Speakeasy Update

Apparently, Josie's restaurant on Waverly and Greene will be called Speakeasy. The front's been painted, the interior looks gorgeous and they look to be almost ready to go. Reader Sean stopped in when he saw some action inside a few days ago: I just wanted to pass this along for CHB. I was walking by Speakeasy tonight and noticed that they had tables set up, candles going, and people were sitting at the bar. So I poked my head in and talked to someone inside. I was informed that they are just doing Friends & Family for now but plan to be open to people in the neighborhood on the 15th, sort of a trial run, and then fully open on the 22nd. I saw Josie in the kitchen and the place was all decorated and setup and, I must say, looking inviting. I'm very excited to see what they'll have on offer.

I took these snaps last night:

Inside the Haunted Church

B'stoner has some excellent interior shots of the Haunted Church at 447 Clinton Ave today.  Damn!  Well-done.  He is also reporting that the resulting apartments will be rentals and not condos!  Anyone want to guess how much they'll be monthly?  A zillion dollars?

Bodegas Gossip!

A source tells me that the space formerly occupied by Bodegas restaurant (SE corner of Fulton and Clinton, R.I.P.), is now slated to become an Italian fusion restaurant. The source tells me it will be called "Clinton Hill Bistro," but maybe she was confused as that's what the windows at Bodegas said. Or alternately, the new owners decided to just call the restaurant that and save themselves the trouble of redoing the windows.

Last I heard it was supposed to be a bank.

Remember when Bodegas took over that extra space on the far left for catering? The sign said, "Occasions." Did that ever even open?

The End for Gourmet Kitchen

Back in December, hey mama told us that Gourmet Kitchen's days were numbered (Myrtle at Vanderbilt). Looks like the end is finally near:

Thirty years on Myrtle Ave, and just a few days left. The original rumor was that a high-end grocery store would be moving in. Any more gossip out there?

UPDATE: Restaurant on Waverly and Greene

A few weekends ago, I ran into Josie Smith-Malave, one-time Top Chef contestant and Clinton Hill regular, standing outside the in-the-works restaurant opening in the former bodega space on Waverly and Greene.  She told me the space was slated to serve "global comfort food," and was aiming to be "a real neighborhood place - one you'll eat at three times a week." Since then, there's been a lot of activity.  The newspapers are off the windows now, and I spotted some stuff being moved in on Friday night:

I'm going to do a little interview with Josie in early October to coordinate with the restaurant's opening.  Stay tuned...

Filming in the 'Hood

Something's filming today on Clinton between Lafayette and DeKalb.  The signs only say "RSA Films."  Normally they include a project name, so I poked around on Google.  I've deduced that the filming is for a Heinekin commercial, taking place at one of our favorite mansions, 313 Clinton Ave.

Frank White Photos

A friend and CHB reader was kind enough to snap some shots of Frank White outside and through the window on Atlantic last week:

Our pal Brownstoner's made note of this place, too.  Personally, I think it looks pretty cool.  Is it open yet?

Frank White 936 Atlantic Ave.

Grand Ave. Gossip

Reader Ashley sent me some juicy gossip on some Grand area developments... So, I was passing by an empty storefront on Greene today, the one next door to the next incarnation from the neighborhood tastemakers at Choice Market. This empty space used to be a salon. Anyhoo, I asked the guy working on the space what was going in there. He said a yoga studio! Happy freakin' day! Oh, and Namaste.

ALSO, I was passing by the ever mysterious "Mirrors on Grand" space on Labor Day. It appeared that someone (presumably the owners) were hosting a private holiday party inside the not yet finished, but very promising space. There was a bar, and lovely exposed brick walls It looked nice even though there's clearly more work to be done before they can open anything.

This neighborhood is hoppin'!

Wow -- maybe Mirror's on Grand might actually be decent (someday).

New Cafe on Atlantic at St. James

A reader just sent me this interesting tip: as i was walking home last night, while crossing st. james at fulton, i picked up a flyer for a new cafe supposedly opening sometime next week. here's the info:

'frank white' - cafe/gallery/social

936 atlantic avenue @ st. james pl

- gourmet coffee - tasty treats - international news - gallery space - social lounge

'frank white utilizes fair trade, organic, green, & natural products whenever possible'

their website url is www.frankwhitenyc.com, but it doesn't appear to be up yet.

This is what I call a pioneer - opening on Atlantic! Must check it out.

Finally, a Plan for Liquors

A drawn-out mystery comes to a close. The old Liquors space on DeKalb (between Adelphi and Clermont) will become a Moroccan tapas restaurant/lounge, in approximately two months. The space will be run by Nadir Khelifi, who owns Cafe Lafayette on S. Portland. Cafe Lafayette makes a mean burger, so hopes are high for tasty food.

No word on whether or not the old Liquors sign will stay, but I hope it does.

Thanks to Dana Rubinstein, who got the scoop in the Brooklyn Paper.

HFS: BAKERY!

A week or so ago, I noticed that Frosted Moon Emporium on Vanderbilt just south of Myrtle looked closed.  That made me sad, since despite the bad font on their awning, they often had some really cute things in there.  However, a reader tipped me off to a new sign taped in the window:

You guys!  A bakery!  It's in Fort Greene, but it's just one block from Clinton Hill.  I just tried the number and got a generic voicemail, so I don't have any more info yet.  I think the space will be just perfect for a bakery.

Sweeping Changes North of FG Park

On the rare occasion I take a cab home from the city, I usually guide the driver to make a left on Myrtle.  Those first few blocks of the former Murder Avenue look to be just that -- crumbling buildings, boarded up storefronts, garbage.  It's an even stranger corner, given the luxury condo buildings nearby. Perhaps the property owners there heard the gossip that Brownstoner broke today in advance, and have been neglecting their buildings until the area changed a little.

More than a little.  It seems the infamous Ingersoll and Whitman projects may eventually become middle income housing and/or co-ops! Holy crap.

Several months back, there was talk of razing Admiral's Row to make room for an enormous supermarket.  Perhaps this was planned in advance for the new tenants?   Where will the current residents go?  Will it result in a more unified Fort Greene Park scene?

Italian on Myrtle: Confirmed!

A reader spoke to the workers in the mysterious space next to Joseph Tyler Salon on Myrtle last week, who confirmed it is indeed slated to become an Italian restaurant. I was able to peek in this afternoon and the space really looks gorgeous -- exposed brick, a really break wooden wine rack mounted on the wall, etc. I'm pretty psyched for this one!

Porn Store Update!

A brief note from BrooklynJay, who should be back to posting soon:

this is what was up where the porn emporium use to be. (next to white castle and mrytle car service)

the dude who owns it saw me taking pics and gave me his card - i'll forward you the info. maybe do a "pre-opening" interview?

anyway, i'm glad the porn place is gone and this could be cool. gonna depend on the food. (and how well they sanitized inside)

A Google search yields a few videos of the inside of the place, pre-reno. Additionally, they'll be sponsoring a summer Fort Greene film with Cafe Martino in August. This whole outdoor film thing looks pretty cool -- I will try to post more on it when I return. Schedule here.

Empty Storefront on Lafayette

Remember when the former cleaners was slated to become a 7-11? Readers have been asking me what's up. As far as I can tell, there was a problem with flooding in the building (per signage in the window recently). On a recent stroll past, I asked a guy in the doorway what was going in there. His response? "We don't know yet."

Wonder why 7-11 pulled out?

What do you think should open here?

Fresh Flowers Coming to Greene and Grand!

Last week, Brownstoner reported that the folks behind Choice have leased the laundromat on Greene near Grand. In addition to cheeses and fresh produce, they're also slated to offer FRESH FLOWERS. I'm most excited about the flowers, to be honest. If they're as pretty as the dessert display at Choice, I'll be mighty satisfied. I wonder how pricing will be in the new shop. I think Choice's pricing is pretty reasonable, given the quality of the food and the portions. Let's hope the inside setup is more efficient.

Per a neighbor's tip, the new establishment will also have a charcuterie. Yeah, I had to Google it, too. From Wikipedia:

Charcuterie (from either the French chair cuite, cooked meat, or the French cuiseur de chair, cooker of meat) is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as sausage and confit primarily from pork. The practice goes back to ancient times and can involve the chemical preservation of meats; it is also a means of using up various meat scraps. Hams, whether smoked, air-cured, salted, or treated by chemical means, are examples of charcuterie.

The French word for a person who prepares charcuterie is charcutier, and that is generally translated into English as "pork butcher." This has led to the mistaken belief that charcuterie can only involve pork. The Food Lover's Companion, however, says that "it refers to the products, particularly (but not limited to) pork specialties such as pâtés, rillettes, galantines, crépinettes, etc., which are made and sold in a delicatessen-style shop, also called a charcuterie." And the 1961 edition of Larousse Gastronomique defines it as: "The art of preparing various meats, in particular pork, in order to present them in the most diverse ways."

The word can also refer to a delicatessen, a meat shop that specializes in primarily pork products, or that part of a supermarket that specializes in meat products such as hams and sausages.

Haunted Church Update

Brownstoner spied a dumpster in front of everyone's favorite Haunted Church, 447 Clinton Ave, recently. A few days ago, I spotted this sign on the plywood that now surrounds the house:

Looks like the work's being done for now on the carriage house in the back. This is cool, I suppose, but I'm annoyed since I dreamed of buying it someday and doing a cool green reno. Bah.

At least this means (hopefully) that the property will be cleaned up! I'm tired of looking at all the weird, soggy trash outside this place.

organic fake-out on lexington

in the comments section for the post on the upcoming restaurant on greene + waverly, a reader asked: Have you checked out the new ‘organic market’ that just started to get all dolled up on Lexington btwn Grand and Classon? Crazy conversion… but needed.

and i was all ready to head down there this morning and check it out....until i went on the local parents' listserve. there was a discussion of the market going on there, and the truth came out: it isn't an organic market at all, but a set for a steve martin movie that's being filmed here.

bummer! on the plus side, if you like steve martin, they should be doing more filming this week....

Waverly Accident

Received this from a reader: We were driving to Prospect Park on Sat AM and saw, on the block of Waverly bet Fulton and Gates (home of the preemie martini) the most unbelievable car crash we'd ever seen anywhere. Even in, like, a James Cameron movie or anything. It looked like a Baghdad car bombing - there were 5 cars just torn to pieces and debris strewn all around.

Can't find a word about it anywhere - maybe it's not that noteworthy, but the ghoulish side of me is dying to know what happened.

Anything?

I couldn't find anything, either. Anyone know anything? (Also, the preemie martini can be found one block south, between Fulton and Atlantic, FYI.)

filming in the nabe

the weekend edition ladies are going to be in clinton hill!at least, a movie that they are making is going to be filming here; who knows if they will be in the scenes being filmed. we can only hope.....

according to the "don't park here" signs on the trees, they'll be filming all day today and tomorrow, on the following blocks:

lexington @ grand + classon, classon + franklin greene @ grand + cambridge quincy @ downing + classon grand @ lexington + greene classon @ grand + quincy

happy stalking!