALL it should be noted that Anytime is not really available at any time. During the week, Anytime is only open from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. (or to 4 a.m. on Thurs-Sat), and on Saturday and Sunday it's open at 11 a.m., but closes from 4-6 p.m., and then on Sunday closes at 2 a.m. Confused? Try this method: save the number in your phone. Call when you want food. If no one answers, it's closed.

[06/07: A recent peek at Anytime's website lists these restaurant hours: Sun-Thurs, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Fri-Sat, 6 p.m. to 4 a.m.; and delivery is apparently available Mon-Sun, 4 p.m. to 5 a.m. Good luck with that.]

I came home late last night after a shoot. Mint had taken the luxury of ordering us dinner, which was fantastic. A plain hamburger for her, a veggie burger for me (which, yes, makes two in two days for me, if you were keeping score at home), and perfect opportunities to use that Brooklyn Label ketchup we talked about a few posts back.

The bottle threatens.

So, imagine if you can the two of us sitting on a couch. I'm sitting to Mint's right, both of us with burgers on our laps, me enjoying my side order of mac n' cheese and Mint grabbing onto the bottle of ketchup... twisting the cap, and...

FSSSSSPPPTHHHHHHHH!

I'm not sure which I noticed first--the blur of red that flashed everywhere in front of me or the sensation of ketchup splattering against my entire body. I kept my head down for a second. I guess I figured shrapnel was likely to come next. When I did lift my head, Mint was starting at me with unblinking eyes at which point we proceeded from stunned silence to laughter.

I have to figure that if someone had been shot in the face and spun around in a circle on my couch, it would have to look fairly similar to what we were now seeing save, of course, for the absence of someone who had been just shot in the face. Ketchup was everywhere. On our shirts, jeans, faces, hair; on the couch, the walls, the floors, the television, pillows and blankets. I've seen Law & Order episodes with cleaner victims than the two of us.

And so I ask Brooklyn Label: what the hell do you put in your ketchup?

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Yes, just hold the ketchup over the sink and cover it with a towel.

Mid-March Madness

Patsy's Pizzeria
61 W. 74th Street
New York, NY 10023
(212) 579-3000
www.patsyspizzeriany.com

Dive Bar 75
101 W 75th Street
New York, NY 10023
(212) 362-7518

Jacques-imo's
366 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023
(212) 719-0150
www.jacquesimosnyc.com

AFTER WORKING ALL morning on St. Paddy's Day, I was happy to head home early. I was pretty tired after three days of shooting with a documentary crew (which is at least more fun than a film or television crew), and after spending the entire morning taping inside a mosque, St. Paddy's Day seemed to lose some of its lustre. Today was, however, the third day of March Madness, we were finished early, and with 16 games on television part of me did want to sit, drink, eat and be with friends while watching the games.

Standing on the subway platform waiting for the E train to take me back towards Brooklyn, I literally turned around and walked to the opposite side where the cross-town E train was arriving--I would head east instead, and up to Dive 75. There, I could sit, drink, eat and, since Steph was working, have a friend to keep me company while watching the games. Perfect!

Now in the best of all possible moods, I arrived just in time for the last half of the Ohio State game. I quickly lost my appetite upon realizing OSU was losing by ten with a few minutes remaining, but shock and horror turned to disbelief as they rallied (and won in overtime), my appetite returned, and in this way Steph and I came to order some pizza.

Patsy's is arguably New York's greatest slice of pizza. There are personal favorites in every corner of the city, but it is generally agreed upon that either Patsy's (with a few locations scattered about Manhattan) or Grimaldi's (in Brooklyn, tucked away in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge) is the absolute tops.

We ordered a small white pizza with garlic and an order of fried zucchini and eggplant (which Patsy's will deliver until early evening, but check their website for locations, hours, etc. and remember that it's cash only.) We ate everything. And while I don't usually write about bars, technically Dive 75 does leave copious amounts of candy sitting about in martini glasses, which counts as food. They also let you have food delivered to the bar, which facilitates eating.

Aaron joined me for drinks later on, while Steph finished her shift and headed home for a bit. We proceeded to get ever-drunker, called Steph, and decided to all meet Mint and Natasha for dinner around the corner at Jacques-imo's.

Jacques-imo's is New Orleans food at its self-proclaimed most authentic, though I question that slightly. The food was good, but inconsistent. The fried green tomatoes were a bit stale, but the calamari was soft and damn good. My shrimp creole was way overcooked, but Mint's fried chicken was huge, audibly crunchy, and looked amazing. Aaron was wasted.

Our waitress clearly got a kick out of us, and decided to bring us key lime pie and a round of green shots to celebrate, then sat down and enjoyed them with us. Aaron was still wasted. Of course, I then spilled an entire drink on myself. So, you be the judge. All things considered, it was better than taking the E train home.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Patsy's, yes; Dive, weekly: Jacques-imo's, maybe, but only if our favorite waitress is working.

Mike Eats Greenpoint, Volume 3: Brooklyn Label

Brooklyn Label
180 Franklin Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 389-2806
www.brooklynlabel.com

THE GREATEST PERK of working as a freelancer in the production industry is free meals. Generally, on a shoot day, you get to wake up and have coffee and a bagel provided for you. Lunch is either bought for you or it's delivered hot. If you're union and you work overtime, you'll even get dinner! Free meals, even when working for them, are pure joy.

So, with freelance gigs lined up with different companies for the next couple weeks, I was assuming breakfast and lunch were going to be all sewn up for a while. Let's just say we didn't get off to a screaming good start.

Today's small shoot with a small crew featured not only zero break for breakfast (I did steal some bites of a bagel and coffee from the cast table), but the director rushed to get done by 3 p.m. and the producer thereupon released us without offering any lunch, stomachs grumbling and blood starting to boil.

To add to the frustration, tomorrow call time is 4 a.m., which is an ungodly hour of the morning to be headed to work. And I've already been warned that it'll be a long day. Which leaves time today for a meal and an early, early bedtime.

Mint and I wandered up Manhattan Avenue looking for something new and exciting, and happily settled for the been-established and still exciting Brooklyn Label. Of course, having had no breakfast or lunch, I skipped dinner and went for breakfast. The curry tofu with potatoes, provolone cheese and broccoli was fantastic, and the hashbrowns again perfect with the homemade ketchup, and this time we bought a bottle (worth it, even for $8) to bring home.

Whereupon I immediately went to sleep (read: took a nap) for tomorrow's shoot. Let's hope someone remembers to bring bagels. At 4 a.m., I'm gonna need 'em.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: The second trip to Brooklyn Label was as good as the first. I see no reason to stop now.

Spring Break, Part X: Back in Brooklyn

La Traviata
139 Montegue Street
(b/t Clinton & Henry)
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 858-5592

THE BEST PART of waking up in a Comfort Inn is making your own Belgian waffles in the lobby. I think. Anyway, I got a kick out of it--I've never had the pleasure. It was certainly a plus to be able to drag them back to the hotel room with a couple cups of coffee and sit on the balcony looking out over the ocean. Not a bad send-off.

The flight back was unremarkable, same for the taxi (yet apparently I've decided to remark on them... curious), and I spent most of the afternoon unpacking all the goodies I happily lugged back: a new flask (from my mother), a huge Eduardo Chillida art book, and lots of glasses (also from my mother) that remarkably survived the flights crew's best efforts to destroy them in my luggage. Those, and several other things.

Unpacked, I headed down to Brooklyn Heights to meet Mint for dinner. The snow and ice was an unpleasant reminder of reality after a few days at my brother's place in sunny North Carolina, and so was slipping on the stairs outside Mint's store and nearly destroying my arm. Welcome home.

We went, as we always seem to do, to La Traviata. It's absolutely nothing special, and I certainly wouldn't recommend you make a trip out to Brooklyn Heights just to hit it up, but if you're in the neighborhood it's not a bad option. Reasonably priced, well-prepared Italian food with service that tends to be, well, not. I guess the plus to this is that you won't be rushed.

I've had lots of stuff over a few visits and found that the pastas tossed with seafood tend to be the best bet for your money, only slightly-more expensive than their pasta-only options and twice as good. The salmon and peas in vodka sauce and the linguine with shrimp, calamari, and mussels with plum tomato sauce are two of my favorites.

It's nothing you'll run home raving about, but if you order a few glasses of wine and sit back to watch the waitresses struggling to keep up with their tables, you'll have a fine time indeed.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: He's in Brooklyn Heights.

BRUNCH! @ Brooklyn Label

Brooklyn Label
180 Franklin Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 389-2806
www.brooklynlabel.com

BREAKFAST IS CLEARLY the best meal of the day. Also, breakfast rates very highly on The List of Life's Greatest Things. In fact, the only thing breakfast has working against it is the simple fact that one must wake up to enjoy it. This is problematic because, returning to our list of life's greatest things, sleeping also rates quite highly. How to solve this dilemma...

A few blocks west of the Greenpoint Avenue G station, Brooklyn Label has the solution. An immediate requirement for north Brooklynites, it ought also be tempting to many in midtown Manhattan. And it's little more than a big, bright room serving a big, awesome brunch.

The buzz has clearly already spread--lined up for tables or take-out were hipsters trekked up from Williamsburg, Greenpoint families with children (kept entertained by gifts of pastries from the staff), and casually dressed neighborhood-ers. This is likely why Brooklyn Label was up for Time Out New York's "Best Bruch" award. A high compliment indeed. Elissa, Kevin and I happily waited twenty minutes for a table with free cups coffee in hand.

Once seated, we were never rushed. Between the three of us, we ordered smoked salmon on a bagel (with all the good stuff--tomato, capers, red onion), an omelet, and the special advertised on a chalkboard outside--"green eggs, no ham"--with spinach and soft-whipped eggs on locally-made challah bread with cilantro pesto.

Everything was amazing, and the service too. When our hashbrowns arrived in meager portions, we were brought out fresh helpings. Hashbrowns, by the way, should be encouraged. They're perfect for trying out the bottles of homemade salsa and ketchup that guard each table.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: As soon as possible.

Mike Eats Greenpoint, Volume 1: *erb & Hana Foods

*erb Thai Restaurant
681 Manhattan Avenue
(b/t Bedford & Norman)
Brooklyn, NY 11222
718-349-8215

Hana Foods
534 Metropolitan Avenue
(b/t Lorimer & Union)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718-218-7747

BEHOLD! TWO STAPLES of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint diet. One is consistently good, reasonably priced Thai food, and the other simply must be considered one of the greatest delis in all the five boroughs.

First, it's hard to be disappointed with *erb on any account. Yes, they suffer from occasional menu and service inconsistencies as any neighborhood take-out favorite does to from time to time. You'll get over it.

Recommended are the noodle dishes ($7.95, with tofu, chicken or beef.), especially the Curry Noodles--a huge bowl of spicy curry loaded with thin noodles, veggies, and big triangle wedges of tofu. Lots of interesting appetizers are also big draws. The crispy chive pancakes are frequently sold out. The Taro Crunch is big chunks of fried taro root with peanuts.And the Tofu Crisp is a pile of fried tofu best enjoyed quickly on premises rather than soggy upon delivery.

Next is Hana Foods, a veritable Williamsburg institution serving as a 24-hour deli, flower shop, a specialty/organic food mart, and home to Omar's overwhelmingly extensive board of sandwiches. As a kicker, most everything can be made with (and, honestly, is probably better as) vegetarian and vegan options.

The Godfather is a huge hero of Italian meats that will suffice for two meals; the vegan meatball sub is a more-than-worthy stand-in for its carnivorous cousin; the breaded eggplant, chicken, and tofu cutlets are superb; and the Veggie Reuben (a veggie burger chopped and grilled like corned beef and smashed between rye toast with hot sauerkraut and melting Swiss) is one of the most creative vegetarian sandwiches I've ever eaten.

Best of all, Hana will deliver them (and anything in its store) to your doorstep 24 hours a day (NOTE: their menu is hard to find complete online, so get yourself a full one form the store itself). Williamsburg is prime delivery area, but even nearby Greenpointers can coax a delivery guy out on a slow night.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Yes, he does. Many, many times.

B-Dubs in Brooklyn!

Buffalo Wild Wings
at Atlantic Center
139 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718-943-9453
www.buffalowildwings.com

Did anyone else know there was a B-Dubs in Brooklyn? Because I didn't. I have fantastic high school memories of wasting many a lunch with my friends watching big-screen anything and playing as much trivia as an hour would allow us.

Was there any choice but to say yes, then, when Marc Choi decided to hold his 26th birthday gaterhing at the jewel of Brooklyn's Atlantic Center? (NOTE: some would argue Target for that title, but last I checked Target does not sell wings in fourteen varieties of sauce, ten-foot tall television sets, or interactive trivia.) As described, it was everything I remember. Deep fried awful, too many sticky flavors of wings, and lots of beer and trivia.

Some of you are screaming: a suburban, strip mall wing joint in Brooklyn?! What the hell is great about that!? This is New York! Can't you find real Buffalo wings somewhere?

First, no. It's Brooklyn. Not Buffalo. Second, I can remember a columnist in Columbus, Ohio's "Alive" newspaper writing of Starbucks that, in a city where the alternative, locally-owned Cup O' Joe coffee house had become so widely popular (and frequently populated), the otherwise invasive national chain had become something of a quaint alternative.

It's like that.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Of all chains in all cities, B-Dubs is Brooklyn might be the most unneccesary pairing. All part of its hilarious charm.