Lunchtime With Tillie: Sapolo

Hello neighborhood, hope you’re enjoying your holiday season! Welcome back to Lunchtime With Tillie: We missed being around these parts! As Lesterhead mentioned last week, the family was felled by a stomach bug.  (Don’t worry, no local restaurants contributed to that!) Tillie and I are back now in fine eating form and would like to thank those who sent along get-well-soon thoughts. For our return, we decided to try and play it simple by going to the recently reopened Chinese and Spanish eatery Sapolo, located on Myrtle Avenue. I say “play it simple” because of the fact that it’s directly across the street from our house! And this was a good thing because the day we went was that brutally cold and windy one we experienced last week, so a trip with little travel time was definitely appealing.

After all this time in the area, I had never gone to Sapolo, primarily because of the whole “two separate cuisines” thing that I’m always leery about, which I mentioned when Tillie and I went to Mexican and Italian restaurant La Stalla. Why, oh why, can’t these places just do one or the other? Or maybe they could just go all out and do some kind of fusion thing, I don’t know: The separate menus always present a frightening prospect to me.

I put aside my concerns and rationalized Sapolo was our best bet, with the weather and all. We got in and the place had the feel of one of those big, modern-type diners, which I found comforting in a way. Tillie and I were shown to a booth and instead of strapping her into the high chair right away, I walked around with her some. I’m sure it’s just in my head, but whenever she’s all bundled up in her winter gear I think she must feel a little claustrophobic. But what do I know about little kids, winter clothes and what they think? I’m from Alabama!

Anyway, as we were walking around, I showed Tillie the aquarium at the front of the restaurant and the exotic fish inside, and she loved that! She was squealing with delight, tapping on the glass, you name it: If she could’ve gotten in there with the fish it would’ve made her day!

When we got back to the table, there were glasses of water waiting for us. I gave her a sip or two, but Tillie still had fish on the brain. She kept pointing toward the aquarium, but I had to tell her, “Tillie, this isn’t Sapolo Aquarium, it’s Sapolo Restaurant so let’s get ready to eat.” (Yeah, right, that really did the trick! I just had to ride out the “look-at-the-fish” wave.)

While Tillie was wishing she was anywhere but in that high chair, I took a look at the lunchtime menu. There was a number of options, all grouped by price. I decided to get the General Tso’s chicken with chicken-fried rice and wonton soup to start: decent options for Tillie to try, I thought. The soup arrived almost instantaneously and it was fine, nothing too special about it. I tried to get T to have a taste, but she was uninterested. I did manage to give her a couple of sips in between her yelling at me to bring her back to the fish tank.

Then the main course arrived: a heaping mound of rice with what appeared to be about a whole chicken. I mean, it was a lot of food – plenty enough for me and Tillie. The waiter brought out a small plate so I could dish her up some of it. I took a bite of the food first and it wasn’t worth writing home about. The rice was bland, and I don’t know if you’ve encountered this with General Tso’s chicken, where underneath all that sauce, the crust is pretty hard and the chicken is bone-dry. Well, that was the case here, totally overcooked.

I put some of the rice on the little plate for Tillie and she was barely going for it when I was using the plastic spoon to feed her. I switched from that to using my fork, which I guess makes her feel like she’s eating as the grown-ups do (a little trick I picked up from Tillie’s mom). I took my broccoli and cut it up into tiny pieces for her, which she enjoyed.

I was kind of “ehhh” about the meal myself. I kept trying to find a moist, tender piece of chicken – just one! – but couldn’t do it. I ate enough of it, though, to say I at least put something in my stomach!

When we were finally done eating, a waitress brought Tillie and me some fortune cookies. We had a bite, then I brought her back up to see her little finny friends, which she got a kick out of. I got the check, paid the bill, bundled Tillie back up (which isn’t really the most fun of tasks, for either of us!) and we were out.

Now about Sapolo: Would I go there again? Believe it or not, especially how I said I wasn’t enamored with the food, that’s a tough one. The service was excellent – I don’t even know if I give Tillie that much attention! And the prices were pretty good, except for the $1.75 for the canned Coke. Plus, there are those fish in that big tank up front. I guess I’ll have to find something on the menu that I like – or I could just take Tillie to the aquarium!

Lunchtime With Tillie: Black Iris

Hello out there, neighborhood. It’s Van, and I just want to say this about Tillie: She sure is a saucy kind of gal!

I mean, really – ketchup, marinara, spicy mayo, you name it. Now, I can add tahini sauce to the list as I discovered when we went to Middle Eastern restaurant Black Iris on Dekalb and Clermont for our latest lunch date. And it’s a good thing the tahini sauce was there or I don’t know what she would’ve eaten!

Our day had gone like any other dad-and-daughter day: a little playground action, some block stacking, we even made it out to the library for story time.

When we got home, I put her down for a nap and around when I expected her to wake up, I started packing up a bib, towel, little spoon and some food for her to take with us. A couple of times recently, I’ve gone out without any backup food, but having never been to Black Iris, I didn’t know what to expect for myself, much less her. Tillie’s mom and I make dishes for her that we pack up and freeze into little containers, and on the menu this time was some mashed potatoes with a little ground-up hamburger patty and carrots all mixed together. She didn’t eat it the day before, but I thought I’d give it another shot.

So after her nap, we got down to Black Iris and it was a pretty tight fit going in, as they had the tiniest outer door entrances I’ve ever seen. Then when we got in, we were hit by this blast of hot air – like really, really hot. Two tough things to handle and we just walked in the place!

The restaurant had a crowd for a late afternoon, but we were able to get a seat at a table by the window. I set Tillie up in her high chair and the waiter came with a glass of water for me and a cup with a straw for her. Water is still an old Tillie fave, so I took the straw and gave her some sips. Also, she seemed to be in a cheerful mood, which was indicated by her dancing to the music pumping out of the speakers!

As I was looking at the menu, I had the notion of getting a couple of falafels for her to try. To me, it seemed like it would be right up her alley. Who doesn’t like fried ground-up chickpeas? I was torn between the chicken kebab and merguez platters, but decided to go with the merguez.

While we were waiting, I decided to try to feed Tillie the little meal I packed up. Upon opening it, I was a little taken aback by the smell of it, which, just so we’re under no illusions, was not particularly appetizing. I took a bite of it and it tasted fine to me, despite the scent, and tried to sell Tillie on it with a big smile on my face and a “Yum!” thrown in for added measure. I gave her a tiny bite and just like the day before, it came right back out. I guess we can call that dish of mine a failure!

The falafels came out soon and I took a little pinch just to make sure there wasn’t any crazy spicy seasoning going on. It was good to me, so I gave her a little piece dipped in the tahini sauce as I know she’s big on the condiments. She licked the sauce off, but didn’t try the falafel at all. And when I tried to give her the falafel again, it was no dice. Uh-oh, what do I do now? That’s two of my meal options for her already rejected, and my food hadn’t even arrived yet!

Good thing I’ve learned to be a little quick on my feet over the course of our LWT excursions. The falafels came with a little lettuce and tomato, and as she’s usually a fan of tomatoes, I gave her a piece. She ate it, but then I decided to jazz it up for her with the next piece dipped in tahini sauce. And ladies and gentlemen, we had a winner! That woke up her taste buds and she was clamoring for more.

My food arrived in the midst of the feeding frenzy: a huge plate of rice topped with the merguez and a big salad on the side. I took a bite of the sausage and it was very flavorful, with a nice spiciness to it. I was going to keep it away from Tillie, but I gave her some of the rice that was underneath it. She had a bite, but wasn’t that into it. However, when I took some rice and put it on a little plate, then mixed up some tahini sauce in it … ding, ding, ding! Another winner! Man, I was racking up the “awesome dad” points!

As she was in an eating groove, I wanted to see if I could keep the good times rolling. This time, I gave her some of my pita – dipped in tahini sauce, of course. It wasn’t as successful as the tomatoes and rice, but she still ate some of it. I was so focused on feeding her that I barely paid attention to my own meal. I finished most of it, and it was tasty, but as far as savoring every bite goes, I didn’t get to do that. No biggie at all, though: I’ve had plenty of meals in my lifetime compared to Tillie!

So after all the eating was said and done, I got the check, which was really reasonable at $13, considering I had a huge platter of food and the extra falafels at the start. I would go back there again, for sure, especially with the staff being so nice and the place so accommodating – once you made it in the tight squeeze at the door and walked past the hot kitchen area, that is! As a matter of fact, we went there to pick up a couple of falafel sandwiches the next day – and Tillie ate the falafels this time. I had to douse them in tahini sauce, but hey! Whatever works!

Holiday Events at Still Hip

If you have kids, you won't want to miss all of the family friendly fun going on at Still Hip at 283 Grand Ave.  There are events for parents, too! Santa visits the shop this weekend to kick off the holidays.

Here's all the info from Gabby at Still Hip:

SANTA Saturday, December 5 | 2-6pm | Sunday, December 6 | noon-4pm | $10 per photo This is it!!! Santa is coming this weekend!!! I am so excited!!! Can you tell from all the exclamation points??? Not only will Santa be here, but the back drop, created by our very own Cecile Dyer, is going to be incredible. http://www.wooloo.org/ceciledyer. Not only will the back drop be beautiful, but the photos, taken by professional mom-tographer Stephanie Powell will be AMAZING and only $10 a shot!!! Not only that, Santa will be giving away 200 goody bags full of great stuff from the whole neighborhood! hipBIZ: THE BASICS OF WRITING A BUSINESS PLAN Thursday, December 17 | 7pm | $10 pp Learn the fundamentals of writing a business plan from Liliana Blanco of BOC Women's Business Center. Bring your ideas and bring some friends. Call the store to reserve your spot 718.398.0008

GINGERBREAD FUN! Sunday, December 20 | 2-4pm | all ages How great would it be to have a super fabulous gingerbread house made by you and your little ones without having to mess up your house? Well we have the solution for you! Join us for this fun workshop with professional cake decorator Melanie Levander and go home ready for the big night! More details to come next week. E-mail to reserve a spot now as there is limited space thedecoratorsclub@earthlink.net

Lunchtime With Tillie: 67 Burger

There’s only so much turkey one family can eat …

Good thing there’s Lunchtime With Tillie to break us away from it!

Hey again, everyone, it’s Van and Tillie, wishing you a belated Happy Thanksgiving. And we have a special return guest with us: She lives in Clinton Hill, thinks I need to eat more vegetables and loves Tillie more than anything. Give up? All right, I’ll tell: It’s Tillie’s mom! This time, the three of us went to 67 Burger on Lafayette and Fulton.

You’re all probably thinking, “Geez, Van eats more hamburgers than Wimpy.” (A little Popeye reference for you!) And it’s true, I do eat my fair share. But I want it to be on the record that I was not the guiding force behind us going there — it was all Tillie’s mom!

She wasn’t possessed by the spirit of the Hamburglar or anything: It was a practical decision. We had a big trip to the Prospect Park Zoo planned and we wanted to get something quick to eat on our way to the Q train. Plus, I had mentioned to Tillie’s mom before how a parenting blog in the neighborhood, Mommy for the Win, had made notice of a kids’ menu there, so we were in.

I was actually in only half-heartedly. This may sound blasphemous to some, but I’m not the biggest 67 Burger fan. I don’t know if my expectations are too high — like I want a place that specializes in burgers to make the best possible one imaginable — or what, but the food’s never really worked out for me. And I’ve tried it a few times, too.

Anyway, we got in and took a look at the menu. We were set with Tillie’s order, as recommended by Mommy FTW: a grilled cheese sandwich with sweet potato fries. And if you’ve read any LWT where I’m eating a burger, you know I went the bacon cheeseburger route. Tillie’s mom ordered a Cajun burger, with its mix of spices, and we got an order of seasoned curly fries to split.

The place was plenty spacious enough, but it’s good we got there when we did because it quickly filled up. We took our seats and a high chair was brought out for us. The first thing to arrive to the table was the seasoned curly fries, and we gave some to our fries-and-ketchup-loving baby, who was quite pleased with that. TM and I munched on the fries with Tillie, and here’s one of my first complaints about the food: When I hear “seasoned,” I’m thinking there’s going to be some kind of spicy dusting on the fries, like cayenne pepper or something. The only thing “seasoned” about them was that they were extra-salty. I guess salt’s a seasoning, but still, there’s other ones out there that can go on fries!

Tillie’s food came out right after that, and it was kind of cute to see her little sandwich and side combo on her own plate! Tillie’s mom cut it up and gave her a piece, but she didn’t seem that into it. It was really only when mom added the magic ingredient, ketchup, to the mix that she got into it. Personally, it wasn’t something I’d eat, but I guess with babies, you’ll see some weird combos coming along — as long as they eat it, it’s all good!

My burger and Tillie’s mom’s arrived simultaneously, and like Tillie’s grilled cheese sandwich, there was a LOT of cheese on mine, some of which I had to cut off. I didn’t mind, but when I bit into the burger, I was a little disappointed. It was the same thing that I’ve always encountered: kind of dry, a little salty (particularly the bacon), some weird aftertaste. I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t eat it, because I did. It just wasn’t that pleasurable burger-eating experience that I can find at so many other places around the neighborhood.

Tillie’s mom liked hers, though. She ordered it medium rare and said that usually when you order it elsewhere like that, it comes out medium. In between bites of her burger, she kept the Tillie food train running by continually adorning her fries and grilled cheese with ketchup. Tillie didn’t down all of the sandwich and fries, but enough to stuff her belly for some good old-fashioned animal viewing at the zoo! We packed her leftovers in a to-go box (I know: a leftover grilled cheese sandwich? That’s on Tillie’s mom, too!) and headed on our way.

So, as I stated earlier, I’m not the biggest fan of the food there. But would I go back? Yes, believe it or not, I would. The kids menu comes with plenty of options on it, and the staff there was super-friendly and helpful. I don’t think our bill for the three of us was that bad at $32, which also included sodas (with free refills!) for Tillie’s mom and me.

Maybe next time I’ll get the turkey burger. As long as it’s not around Thanksgiving again!

Lunchtime With Tillie: Madiba

Greetings neighborhood, this is your captain Van writing, and on behalf of my co-pilot Tillie, we’d like to welcome you to LWT Airlines! Next stop, South African restaurant Madiba, on Dekalb between Carlton and Adelphi.

As you can probably tell, I’ve had Tillie in that plane on my mind for quite some time! On a nice day last week, we finally made it happen. And it worked well for me because I was on a personal redemption mission with Madiba.

In all my years in the ‘hood, I’d only eaten there once and it wasn’t the greatest of experiences –  and that’s no one’s fault but my own. When I went before, I was a complete African restaurant neophyte, and instead of asking my dining companions or the waiter for recommendations, I decided to try to figure things out myself and thus, not be penalized any “cool points.”  I ordered some type of beans and “slap chips,” or twice-fried french fries, thinking it would be a tasty combination. It wasn’t, and I hadn’t eaten there since. Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, it was a nice day out, a perfect one , actually, for sitting outside. And by the time we made it out there, we had our choice of where to set up camp, which it becomes in a way when you’re unloading snacks and toys.

While I was doing this, the waiter came back with T’s high chair and menus for the both of us. And Tillie’s menu – besides the simple fact of it being a menu, which is usually exciting for her – also doubled as a coloring sheet. Tillie’s really gotten into coloring: as much as a 13-month-old can, I guess. I was torn between ordering her the chicken “madibits” and fries or the veggie plate. I know, it shouldn’t be that tough a decision, but don’t worry: The veggies won out! For me, though …

I felt myself flashing back to Madiba ’05. I wanted to try something outside the norm, and finally decided on the meat pie with mashed potatoes. I felt good about my choice, but the waiter came back and told me they were out of the pies. I went to my backup option, the Yebo burger and chips. That’s exotic, right? (I know, not really!)

As we were waiting for the food, Tillie was enjoying her coloring and her cheddar bunny crackers. Actually, she was enjoying the crackers at an exceptionally fast pace. So I asked the waiter if we could get her vegetables as soon as possible before we were left with just the essence of cheddar bunnies in her little container. We were down to her last four or five, and then the veggies came out: a plate of carrots, broccoli, green beans and mushrooms, all served nice and hot and tender. I took a little bite to see what we were working with and speaking for her (since she can’t really hop on my computer and type it out herself), they were really good. She enjoyed all of them, especially the broccoli and carrots.

Then my food came out and the burger was about as big as Tillie! It was topped with mushrooms, caramelized onions and baby greens. There was also a little bit of sauce on it, which I wasn’t too thrilled about after asking the waiter if there was going to be any on it and he said no. But I gave it a try and it was fine. I cut the burger in half, took a bite and was instantly satisfied. There were pieces of onions in it, which only enhanced the flavor. There was also an order of slap chips that came with the burger, and they were perfect. I guess it’s the twice-frying process, but they maintain a crispiness, while being soft in the center, if that makes sense!

These slap chips were so good, I figured I’d give some to my fry-loving lil’ buddy. She liked them, but when I dipped them in the ketchup for her, that took the fries to a whole new level! A level so high, in fact, that the veggies she was eating so well were quickly forgotten. When will I learn: Don’t give her fries until she’s filled up on vegetables!

I tried to pass her a carrot, but you could see the slap chips and ketchup dancing in her eyes. So, I thought, “Hey, this baby carrot is kind of fry-shaped: I’ll dip it in ketchup and see how that goes.” I was able to get her to finish off her carrots, at least, by doing that. Tillie didn’t fall for it when I tried that with the broccoli, though! I helped her finish off MY fries and that was that.

I got the check, which wasn’t bad at 17 bucks, I felt, because we both ate pretty heartily. The accommodations were perfect for us and the waiter was very nice. Plus, I got to exorcise any Madiba demons I might have had!

And then, there’s the airplane outside of the restaurant! Before we left, I plopped Tillie in, but unfortunately, I didn’t have any change on me. I shook her around a little in it and she seemed to have fun doing that. That’s another reason to return, for a really good ride.

So, on behalf of my co-pilot Tillie, we’d like to thank you for choosing LWT Airlines! See you next week!

Lunch With Tillie: Il Porto

By my estimates, I’ve eaten about 736,984 slices of pizza in my lifetime. My little pizza-loving companion Tillie has a long way to go, but I’ll get her there!

Hey everyone, it’s Van and Baby T, and as we both had pizza on the minds, we decided to swing down to Italian restaurant Il Porto between Flushing and Park avenues on Washington for our latest lunchtime jaunt. (I don’t know for sure if Tillie really had pizza on her mind, but if she’s anything like her pop, she did!)

A funny thing about Il Porto: I’ve only had it once and that was way back around when it first opened, pre-Tillie even. I say “a funny thing” because being such a big pizza fan, it seems like I would’ve made it there again. I’ve talked to people around the ‘hood who rave about it, but I guess that first time around wasn’t enough to make me a convert.

And while I was in the mood of trying something relatively new, I took it a step further and went all-out on this one: I didn’t pack any back-up food for Tillie. None of her pasta, none of her pureed carrots, none of her grapes – just a few bunny graham crackers. If lunch at the restaurant didn’t work out for her, we were close enough to home to just pack up and head there.

Anyway, we started off down Washington to the place and made it to Park Avenue. Looming before us, though, was the BQE in its state of constant repair. At least the tarps weren’t blocking the Washington entrance, but scarily enough, there were signs warning pedestrians to keep out from the part under the bridge where cars usually park due to poisonous materials in the area. We weren’t going in that section, but still had to walk way closer to it than I would’ve liked. Needless to say, we ran through!

When we got to Il Porto, I went in through the side that appeared to be more casual, where pies were under the glass and you just order at the counter. That part was packed, which must be a good sign for the pizza, I thought. However, it wasn’t going to work for us with the stroller and all, so we went to the beautifully arranged dining room. This side was empty, save for a couple of customers, so we were able to have our pick of the place to sit. I found a nice table on the side where I could put Tillie in the high chair without obstructing anyone’s path and also where I wouldn’t have to collapse her stroller.

I looked over the menu, which you might be asking yourself, “Why, Van? Didn’t you just want a pizza? What’s so hard about that?” Well, friends, Il Porto offers a number of specialty pizzas, all with names paying tribute to the neighborhood, such as the Navy Yard and the Wallabout. I was intrigued by some of the offerings, but remember, I was sharing with Tillie, so I went as basic as I could and just ordered the Margherita pie. Then, since I remembered babies can’t live on pizza alone, I ordered a bowl of minestrone soup and asked for some bread, too.

The bread basket arrived with a variety of pieces to choose from. I gave Tillie one of the twisted pieces to chew on, then the soup came. I was a little shocked when it arrived to the table because the bowl was huge! It was like they brought the pot to our table and left the little cup I was expecting in the back. Tillie had a few bites of the soup, which was loaded down with fresh vegetables, and though I’m not much of minestrone fan myself, I have to admit it had a pretty decent flavor. There was no way we were going to be able to finish it all, but we gave it a shot. Plus, we had pizza to deal with!

And speak of the devil, our pizza arrived, and it was a welcome sight to see: The crust had that nice brick-oven char to it, the cheese was plentiful (which can be a rarity sometimes on Margherita pies, I feel) and the sauce looked rich. Since I’ve eaten so much pizza in my time, I decided the first bite should go to my little dining companion, so I cut her off a little piece, blew on it to cool it down and let her have at it. After she had her bite and I had a taste, we proceeded to scarf it down: pizza sauce was flying everywhere! About 10 minutes later, we were all done, with not so much as a gob of cheese left on the serving tray.

So we were satisfied with the pie, even though in hindsight I was thinking I should have gotten some pepperoni added to it or something, which could’ve really set it off. Plus, we were able to make it through the meal without any of her backup dishes. I’m still not a complete Il Porto convert, but I would go back. First, though, there a couple of things I’ll have to consider.

One was the check: My bill was over 20 bucks, which was partially my fault with ordering the unneeded soup, most of which we didn’t eat. But $3 for a 20-ounce soda seemed a little unnecessary.

Then there was the sake of even getting to the place, which isn’t in the restaurant’s hands. Avoiding the areas where work is being done or marked off as being toxic is tough when traveling with a baby. I live on Hall Street between Myrtle and Willoughby, and unfortunately, it’s not a straight shot down: I have to go down Washington like I did before or, I assume, walk all the way down to Myrtle and Carlton, then head toward Park and backtrack to Washington. I don’t want to burden you with all my logistical hang-ups, but it’s still something to think about if making a lunchtime choice.

If it gets to be too much for me to head down there, there’s always delivery, as I’m sure Tillie and I have more Il Porto pizza eating to do!

Lunchtime With Tillie: Umi Nom

Hello everyone and welcome to a special super-sized edition of Lunchtime With Tillie! It’s me, Van, with her, Tillie, and as a special treat, we’ve brought along one of T’s best friends, 14-month-old Amira, and her dad, Marquis, aka “Amira’s pop.” It’s twice the kids, twice the grown-ups and twice the excitement!

And this lunchtime caravan of ours ended up at one of the neighborhood’s hottest new spots, Thai-Filipino restaurant Umi Nom on Dekalb and Classon. What can I say? We’re all just fancy like that!

Just kidding, because Umi Nom is as unpretentious as they come. I went there for dinner with Tillie’s mom, Amira’s parents and another couple a few months ago, and we had a wonderful time. It was just like having friends over for dinner and a bottle of wine or two (or six or seven, if you’re counting)!

Anyway, I had been hearing rumors about the restaurant being open for lunch, but I wasn’t planning on investigating any time soon. Part of that was due to me thinking they would just offer the small plates they serve at dinner. The dishes are all excellent, but if you end up getting a few to fill you up, it could make a little dent in the wallet.

It’s funny how we ended up there this time. We were all at the playground as part of our twice-weekly dads’ group meeting, but after a while of chasing the kids, Amira’s pop and I both worked up an appetite. I told him Tillie and I were about to go on one of our LWT adventures and that he and Amira were welcome to join us. As we started to gather up the kids, another dad in the group showed up, having just gotten back from Umi Nom. I told him my concerns, but he let me know there was a whole lunch menu and how great his food was. We already had a decision on where we were going, but I looked over at AP and I saw he was thinking what I was: Let’s go to Umi Nom!

When we entered, we were greeted warmly by the waiter. We were offered to take a seat anywhere we liked, but coming in with kids and strollers, it’s not exactly the easiest of tasks. Our strollers were able to be stored in the back of the restaurant near the open kitchen without folding them up, which is always a bonus to me. (I just hate taking out the stuff in the pouch underneath the seat, like the diaper pad, toys, stroller cover, etc., all the tools a parent on the go needs!)

After getting the kids situated in their high chairs, we took a look at the menu. The options all sounded so good, plus another bonus: They were all reasonably priced –  I don’t think anything exceeded 10 bucks. Even though I was tempted to go with Umi Nom’s spin on the burger, I decided on the bahay kubo – stir-fried rice with chicken, sausage, shrimp, egg and soy – and Amira’s pop got the chicken pad-seow and a side of garlic rice for Amira.

While we were waiting for the food, the waiter brought out some toasted bread for the kids, which was greatly appreciated. He even came back later to see if we wanted some more. (Probably because AP and I were munching on it!) I broke out with some of the pasta I made a literal vat of for Tillie a few weeks ago and gave her some. I also set some aside for Amira, which she really seemed to like. It made me feel proud of my baby-food-cooking abilities, even though Tillie’s mom called me out for the lack of vegetables in said vat.

The kids were having a great time interacting with each other, which they always seem to do. Tillie gets real excited around Amira, kind of like that looking up to the older kid situation. Between feeding the two and picking up crumbs, the two dads were able to catch up.

My food and the garlic rice came out first, and it was a most welcome sight! I took a bite first to determine if the seasoning would be OK for Tillie to handle, which it was. (Well, that’s part of it: Remember, I was starving!) Amira’s pop dished up some garlic rice for the kids while waiting for his food to come out, and I offered him some from the heaping mound on my plate. We both agreed that mine was delicious: The rice had a slightly sweet taste to it, while the shredded vegetables had a nice contrasting tanginess to them. And there was enough meat for a piece in every bite. Tillie’s been a big rice eater, so the dish worked for her, too.

Also, you can take this as an indication as to how good it was: You know how I usually have pictures of the food included? My food was so tasty that it totally wiped out any intention of taking shots of it – eating it was the main priority!

The noodles came out shortly and Amira got a little bit of the dish set aside for her. She tried to feed Tillie a couple of pieces of chicken, but the two couldn’t pull off the transaction without the food hitting the floor!

After the eating was done and the bellies were full, we packed the kids up to go – all the while raving about how good our food was. They were both getting kind of tired after being out and about for a while. We got the bill, which was about $27 for the two of us – a good value for all the food and the wonderful experience we had.

So just in case more of a recommendation is needed: Run, don’t walk (or stroll) there. The staff couldn’t be nicer and the food couldn’t be better. Plus, it’s great to go there with a chum – child and grown-up alike!

Brooklyn Junior Opens on Clinton Avenue

Regular BK Flea Vendor Brooklyn Junior has opened their very own shop on Clinton Ave, just north of Myrtle.  They celebrated their grand opening on October 31.  Read more from their inaugural press release: What happened when a couple of artists had kids and then found that the children's wear market was hopelessly lacking in the clothes they really wanted their children to wear? They let the DIY spirit move them and turned into entrepreneurs – and Brooklyn Junior was born. This Halloween, owner Nadia Georgiou opens the doors of Brooklyn Junior’s new Clinton Hill shop, located at 150 Clinton Ave (corner or Myrtle), for the first time.

Since 2008 Brooklyn Junior has been selling colorful, chic and unique clothing for babies and kids on the web at brooklynjunior.com as well as at the Brooklyn Flea in Ft. Greene and Dumbo. Nadia’s popular designs include bright kimonos, super soft silkscreened tees featuring drills, fire hydrants, and headphones, baby onesies in adorable colors and patterns, and lots more to please all kids from newborns to six-year-olds. And now, for the first time, they’re under one roof on Clinton Avenue – along with colorful toys and accessories.

But Brooklyn Junior’s Clinton Avenue space isn’t just a store – it’s Nadia’s workshop, too. Half the space displays the designs in a shop setting, and half houses the actual place where Brooklyn Junior designs happen. It’s a rare and fascinating glimpse into the process behind the designs – and it takes a true artist to be willing to display the materials.

See our interview with Nadia here!

Lunchtime With Tillie: Red Bamboo

Hey everyone! It’s Van and Tillie, and for our latest culinary adventure, we boldly went where no Van had gone before: vegan/vegetarian restaurant Red Bamboo on Dekalb Avevue. Now, I know my record of past lunch choices (any place with a big, juicy hamburger) might not support this claim, but I promise Red Bamboo had always been on my radar. The bold aromas as I’ve walked by with Tillie on the way to the playgrounds in the area piqued my curiosity: “Man, what’s going on in there?” I’ve often asked myself. “Maybe I’ll give it a shot one day,” I’ve answered, then moved on.

But after getting called out by Tillie’s mom, Tillie’s mom’s mom and just for good measure, my mom, about my recent bacon and cheese run, I figured I need to do something maybe a teensy-bit different the next time out. A suggestion from among the comments in the last LWT made me see that this was my time for the Red Bamboo foray.

We went on another one of those late-sleeping-Tillie days, but I was a little more prepared to stave off starvation. I ate a small plate of some leftovers at the start of her nap, and that held me over. The leftovers had a dual purpose, too: They were kind of a pre-backup plan for Red Bamboo, because I had no idea what I’d be getting into there – you know, what if I just didn’t like it? I had never been to a vegetarian restaurant; this could be tough.

Anyway, when she finally woke up, I was prepared for us to roll out immediately with her lunch packed and some snacks. When we got there, I was hoping to sit outside, but the tables weren’t set up. It was nice out, but it had been raining for the past two-and-a-half days, so that made sense.  I rolled her in, and we had our pick of where to sit, so I chose a nice, plush booth and Tillie got the high-chair treatment.

While I’m looking over the menu, the waitress arrived with a glass of water for both Tillie and me. Tillie didn’t have the using-the-straw-on-her-own thing down yet, but it was good to have backup for us! And about the menu: I looked through the whole thing before going to the lunch section, and I have to say it all looked really appetizing! The lunch menu, which ran from noon to 4, continued that and it took me a while to decide on what I wanted. It’s split into three price sections – $5.95, $6.95 and $7.95 – all of which seemed reasonable to me. And whatever you pick comes with your choice of soup, salad or collard green roll. I decided to go with the soy butterfly chops and collard greens with the calalloo soup.

Also, this go-around, even though I brought along lunch for Tillie, I wanted to order her something off the menu (her very first dish specifically for her!), so I got a side of the sweet corn mashed potatoes.

As we’re waiting for the food, Tillie seemed restless. Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have put her in a stroller mere minutes after waking up. Plus the fact that she managed to actually stand up in her high chair despite being buckled down at one point would indicate she wanted to be running around!

After strapping her back her down, my soup arrived. I never had this type of soup before – a spicy broth with spinach, okra and onions. Tillie was reaching for some, but I couldn’t give her any as it was just too hot for her, but it was very nice for me! Her mashed potatoes came out shortly thereafter. I had a bite of them first, and I was like, yum! These will be perfect for her! She had a few bites, but wasn’t devouring them like I thought she would, so I got out her little container of pasta I packed. My main course came out while I was feeding her: the breaded soy pork chops with an apple-raisin sauce on top and side of collard greens with vegetarian ham.

Here it was for me: the moment of truth. The soup and mashed potatoes were just precursors into the vegan world for me, this was the real deal. SOY chops? VEGETARIAN ham? Those things didn’t even sound like something I should be eating! But after the first bite, as with the soup and potatoes, I was hooked. The seasonings were perfect, and please take my word on this: As someone with the deepest of Southern roots by way of Louisiana and Alabama, I like to think I know what good collards taste like. And these were by far the best that I’ve had in the neighborhood, hands down, vegetarian ham and all!

Tillie had a bite of the greens, but she was really interested in the apples and raisins on top of my chops, along with her pasta. Despite wanting to eat all of the food in one sitting, I managed to get out of there with a chop left and a scoop of mashed potatoes. We got the bill, which was $13, and proceeded to pack up.

Now, our bill was in the double digits because of the extra potatoes, but as I mentioned earlier, the price selection they have is great. Our experience there was perfect with excellent service and wonderful food. I learned that I can’t take Tillie from crib to stroller to high chair in one fell swoop. And I also learned that I can thoroughly enjoy a vegan meal. I can’t wait to go back!

Marathon Madness!

The NYC Marathon will make its way down Lafayette Avenue this Sunday!  It's a great time in the neighborhood- local bands play, people blast music, neighbors cheer in the street.

Want to watch the marathon with kids?  Head down to Still Hip, who will be partying with noisemakers and banners (and bloody marys for mom and dad at Mirrors).

Lunchtime With Tillie: Maggie Brown

“Must … get … food. Somehow, someway … must eat.” Those, my friends, are the words of a hungry man whose daughter is transitioning to a later naptime.

Hey everyone, It’s Van and Little Miss New Nap Schedule Tillie, with more “Lunchtime” adventures. I was almost afraid we’d have to change the name to “Dinner With Tillie” since she’s sleeping now from late morning to early afternoon. But we made it out before Happy Hour and went to Maggie Brown on Myrtle Avenue for our latest excursion.

So our day, like most LWT days, started off pretty regularly: There was nothing major on the agenda, except for a little playground action, which we knocked out in the morning. We came home and I tried to put her to sleep, thinking she’d be up at a reasonable hour for lunch. Well, turns out that plan of mine wasn’t what she was looking to do, which she made pretty clear to me by jumping up and down in her crib. I took her out of it and brought her to her little play area with the idea of that winding her down. But by the time she started showing some signs of exhaustion, it was 12:30! That’s around the time we go out! I guess she’s good, but what was I going to do? The only thing I had for breakfast was a snack pack of Lorna Doone cookies!

I could’ve fixed something or ordered delivery, but that would’ve been pretty lame: “Lunchtime With Tillie’s at Van’s House.” And this was the only day this week we were going to be able to go out, working around our busy story-time and play-group schedule. So I buckled down and got ready for the test of my endurance. After two hours and some change, just when I started hallucinating and seeing visions of pizzas dancing around my head, she woke up! Sure, it was 2:45, but I figured we could make it out quick enough. Good thing I packed up her stroller with her food while she was out.

We’re walking down the street to our original destination, and all I can think of is “food, here I come!” Then Tillie starts coughing and the next thing I know, she spits up all over herself! So we took a U-turn back to the house, threw on some fresh gear and were out once again.

As it was now about 3:15 and I was about to start eating Tillie’s Goldfish crackers, I figured we should go somewhere a little closer to the house. Maggie Brown, which is almost across the street (and makes one of the best burgers around), was the way to go.

We got there and the dining room area was completely empty. It was a nice day, so everyone must be outside, I thought, so we might as well join them. There was only one other table seated, to my advantage, as there would be fewer obstacles to getting a quick meal.

I took a look at the menu to make sure there was nothing new to veer me away from my usual: a Maggie Brown burger with bacon and cheese. (I know I write about them a lot, but I promise there’s more to my diet than bacon and cheese!) I placed my order, then took out Tillie’s food: some elbow macaroni with spaghetti sauce, zucchini and spinach I made the day before for her. Tillie’s mom and I thought this would be a good way to get the baby some green veggies in her system. I got called out the day before by TM for the lack of vegetables in the pasta and I was all defensive, telling her I just cut them small; that’s why it doesn’t look like a lot.

As I fed Tillie this serving, though, I realized her food was pretty skimpy on the spinach and zucchini. So after calling Tillie’s mom and apologizing for being indignant, I went back to feeding Tillie.

Before T got halfway through her food, mine came out (I guess there’s something to be said for late dining) and it was one of the most beautiful sights my eyes had come across all day (after T and TM, of course)! I ate a couple of those golden-brown fries to appease my appetite as I still had Tillie-feeding to do. I gave Tillie a couple of more bites of her light-on-the-veggies pasta before taking a bite of my big, juicy burger, which was just perfect. Maggie Brown does the bacon cheeseburger right: Melt the cheese over the bacon, then you don’t have rogue pieces slipping out and you get the winning combination in every bite. Amazing!

After that first bite, I knew I needed more right away. I didn’t bring any finger food for Tillie to eat, but luckily, I could slip her a fry or two or eight to manage while I worked on the burger. Then I could work in more macaroni for her, too. It was a delicate operation, but we pulled it off! She had half a banana for dessert and then we started to pack up.

I would say the whole experience was worth the wait. We got to sit outside on a lovely afternoon, I had a great lunch with excellent service and Tillie was in a pleasant, well-rested mood. My meal wasn’t the cheapest on the block at $12.50 (adding bacon and cheese will get you every time), but was well worth it. If you have the inclination and time to spare, I recommend going. It’s a perfect spot for the post-nap crowd!

Halloween at Habana

Free Habana Halloween Kid's Party!

October 31st from 12- 6pm

Bring your little monsters and ghouls down for our free Habana Halloween party. Candy, games, crafts, prizes and more!

Monster Bash Dance Contest with DJ Juice E: 4- 6pm

Costume Contest @ 5pm

THE OFFICIAL Halloween and Last Call Party

Free – No Cover

Sat. October 31st from 9pm- 4am

Help us celebrate the end of another great summer at Habana Outpost on Halloween night with DJ Juice E in the Lowpost lounge (below Habana Outpost) There will be free giveaways throughout the night and a costume contest at Midnight!

Where : Habana Outpost

757 Fulton Street (Corner of South Portland ) Brooklyn NY

718 858 9500

www.HabanaOutpost.com

Lunchtime With Tillie: Brooklyn Public House

We’ve done Thai, Mexican, Indian and Italian. But how about something simple, like a good ol’ hot dog and fries?

Hey everyone, it’s V and T here with the latest in Lunchtime With Tillie-ness. This time, I decided to take it down on new tastes for the little one sample and took her to the neighborhood’s new gastro-pub, Brooklyn Public House on Dekalb Avenue

It’s not that I don’t want her to try new things, it’s just this time around, the idea of eating a Public Dog just took over! It’s a hot dog wrapped in Applewood smoked bacon and slathered with cheese. Yes, it’s as good as it sounds. I did give Tillie something to try, though, and it almost backfired on me, but more on that later!

After a trip to the playground in Fort Greene Park, we headed on over to the Public House. Upon entering, the waitress/bartender directed us to the roomy dining area since I had the stroller with me. I asked for a high chair and they didn’t have any, so it looked like Tillie would be going retro and eating in the stroller like she did as a younger youngster.

I got a menu, but since I knew what I was going to eat, it didn’t really do me much good. However, the lunchtime drinks special did pique my curiosity, especially after seeing that the Checker Cab ale was among the discounted options.

Here’s the Van Sias guide to Public House happiness (and this is for the grown-ups): Order the Public Dog and a Checker Cab or two, and you, my friend, will be thanking me at the end!

Anyway, so after a mini-debate within myself, I decided to top off my frank and fries with a beer. But the Checker Cab was out of the rotation of the beers on tap, replaced by something else not available among the discounted options! Arrgh! But I guess that’s a good thing because I don’t want to go down a slippery path and see “Lunchtime With Tillie” become “Lunchtime With Tillie at the Public House and Dad Eating His Daily Hot Dog and Drinking Beer”! So I just went with water instead.

While I was waiting for my food, I took Tillie’s out: some butternut squash soup Tillie’s mom made up. I managed to get her a few bites in, then mine appeared just like that. (There wasn’t much of a lunch crowd, which I guess contributed to the speed of service.) There it was in front of me: the bacon-wrapped hot dog with cheese melted over it and a basket of overflowing fries! I thought to myself, “You know, I can’t just indulge my selfish lunch cravings: I have to let Tillie try something. I know, I’ll let her try a French fry.” And that is where the backfire comes in!

I gave her a fry and she really enjoyed it, which was fine. But when I tried to give her another bite of the squash, she pushed my hand away! Was she just going to want fries? That’s not a good lunch for her to have! I tried again, and she replied with the hand push. Yikes! What was I to do? I couldn’t call Tillie’s mom for help. Do I call my mom? No, Van, you’ve been a dad for nearly a year now, you can handle this!

Then I came up with this plan: I’d dip the fry in the squash soup, which was thick enough to stick to it, and let her eat the next fry like that. After some success, I took it a step further: I’d put the soup on the fry, then pull it out of her mouth before she could chomp down, basically using the fry as a spoon. And it worked! I even got her back to eating the soup from the regular spoon again.

My meal was a little hectic, but my delicious hot dog and fries promptly got eaten. I’m glad I held off on getting the hot dog topped with turkey chili because that might’ve been a little too much (but probably would have tasted excellent)!

After all the soup and big kids food was devoured, I fed Tillie some grapes for dessert. I got the bill, which was only $9.25, not including the tip (or that Checker Cab), paid it and we were off.

We’ll be back, and I’d recommend others to go, too. The no-high-chair thing wasn’t a big obstacle to overcome, the lunch menu was reasonably priced and the waitress was really friendly. She was even cheering me on in my squash soup-fries battle, which I won in the end: a big victory for dads everywhere!

Lunchtime With Tillie: La Stalla

Hey there, neighborhood! Van here (and Tillie there) with the latest on dining for the infant and adult set.Before I get into the story of our trip to Mexican/Italian restaurant La Stalla on Myrtle and Ryerson, I’d like to share a brief tale with you, of simpler times, of happier times at that location. I call this, “When La Stalla Was Los Politos II.”

Once upon a time, there was a restaurant called Los Politos II that was really good; I used to even think it was better than Castro’s. Then one day, it became La Stalla, which serves both Mexican and Italian food. I never tried the Italian, but the Mexican was nowhere near Los Politos, yet I still held out hope it would measure up. It never did. The end.

So that’s a little background on where I’m coming from with La Stalla. It’s been hard for me to accept Los Politos being gone, but every now and then I’ll go to its successor looking to recapture the magic of the past. That’s what partially inspired me to take Tillie there (plus the fact it’s right across the street from our house doesn’t hurt!)

Anyway, we went—shells and cheese and a banana in tow—on one of these cool autumn afternoons that we’ve been having. I thought the place would’ve been fairly empty, but there were a few tables filled. We took one close to the window and got some key Tillie ingredients to set us up for success: a high chair and a menu, which our extremely nice waitress left behind for her to play with.

I took a look at my own menu and decided to go with the enchilada. I asked our waitress which sauce had more kick to it and was told the green did, so I went with red because I thought Tillie could have a bite or two of corn tortilla.

While waiting for my order, I decided to start feeding Tillie some of her go-to meal, the old shells and cheese. She had a few bites, and then my food arrived. It came in no time at all, but right away I had some issues with it.

You see, I really don’t get the idea of it being a Mexican/Italian restaurant with separate options. You either do some kind of funky fusion or have two separate staffs working on each side of the menu (which La Stalla might have, I don’t know) or you don’t do it at all. I think both sides are bound to suffer.

So I don’t know if my nose was playing tricks on me or what, but I swear my enchilada smelled like it was covered in spaghetti sauce! It actually took me a minute before I tried it. While I was steeling myself for that, I looked at the rest of my food: a big mound of gummy-looking rice and the skimpiest amount of black beans distributed on Myrtle Avenue. The bean-to-rice ratio was definitely off here!

I got up the nerve and tasted the enchilada, and while it wasn’t spaghetti sauce on top, it wasn’t anything that I’d be interested in trying again. I tried to offer Tillie a bite and she just turned her head away. Smart kid, that one! I wished I could have done the same, but I soldiered through and ate it.

After that, I broke out the banana for Tillie, which she was pretty excited about. I thought to myself, “Man, it must be nice to be happy about something your eating!” Once she finished that, we were off.

I have to give La Stalla this: Its lunch special ($6.95) is one of the best-priced that I’ve come across, and it includes a free soda. The staff there was super-friendly and there’s plenty of space for your stroller (I didn’t even have to fold ours up). The food on the other hand leaves a lot to be desired.

I guess I have to face facts: Los Politos isn’t miraculously coming back and it’s time for me to move on. But I’ll always have the memories.

Lunchtime With Tillie: Myrtle Thai

The Tillie Exotic Experimentation Express keeps on rollin’! And lucky me, I get to go along for the ride!Hey there, Clinton Hillers, it’s Van, and that epicurean adventuress Tillie, with this week’s Lunchtime segment. For our latest neighborhood food stop, we decided to stroll on down to Myrtle Thai, located on Myrtle Avenue. (I didn’t really have to give any direction indicator there, did I?)

My own past with Myrtle Thai used to only consist of ordering pad Thai while I was hanging out across the street from it at Rope bar, back when Myrtle Thai was at its old location between Vanderbilt and Clinton. Tillie’s mom kind of changed my train of thought on the restaurant, though, with her serious Thai background. After college, she joined the Peace Corps and went to a village in Thailand for a couple of years. She still speaks Thai pretty good and makes some delicious dishes: not bad for a gal from Maine!

As I realized there was more to the menu than noodles with peanuts, I’ve grown to become appreciative of the wide variety Myrtle Thai has to offer. Probably now my favorite dishes are the red and green curries. And I always get chicken with the red and shrimp with the green: I don’t know, those options just work out for me, I guess!

Strolling by the new spot one particular day, I decided to stop in. And since I had Tillie with me, too, I figured she should come along as well! This was my first time going there for lunch and what really struck me was the menu: in particular, the price! The lunchtime deal is $5.95 for the entrée, a salad and a spring roll. In these days of joblessness, I don’t know how it could get much better than that!

We went in and were pointed to a seat by the window, which seemed to be the best spot in the new location for a high chair. This seemed to work well with Tillie as it appeared she was completely captivated by the people walking along the sidewalk. But I had to pull her back to attention: Didn’t she know she had Thai food to try?

The waitress came by to take my order, and I decided to go for the green curry with chicken. If you noticed earlier, I said I usually have the chicken with the red, but this time I decided to switch it up. What can I say? I’m a wild and crazy guy! Plus, in consultation with Tillie’s mom, we determined that the green was the milder of the two sauces. I asked if I could hold the salad and instead get an extra spring roll because I saw the salad of our table neighbor and it looked pretty unappetizing to me—just some iceberg lettuce, a couple of tomato chunks and a whole mess of thousand island dressing.

While I’m waiting for my food to come out, I broke out with Tillie’s. I packed her some pureed carrots and grapes—two great dishes that go great together as far as she’s concerned. By the time I gave her a couple of bites of the carrots, my food arrived: a pretty big bowl of the curry, a mound of steaming rice and two spring rolls with a spicy dipping sauce.

After taking a couple of bites for myself, I determined that the spice level was definitely low and enough for the Tillster to handle, so I set aside some of my rice and put the merest essence of curry upon it. Initially, I was worried about my own curry-to-rice ratio because it seems whenever we get delivery from Myrtle Thai, the amount of rice sent along is always skimpy. But I had plenty of grains to spare this go-around!

I paused in the carrot feeding and gave Tillie (who happens to love rice, by the way) a bite of her special treat and she really took to it. She first gives you that look of curiosity, like “What the…?” but if it’s not trickling out of her mouth after the first taste, then you know you’re good!

So after some rice, I was struck by a moment of inspiration and thought, “Why not put a little dab of curry in her carrots? You know, jazz them up Thai-style!” That was a hit, too. I held back from dipping her grapes in the sauce, but only just!

And thankfully for me, my curry-to-rice ratios held up despite Tillie putting a dent in the dish. The food was excellent: chicken and bamboo shoots galore, which I enjoy as it gives the food a nice textural contrast. Plus, the spring rolls were cooked to perfection and the dipping sauce was a nice complement.

Myrtle Thai ended up being a great choice for us. We were the only adult and stroller rider in the place, and it seemed to be a tight fit in this new spot. I’m sure if more people came, they would figure out a way to accommodate the extra load. With the amazing food, great prices and wonderful service, it’s worth trying!

Lunchtime With Tillie: Luz

“How great that you are exposing Tillie to so many ethnic culinary delights!” — Tillie’s mom’s mom, Aug. 24, commenting on an LWT Facebook link I posted.

Those words lingered in my head when trying to come up with a place for Tillie and me to eat. I also wanted to continue trying to impress my future mom-in-law. What can I say? I’m such a suck-up!

Greetings, neighbors, and welcome to another Lunchtime with Tillie escapade. On this particular one, Tillie Bear and I went to another frequent family stop, “Nuevo Latino” hotspot Luz on Vanderbilt between Myrtle and Willoughby.

“Frequent” almost doesn’t do justice to how much we eat there; we go there a LOT. It’s the first thing out of Tillie’s mom’s mouth, it seems, when a going-out-to-dinner idea is bandied about. As a matter of fact, the night before our lunch trip, we had all just been there for a drink and appetizer!  (Tillie’s mom loves the mango margaritas!)

Anyway, after wrapping up a little playground activity on Dekalb, we set off to grab something to eat. I was toting along some pureed carrots and sliced grapes for Tillie in case she didn’t have it up to eat anything out of the ordinary and wanted to ruin my in-law-impressing plans.

There was a ton of options, but maybe it was a case of that being a bad thing because I couldn’t make up my mind on where to go, so I decided to check out Myrtle. We walked down Vanderbilt and saw that Luz was open. I thought to myself (because it would be kind of weird for me to say this aloud), “Hmmm. I didn’t even know Luz was open for lunch. Why not check it out? Tillie always has bites of our arepas, plus her mom gives her tastes of my cilantro mashed potatoes. This could be a winner.”

After that mini-soliloquy, we went in and the place was completely devoid of customers. I had to ask the guy that greeted us if they were definitely open! We pretty much had our pick of where to sit, so I grabbed us a spot where we could easily have room for the high chair and I wouldn’t have to fold up the stroller.

I got a menu and gave it a good looking-over or three because there was so much to choose from, plus remember, I was eating for two as I planned to give Tillie some nibbles. I went in thinking arepas and mashed potatoes, but everything seemed tempting to me. Do I go with one of the sandwiches? I’ve seen other people eat them during brunch and they all look good. But then what would Tillie eat? A yucca fry? That’s no good. The half-chicken with a side of mashed potatoes, and maybe some spinach? Naw, that’s usually my dinner specialty and seems like a lot to deal with.

I decided to go with the arepa de queso for an appetizer and the salmon al pimienton, served with a fried shrimp garnish over cilantro mashed potatoes. I felt kind of weird ordering an appetizer at lunch; I mean, geez, who does that? Luckily I was counting on Tillie to help me out with all that food!

It didn’t take long for the first course to arrive: the arepas! I let T have the first bite, and the way she took to them let me know that they were good to go. The tiny corn cake sandwiches topped with a little feta cheese and a cilantro pesto were cooked to perfection. Tillie missed out on the full flavor of the arepas because I didn’t give her any pieces with the feta or pesto (I’ve been kind of slack in my what-babies-can-eat reading), but she seemed good.

After those were out of the way, I thought it would be a good time to slip some carrots into the mix (hers, not mine). These were mostly her breakfast ones she didn’t eat, but they got taken care of at this time of day, which made me feel good.

Then, the main course arrived: a nice piece of salmon over a bed of the aforementioned cilantro mashed potatoes. It wasn’t your standard lunch fare, but it was tasty, nonetheless. The salmon was glazed with some red sauce I found to be kind of sweet, and it had a nice contrast with the potatoes. And the mashers worked for Tillie, too. My arm was starting to get sore from feeding her so much!

I think she got pretty full as she only ate a few grapes afterward. Usually, I’m feeding her fruit until the cows come home. But I’m glad she was sated; I was, too, so it was check time.

I got the bill and it was 20 bucks (yikes!) — way more than I’d recommend usually spending for lunch. But like I said earlier, the meal was done with both of us in mind. And just because I was a little loose with the lettuce, you don’t have to be. The sandwiches that I touched on earlier — and which are huge! — are only $9, for example. The restaurant’s space is plentiful, plus the staff is extra-accommodating and friendly — big reasons for our family’s return visits: that and the food, of course!

All in all, it’s a great place to go if you want to wake up your child’s taste buds.

And you might get to earn some in-law brownie points, too!

Stay-at-Home Dads Group

Are you a stay-at-home dad wanting to communicate with others? Are you looking for playmates for your child?

What if I were to tell you that you could have that right in our own neighborhood?

Hello, I’m Van Sias. You might know me from such Clinton Hill Blog postings as “Lunchtime With Tillie: Castro’s” and “Lunchtime With Tillie: Anima.” Well, today I’m here to tell you about an exciting project I started a few months ago: the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill Stay-at-Home Dads Group!

Twice a week, a group of dads meet at various playgrounds in the neighborhood. There, we chat, watch our kids play and develop friendships: both the dads and the children. And despite the name of the group, it’s open to dads throughout the borough.

When it’s raining out, we meet between a couple of restaurants in the neighborhood that have proven to be kid-friendly. We also discuss possible get-together opportunities and this week marks our first big one:

Dads’ Night Out!

Thursday, Sept. 3, from 8 p.m. until whenever, we’ll meet at the Rope on Myrtle Avenue between Vanderbilt and Clinton for drinks. And if you’re hungry, there are menus at the bar to order from local restaurants. Best thing about this night is you don’t have to be a stay-at-home dad to come out; all new pops are welcome! I saw the moms had a regular “moms night out & off,” so I had to borrow the idea!

The dads group meets at 12 on Mondays at Underwood Park on Lafayette and Washington (rain location: Square Root Café on Myrtle and Classon) and Thursdays at noon at the playground on the corner of Carlton and Dekalb (rain location: Catherine’s Caffe, the next block over).

So, stay-at-home dads, come on out to one of the meetings: If you see a little group of guys hanging out with their kids, that’s probably us! Hope to see you out!

Lunchtime With Tillie: General Greene

If only I’d gone for the burger… Hey everyone! It’s the lord of lamenting, the ruler of regretting, the head of hindsight is 20/20 Van, alongside the highness of high-chair fun, the doyenne of dad-doubting and the guru of great-time-having Tillie, here to tell you about our different experiences at The General Greene, located on the corner of Clermont and Dekalb.

Before I go further, though, let me just make this clear: I am a huge fan of GG and could eat dinner there every night of the week. On some of their dinner-time dishes, it gets kind of hard for me to share with Tillie’s mom sometimes because I want the whole plate to myself. But I manage to overcome my selfishness for the good of the team!

That being said, I had never gone there for lunch because it was hard for me to find something on the menu I thought I would really enjoy. It seems there’s always some ingredient that didn’t fall under my taste-o-meter, and I’d hate to ask for that aioli or pickle to be held because I trust the place to know what they’re putting together — my pickiness be darned.

Anyway, whenever Tillie and I walked by the place, we noticed it was full of people, baby and adult alike, so I thought, “Man, what am I missing?” I said to Tillie, “You know that place on the corner of Clermont where your mom and I take you for dinner sometimes? You know, that place we’re always raving about the steak and macaroni and cheese and collard greens? Well, that’s where we’re going for lunch! I’m going to give it a go!”

I didn’t get an answer back, so I figured it was good by her!

On our way to the restaurant, I stopped and picked up a newspaper. A little LWT fact for you: I always bring a paper when T and I go out, just hoping for that one day when I’ll be able to glance at the headlines to catch up on some current events.

We got to the restaurant and the place was pretty empty, which I was shocked about because usually from the sidewalk view, it’s jam-packed; I guess we caught it at the proverbial calm before the storm. We were greeted warmly and I was asked if I needed a high chair. The waitress grabbed one for us, and while I was setting Tillie up, she wheeled the stroller off to the side, which was most appreciated. I hooked Tillie’s little stuffed elephant up to the high chair, then took my seat.

A funny thing happened then: Tillie was content playing with the toy! I thought I was grasping at straws placing it in front of her, but that – combined with her being totally into the waitresses and other people walking around the restaurant – allowed me to actually get some newspaper reading in! I was pretty stunned and almost too distracted to read because I was starting to feel a little ignored. I felt like I was bothering her when I was trying to get her attention!

While Tillie was busy enjoying her surroundings, I placed my order and went for the pressed pork sandwich, with ham, pulled pork, gruyere cheese, pickles and a spicy aioli for fixins. Going in, I figured I was three out of five on those ingredients, so it might be my best bet. I asked them to hold the pickles and go light on the aioli. I then asked if the sandwich came with a salad or something and was told it didn’t. I felt like I needed something to go with it, so I got a side order of the house whites: chopped Idaho potatoes with chorizo and parsley. A lot of pork on the plates, I know, but I decided I could handle it.

As I was waiting for the food to come out, I still wasn’t getting much Tillie love, so I looked at the paper a little more. I brought some food along for her and was trying to figure out if I should feed her now before my meal came out and risk her being bored while I ate, or try to feed both of us simultaneously. I went for the former, and broke out with her little macaroni and cheese. She’s been pretty insistent on trying to feed herself lately, which is awesome, but isn’t exactly the speediest process. So, I decided to try to feed her and she was completely fine with it, which made my job easier. And she did great, eating most of it with no fuss at all.

Then my food came out, and I wasn’t that captivated upon seeing it. On the menu, it says it’s a “pressed” sandwich, which to me implies the sandwich is going to be stuck together by melted cheese, which I really like. This looked like a little bit of ham, a smidgen of pulled pork, one half-melted piece of cheese and the aioli – in other words, pretty skimpy. It definitely suffered from the too-much bread syndrome. I wouldn’t tell someone not to get this sandwich, but it just didn’t meet the expectations I have of something from the kitchen. The potatoes were better, and plentiful, too, but I wasn’t blown away by them, either.

But Tillie was having a great dining experience. She was satisfied with her mac and cheese, and I had grapes for an after-dinner treat for her. I didn’t cut them tiny enough at home, so while I set my half a sandwich and some of my potatoes to the side to be wrapped and waited for the check, I went back and cut them into smaller pieces. She enjoyed those, and things continued to go according to her plans. Lucky her!

My check came and my bill was $14, which added a little insult to my injury. I guess I couldn’t complain too much about that, though. Tillie had an excellent time, I got to read the paper and the staff was extremely friendly. And it seems you don’t need me to tell you to go as the place filled up as we were leaving. However, I planned on making up for my sandwich experience with some of the best ice cream in town at the Greene Ice Cream stand right outside the door.

I know you’ve seen it: the little cart right outside the door. If you haven’t partaken of it yet, though, please do yourself a favor and get some! I recently kicked a five-times-a-week habit going there, but I know I can lapse back into it any minute. I ordered my usual, a scoop of honey vanilla and one of salty caramel pretzel on a sugar cone. This combination is the best in the business. As I was ordering, a friend spotted us around the corner, came over with her son, who’s Tillie’s age, and ended up getting some ice cream, too. We all headed home in the same direction, enjoying some nice conversation and a pretty sweet treat. It made for a really good summer afternoon.

It could’ve been perfect if I had just gotten the burger!

Lunchtime with Tillie: Zaytoons

I’m Van. She’s Tillie. Together, we do lunch. Hey out there, neighborhood! It’s another edition of “Lunchtime With Tillie” and for this trip, we ended up at Myrtle Avenue mainstay Zaytoon’s for a nice Middle Eastern meal. And we even had a special guest with us this go-around: Tillie’s mom, who was working from home and broke away to join us!

Zaytoon’s crept up on my lunch radar a couple of weeks ago when I noticed its menu posted on the window and saw a special burger section. Among the varieties was something called a “turkey royale,” which was said to be made with apples, and special herbs and spices. Turkey burgers never seem to have enough zing or zest to them for me, so I thought this was something I had to eventually try.

The day we went to Zaytoon’s was a pretty full one already for Baby T. She had a doctor’s appointment that morning, then we had a meeting at the playground with this neighborhood dads’ group I started. After we got back from the doctor’s, she went down for a nap, during which time I spent psyching myself up for the playground/lunch trip, and packing up her little lunch I was bringing along: blueberries, formula and a jar of “spring vegetables with pasta,” an organic baby food dish I picked up that I was hoping she wouldn’t hate and spit in my face!

When she woke up, we said our goodbyes to mom and made our way down to the playground on DeKalb and Carlton. We ended up staying out there a little longer than I thought we would, which then led me to think that maybe we should just grab something close by since she could be crashing soon. But that little voice inside of me that had been thinking about that turkey burger told me to press onward, so-Zaytoon’s-bound we were! On the way there, I called Tillie’s mom and told her we were on our way. She said she would join us for a snack.

We got to Zaytoon’s and the place was super-cool, which was nice having come out of the hot sun. When we walked in, we immediately received one of the warmest greetings I’ve gotten going to a restaurant. Our waitress grabbed a high chair for us right away, and then actually set Tillie up in it for me. She hung around for a minute playing with Tillie, getting big smiles from her. The manager came over and also played with Tillie, who must have felt like she died and had gone to restaurant heaven at this point! The waitress left to get Tillie some crayons and a drawing to color, then tried to show T what to do with it all, which I thought was really thoughtful. Tillie later tried to eat the crayons, but still, it’s the thought that counts!

We were sitting by the front window, so we were able to see Tillie’s mom come up. She entered and as always, Tillie was very happy to see her. As I mentioned, TM was just going for a snack and I thought that maybe I should order a platter, then give her the pita and hummus it came with. But I didn’t want to commit to a platter, plus that turkey burger idea was still lurking in my head. She decided to go with a small order of baba ghanoush. When it was time to place my order, I went in a completely different direction than from what I had been thinking about for days and got a merguez sandwich with a side order of fries. I don’t know what happened, maybe it was the thought the turkey burger wouldn’t live up to how I built it up in my head. Who knows?

Anyway, the baba ghanoush came out first, and it definitely looked intriguing. I never had it before and Tillie’s mom offered me some. I asked her if it was hot and she said no. So I said, “sorry, no dice.” (I have some food issues that would take up a million LWT’s to run down!) Tillie, fortunately, doesn’t have any of my hang-ups and made an eager recipient for the offer, and after the first bite was hooked! I still wanted her to get in some of my scary-looking jar of food I brought along, though. She had some bites, but was all about the eggplant!

My food arrived, and it was a plentiful amount, but I was up for the challenge. I took a bite of the sandwich, and then had to reach for the water right away! It was good, but a lot spicier than I had prepared myself for. The fries came piled to the brim in a basket and Tillie’s mom was able to help herself to as many as she wanted. (I’m always complaining about her throwing off my sandwich-to-fries ratios!)

In between bites of her food, Tillie was busy looking around the rest of the place for someone to give her some extra attention or smiles. The waitress played with T a little more when she came around, and after Tillie was finished with the savory portion of lunch, mom broke out the blueberries I packed along. I have to tell you, it was nice to have a blueberry cutter/distributor along: I was able to battle with my tasty, yet ultra-spicy sandwich!

By the time the blueberries were gone, I was finished, so we decided to call it a day in there. We got the check, which was $20, including the tip. Tillie’s mom picked up the bill, which made the trip even more of a success! I definitely recommend going to Zaytoon’s for lunch: Good food, great service and even greater company made it a perfect afternoon.

Lunchtime With Tillie: The 3 Luigi's

Clinton Hill Blog readers, how are you? It’s Van and his midday-meal companion Tillie, here to tell you about our latest epicurean adventure, this time to pizza joint and all-around Italian restaurant The 3 Luigis on Lafayette and Grand. This spot is a spinoff of the Luigi’s on DeKalb next to Mike’s Coffee Shop, where Tillie and I have a near-daily residency going on. You see, people, I love pizza – I mean REALLY love it! I even find the merits in some frozen pizza, like DiGiorno’s, or some of the big franchises, like Papa John’s. This has pretty much been the case my whole life, and when I moved to New York and found that you can buy pizza by the slice, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Months before Tillie came on the scene, I decided that we were going to establish a weekly ritual, “Pizza Saturdays,” where we roll up to Luigi’s and grab a slice or two. As she’s started to eat a wider variety of food, I’ve been breaking off tiny pieces of my pizza, and I think she’s taking to it. After all, how could she not? She has those Sias pizza-eating genes coursing through her, and in my humble opinion, Luigi’s is far and away the best place in the neighborhood to grab a slice, so it all works out.

On this particular lunchtime jaunt, I had a taste for some pizza and instead of going to our usual spot, I thought we could go to the new place. I’ve had a slice or two there before, but oddly enough, it doesn’t measure up to the original locale to me, even though it’s the same guys going between the two shops. Also, at The 3 Luigi’s, they’re a little more, how shall I say it, adventurous with their pies, as seen by putting Ranch dressing or mustard on certain varieties, which is something I’m never going to try. But I was confident I’d be able to find something there to eat, so after I packed up a little food for Tillie (she did have pizza munching to do), off we went.

Upon arrival, we had to wrangle our way in there because the entrance is a little steep and there’s no ramp for strollers. We made it in, though, with a little assist from someone who was walking out. I grabbed a menu because none of the pies on display were holding any appeal to me. So I ordered a mini pie with tomatoes, which works out to be about a little more than a couple of slices worth, and some garlic knots, thinking that might be an interesting treat for Tillie to try.

I took a seat at a table and kept Tillie in her stroller. (I don’t think there were any high chairs around: I didn’t see any and I didn’t ask, so I can’t give you the definite scoop on whether you have to worry about that or not. Sorry!) T was pretty chill, regardless, taking the time to stuff her shoe in her mouth.

While she was doing that, her mom had actually given me a reading assignment to do, marking off the eating section in “What to Expect the First Year” for 9-month-olds. I skimmed through it and didn’t see anything about pizza or garlic knots, so I figured we were good to go!

The place had a steady stream of business and from where we sat, we could catch all the interactions between the customers and one of the restaurant’s owners. Everyone seemed to have a good rapport with each other, which I think is a pleasant thing to witness. There was even a special guest appearance by Gabby of Still Hip fame, who came over to chat with Tillie and me after placing her lunch order.  She figured we were there casing the joint, but I told her we were a covert operation and couldn’t talk about that!

Anyway, Tillie had some cereal to snack on, but all I could think about were the garlic knots. I was starving and wanted something to eat, too: Why should Tillie have all the fun? Just when I was about to grab some Cheerios, the pizza showed up. The guy who took our order told us it takes a while for the dough to rise to make the knots, so I told him that’s OK since it looked like I was going to have my hands full with this pie!

And let me tell you, I definitely did! It was a nice sight to see: plenty of tomatoes among the bubbling cheese and a dark crust, just the way I like it. I was going to be hard-pressed to share some with Tillie, but I managed. And just like me, Tillie loved it. I would give her a little piece of crust with some cheese and that worked for her. I thought there could be the possibility of taking some of it home, but I guess we had other plans.

After the pizza was all gone, I packed us up and we were off. The bill for this pizza and a soda was only $7, which was a bargain beyond belief for what we just had. Sure, some garlic knots would’ve been nice, but the quality of the pie more than made up for it. It’s a tight squeeze to get in and out of the place with a stroller, but if you don’t mind that, and want some great pizza in a great atmosphere, The 3 Luigi’s is worth it. And now Tillie and I have another stop on our pizza tour!

Clinton Hill Blog readers, how are you? It’s Van and his midday-meal companion Tillie, here to tell you about our latest epicurean adventure, this time to pizza joint and all-around Italian restaurant The 3 Luigis on Lafayette and Grand.

This spot is a spinoff of the Luigi’s on DeKalb next to Mike’s Coffee Shop, where Tillie and I have a near-daily residency going on. You see, people, I love pizza – I mean REALLY love it! I even find the merits in some frozen pizza, like DiGiorno’s, or some of the big franchises, like Papa John’s. This has pretty much been the case my whole life, and when I moved to New York and found that you can buy pizza by the slice, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Months before Tillie came on the scene, I decided that we were going to establish a weekly ritual, “Pizza Saturdays,” where we roll up to Luigi’s and grab a slice or two. As she’s started to eat a wider variety of food, I’ve been breaking off tiny pieces of my pizza, and I think she’s taking to it. After all, how could she not? She has those Sias pizza-eating genes coursing through her, and in my humble opinion, Luigi’s is far and away the best place in the neighborhood to grab a slice, so it all works out.

On this particular lunchtime jaunt, I had a taste for some pizza and instead of going to our usual spot, I thought we could go to the new place. I’ve had a slice or two there before, but oddly enough, it doesn’t measure up to the original locale to me, even though it’s the same guys going between the two shops. Also, at The 3 Luigi’s, they’re a little more, how shall I say it, adventurous with their pies, as seen by putting Ranch dressing or mustard on certain varieties, which is something I’m never going to try. But I was confident I’d be able to find something there to eat, so after I packed up a little food for Tillie (she did have pizza munching to do), off we went.

Upon arrival, we had to wrangle our way in there because the entrance is a little steep and there’s no ramp for strollers. We made it in, though, with a little assist from someone who was walking out. I grabbed a menu because none of the pies on display were holding any appeal to me. So I ordered a mini pie with tomatoes, which works out to be about a little more than a couple of slices worth, and some garlic knots, thinking that might be an interesting treat for Tillie to try.

I took a seat at a table and kept Tillie in her stroller. (I don’t think there were any high chairs around: I didn’t see any and I didn’t ask, so I can’t give you the definite scoop on whether you have to worry about that or not. Sorry!) T was pretty chill, regardless, taking the time to stuff her shoe in her mouth.

While she was doing that, her mom had actually given me a reading assignment to do, marking off the eating section in “What to Expect the First Year” for 9-month-olds. I skimmed through it and didn’t see anything about pizza or garlic knots, so I figured we were good to go!

The place had a steady stream of business and from where we sat, we could catch all the interactions between the customers and one of the restaurant’s owners. Everyone seemed to have a good rapport with each other, which I think is a pleasant thing to witness. There was even a special guest appearance by Gabby of Still Hip fame, who came over to chat with Tillie and me after placing her lunch order.  She figured we were there casing the joint, but I told her we were a covert operation and couldn’t talk about that!

Anyway, Tillie had some cereal to snack on, but all I could think about were the garlic knots. I was starving and wanted something to eat, too: Why should Tillie have all the fun? Just when I was about to grab some Cheerios, the pizza showed up. The guy who took our order told us it takes a while for the dough to rise to make the knots, so I told him that’s OK since it looked like I was going to have my hands full with this pie!

And let me tell you, I definitely did! It was a nice sight to see: plenty of tomatoes among the bubbling cheese and a dark crust, just the way I like it. I was going to be hard-pressed to share some with Tillie, but I managed. And just like me, Tillie loved it. I would give her a little piece of crust with some cheese and that worked for her. I thought there could be the possibility of taking some of it home, but I guess we had other plans.

After the pizza was all gone, I packed us up and we were off. The bill for this pizza and a soda was only $7, which was a bargain beyond belief for what we just had. Sure, some garlic knots would’ve been nice, but the quality of the pie more than made up for it. It’s a tight squeeze to get in and out of the place with a stroller, but if you don’t mind that, and want some great pizza in a great atmosphere, The 3 Luigi’s is worth it. And now Tillie and I have another stop on our pizza tour!