Awhile back on CHB, we received several complaints about the state of fresh produce at the Met on Fulton Street (see here). All’s been quiet in the last 1.5 years until last week when I received a horror story about a meat purchase:
After what happened at the Met on Fulton last weekend I felt obligated to send you a message as a warning to your other readers. We all know how about the rotten produce and terrible service but they reached a new low last weekend. I went to buy some chicken and as usual I bought the Murray’s organic chicken. It was 3 days before the use by date but when I brought it home it was completely spoiled. It clearly had not been properly refrigerated. There were also about 5 stickers on the back of the package which makes me think they knew it was spoiled and lowered the price accordingly, or perhaps they altered the sell by date and put it out there regardless. Nothing would surprise me at that place. The scariest part was when I brought it back nobody at the store was the slightest bit surprised. Apparently it had happened before and they had done nothing about it. They gave my money back but that’s not really the point. Bad produce is one thing but spoiled chicken is unsafe and unacceptable.
Anyone else have meat problems at the Met? If many of you have, probably cause for alarm. How prevalent is spoiled meat in the supermarket industry?
In a most unlikely place for a fresh fruit stand, a small building on Kent Ave just south of Myrtle has been painted bright orange and transformed into a makeshift produce shop.
I stopped in to check it out and as promised, prices were good. And I mean GOOD. A selection:
potatoes: 35 cents / lb
red onions: 49 cents / lb
garlic bulbs: 5/$1
The folks running the place, who said they’d been open for four weeks now, were very friendly. If you live nearby, it’ definitely worth stopping by.
Nigerian Restaurant Reported to Open this Month in Fort Greene
According to NY Magazine, En of Africa will soon be opening at 120 Lafayette.
Greene Grape Wins Award
The Brooklyn Paper reports that the Greene Grape, the wine shop on Fulton, was just named New York Wine and Spirit Retailer of the Year. (The secret: Selling a lot of NY wine.)
Local wine/gourmet food peddler Greene Grape just started their own blog! Looks like they have general store info, plus food/wine tips and news.
I hip up Provisions in July before having a party, and the staff was mind-blowingly helpful. This could turn out to be a great resource.
A few days ago, a reader sent me this intriguing email:
as bizarre as it is, i just noticed that a fresh fruit and vegetable market is opening on atlantic avenue right around grand (towards classon on the prospect heights/crown heights side of the street). it’s the produce equivalent of frank white — meaning, they’re putting a lot of work into the space and it’s going to be really nice, but it will probably ultimately suffer from its atlantic ave location (zero foot traffic).
i can’t understand why they wouldn’t choose fulton for this very necessary place, i guess the rents are a lot cheaper on atlantic.
Readers, this is why I love you. Because I would probably never, ever be walking around in that particular area and this is a very exciting tip!
It was not easy to find. I walked down a very desolate section of Atlantic, populated only by auto repair and restaurant equipment retailers, all completely shuttered on a Sunday afternoon. But then, I saw it: two gorgeous wooden planters with green fern spilling over at a storefront on the south side of the street.
The beauty of the fruit (both standard and exotic), as well as the interior renovation was shockingly gorgeous. Where on earth did this place come from?!
The owner (whose name escapes me, since I didn’t write it down), said he expects to be fully operational within the next few days. He is also open to suggestions on what people would like to see him carry!
People, check it out, NOW.
Atlantic Tropics
Atlantic Ave. nr. Grand
All,
The next co-op meeting is coming right up on July 9th. As decided at the General Meeting on June 17, this meeting will not follow the General Meeting structure and instead will take the form of a general discussion about the work of the various committees, cross-cutting issues, and what decisions are on the horizon. The Governance Committee would like to suggest that special attention be given to the question of working v. non-working co-op (although since it’s not a General Meeting, there will be no decision-making process).
In anticipation of this meeting, we’d like to ask each committee to prepare a summary of what you have been doing and what you have planned for the coming months. These summaries will be compiled and distributed prior to the meeting. This will give everyone a chance to update themselves on the work of each committee and will leave more time at the meeting for broader discussion and collaboration.
Please send your written summaries to Nick Collins (nickdcollins@gmail.com) by July 3rd. Committees may also send other agenda items to Nick for discussion.
Meeting details:
Wednesday, July 9th, 7-9pm
Queen of All Saints Church, Vanderbilt and Lafayette
See you then,
Clara Presler
Excellent Ft. Greene Blog General Greene has provided a handy comparison chart for many local coffee / pastry purchases. Check it out! What do you think?
I’ve never heard of Marquet — what’s that?
Received this email from a reader, who coincidentally went to the same high school as I did (small world!):
I have a quick question to ask – I’ve been trying to read the blog for any
suggestions on gluten-free food/ideas in the FG/CH area. I’ve been diagnosed
with Celiacs for over four years now, and it’s been really tough to find
gluten-free products in the area. I know of the organic food store on
Myrtle (Karrots), and the Met on Fulton is hit or miss (but they seem to have the GF
beer), and the Associated on Myrtle carries a small selection. Any chance
you could make a request/post about it in an upcoming blog entry?
Ideas? I’d also suggest:
- Green Planet (Fulton at Washington)
- Fresh Garden (Fulton and Lafayette)
- Provisions (Fulton at S. Portland)
(More info on these places here.)
Rustik Tavern
471 DeKalb Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
I needed a place to eat that was close by but I wanted someplace new too. I didn’t want it to be too fancy either. I just wanted a nice, chill, relaxing place to grab a beer and some decent food. I saw a review of Rustik over on Clinton Hill Foodie which seem to fit the bill perfectly. (yeah, I’ve been slacking and they got to it before me) After checking out Rustik’s very slick website and menu online I decided to give it a shot. I’m so glad I did.
The first thing I noticed was how…out of place Rustik seemed to be in where it’s located. It’s like bodega, bodega, take out, take out, bodega, Rustik.
Well at least you won’t miss it walking by.
I was impressed with Rustik’s interior decor. High ceilings and lots of lights, but not overly bright, gave it a very warm and inviting feeling and with that big sofa up front – definitely a place to chill.
First order of business: a beer. Rustik has a very decent selection of tap and bottled beers. (All of which is listed on their website.) I went with the Blue Moon which they had on tap – always an excellent choice.
Second order of business: FOOD.
Every item was named after something local or of significance. For example, the Willoughby Wings for Willoughby Avenue. It’s kind of silly but nice at the same time. Adds a very “neighborhood” feel to it.
Prices were extremely reasonable. Lots of items under $10 and nothing over $15.
We decided on the following:
The Nostrand Nachos with the olives and the jalapenos on the side.
As a stand alone dish it’s eh. I like the fact that it’s cheese sauce rather than real cheese, real cheese has a tendency to clump up and get chewy as it cools, but other than that it was lacking something that made it great. Like…
The Clinton Hill Chili.
Now I know you can add the chili on top of the nachos for $2 but go with a whole order of chili along with the nachos and use the nachos to scoop up all that chili goodness.
The chili, by itself, is still was very good and, while still full of flavor, it was relatively tame and lacked heat and spiciness.
Mixing it with the nachos is really the way to go. It takes two “okay” dishes to 11.
We moved on to a small order of the Willoughby Wings with BBQ sauce. (That’s where my olives and jalapenos went!)
I want to point out that these wings are breaded. Normally I hate breaded wings but these I didn’t mind. It worked well with the BBQ sauce, giving the sauce something to stick to, as well as adding a bit of crispiness to the chicken.
What surprised me about this dish was that the BBQ sauce was actually spicy and had some heat to it. The heat was unexpected, I had to double check to make sure it was the wings and not the chili, but not overwhelming. It actually worked very well together as a sweet and spicy combination.
Finally, the Franklin Fish and Chips.
This was pretty good. The fish was lightly breaded, not battered, which kept the whole dish relatively “light”. The fish was done well and was flaky and moist. The chips on the other hand…eh.
The chips were too big in size and I think that kept them from getting really crispy. The chips also had some old bay seasoning or something on them which was too over powering for the lighter tasting fish. I like the fish…the chips need work.
We wanted to try the Chambord Creme Brulee but they were out of it. (Doesn’t it sound good though? Chambord Creme Brulee? Mmmm…)
Overall, it’s a great place and I’m definitely going to be back. It’s got a nice mellow vibe, serves good food and has good drinks. All at a very reasonable price. The entire meal was about $40. It’s like the perfect little local neighborhood spot.
The service was good with the bartender being attentive without “hovering”. (And he didn’t once ask me if I spoke english! That’s a plus right there!)
The one complaint I do have is the TV. There’s a pretty big TV right in the middle of the room and when there’s a TV on you’re sort…of…forced…to…watch…it. I would have like it a lot better if it was off and a good selection of music was playing instead. (They have a very nice sound system.) The TV just seemed out of place and sort of broke up that “chill” feeling if you know what I mean.
Other than that it’s a great place and a very welcome addition to the neighborhood.
Oh, and if you’re lucky you’ll catch a free show.
We were treated to piano renditions of Keane and Coldplay. Very very cool.
From Clintoncentric:
It takes so much more energy for me to cook in the wintertime. I’m bored by the fresh produce, too cold/lazy to trek to Fairway, and unless I spend my Sundays cooking for the week, I’m basically f*ed, and have to either make quick meals after work, or order take out. Problem is, there aren’t that many good options that I’m aware of. These are my favorites though:
Luz (718-246-4000), for their $10 rotisserie chicken — one of the best I’ve had! — with extra pepper sauces (they’ve got a green one and a reddish-orange one), black beans and rice.
Mojito’s (718-797-3100), for their chulettas, pernil, or churrasco chicken, smoky black beans and rice (with extra green sauce!)
Bombay Masala (718-230-7640), for classic anglo-saxon fare: Chicken Tikka Masala and the Mushroom Saag. Really, the best Indian take out in the hood in my opinion.
Yamashiro (718-230-3313), for their Jade Roll (like getting seaweed salad in a roll), Yellowtail roll, and their Wasabi Roll. Hubby always gets the Sashimi Deluxe. They’re generally fresh, and tastier, I think, than Sushi Okdol, though I haven’t given them enough play, I admit.
Sushi Okdol (718-789-1373), for their bi bim bop. They’re really more Korean than Japanese, and they give you tons of sides, like mushrooms, tofu and seaweed salad, for free when you order an entree.
Where does everyone else order from, and what do you get?