SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Three months after we reported that a new frozen yogurt establishment would open at 1501 Sheepshead Bay Road, yooberry removed the paper from its windows and opened for business on Friday evening.

The inside – and outside, for that matter – is bright and colorful, with what appears to be self-serve frozen yogurt machines and a counter full of toppings. It’s a welcome face-lift near the otherwise dark, dingy and dirty B/Q overpass.

Welcome to the neighborhood, yooberry. Sorry you missed the summer, but there’s always next year.

Man, has it been a tough week for businesses in the Sheepshead Bay area. First we wrote about Randazzo’s Sandwich Spot closing up after electrical problems proved too frustrating to deal with, then we moved on to Chicken Masters throwing in the towel in the face of mounting government regulations, and then the UPS Store, which called it quits after the parent company wanted to up the stakes on its franchise agreement.

Now, on the other side of the neighborhood, we hear that Blue Mango, a kosher frozen yogurt vendor, has closed down. Located at 929 Kings Highway, a “For Rent” sign went up some time in the past few weeks.

We’re not sure how long Blue Mango has been around – it’s an area we don’t get over to nearly enough – but Yelp reviews for the business go back to 2008.

Good luck to its former owners, and we look forward to seeing what new business will take its place.

Gravesend will soon gett a frozen yogurt joint , this time over at 811 Avenue U, where a local outpost of the national Yogurt City franchise is setting up shop.

The storefront is still under construction, with work crews getting the counters and machines ready to go. The company’s website said the grand opening is scheduled for July, but it looks like it’ll be pushed back until August at least.

Yogurt City has 41 locations listed on its website, spanning states from Massachusetts  to South Carolina, Ohio to Connecticut, the majority of which are labeled “Coming soon.” In New York, they have open locations in Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island and Sunset Park.

We thought, at first, maybe they’d be serving kosher frozen yogurt, as that part of Gravesend is densely populated by observant Jews. But, with items on the menu like Maple Bacon Donut frozen yogurt, well, we think not.

UPDATE (7/31/2012 @ 11:00 a.m.): A representative of YoCream, which apparently supplies Yogurt City, wrote in to note that all of their frozen yogurt flavors – Maple Bacon Donut included – are kosher. He wrote:

I thought I would clarify that our Nonfat Maple Bacon Frozen Yogurt is OU-D Kosher Certified along with all of our 83 other frozen yogurt flavors and varieties. This frozen yogurt flavor was inspired by Portland’s famous Voodoo Doughnuts, Bacon Maple Bar. The YoCream Frozen Yogurt version is flavored with vegetarian ingredients.

Sheepshead Bay Road is getting its second frozen yogurt spot soon, as yooberry Frozen Yogurt prepares its digs at the former location of the Flagg Tax Center.

Located at 1501 Sheepshead Bay Road, yooberry will be right across the street from the Sheepshead Bay train station entrance – and the Dunkin’ Donuts / Baskin’ Robbins powerhouse. And, oh, just a block and a half down from the three-year-old Arbuz at 1706 Sheepshead Bay Road.

Unlike the Baskin’ Robbins and Arbuz, though, it doesn’t appear that yooberry will have seating – the storefront doesn’t have enough space to offer much more than a counter.

Thanks to Laine for the tip and photo.

A photo taken just days before the store opened in 2010.

After little more than a year and a half in business, Cupcake Kings at 1613 Voorhiees Avenue has served its last icing smothered dough ball to Sheepshead Bay residents.

The business closed up shop last week, just months after the original owners sold it off to new management (they kept a minority role in it, I’m told).

It’s a darn shame. Good memories with Cupcake Kings, which opened in November 2010. They provided some of the treats at Sheepshead Bites’ third birthday party last year. And there was also that cupcake eating contest where they accused one of Sheepshead Bites’ contestants of being a ringer. And, well, Ferrero Rocher cupcakes, people!

Well, good luck to all those involved with making Cupcake Kings. We look forward to your future endeavors.

THE BITE: It pains me to see how many mom and pop delis have completely abandoned preparing their own foodstuffs. We’re lucky in this neighborhood that we still have so many shops that still make something, but in the world of the deli, almost all have succumbed to the mighty Boar’s Head for the meats they offer. This causes such tsuris for me, as the flavors of the individual delis are becoming indistinguishable from one another. Luckily a few stalwarts, like Henry’s Deli (2921 Avenue S) still offer something “homemade.”

I stumbled into Henry’s Deli  looking to explore the “Irish Food” that a sign in their front windows was proclaiming. It promised “Irish Sausages” and “Mushy Pudding,” among a laundry list of other “Irish” foods. What brought me into the store was the promise of the “mushy pudding.” That was something my Irish grandmother never foisted on us as kids. I have never heard of it and so I wanted to try it out.  The name teased me – “isn’t all pudding mushy,” I thought?

Alas, they were out of mushy pudding. Instead I found one of my favorite snacks; home-made rice pudding for only $4 per pound.

Continue Reading »

THE BITE: The first time I took my now wife out to dinner, we ate in some swanky restaurant in Manhattan. I had steak au pouivre and I can’t remember what the future Mrs. Bites ordered. But I do remember that she only ate about half of her meal. I was a bit concerned. It was our first date, the conversation was going well, but, had she lost interest?

As I finished up my meal, I asked her if she wanted to finish her plate or take it home. She said no to both. Now, I thought, she just wants out. “Shoot, this didn’t go well,” I said to myself and asked the waiter for the check. Before the words were out of my mouth, she piped in with “Can I see the dessert menu please?”

You see, the wife is a dessert person. Desserts are the high point of any meal for her. Me, not so much. So today when my sweet tooth started to ache, I knew I had to satiate it. I remembered the Liege waffles that Arbuz (1705 Sheepshead Bay Road) offered up at A Taste of Sheepshead Bay and I knew they would do the trick. When I first tasted a plain waffle without any toppings at A Taste of Sheepshead Bay, I was struck with the sweetness of the exterior and the almost malty like flavor of the dough. I was hooked. This is my type of dessert.

Continue Reading »

Arbuz on Sheepshead Bay Road

The future site of TreatPetite, the Arbuz spin-off.

Accompanied by the sweet smell of fresh fruits and its colorful motif, Arbuz draws the attention of even the tiniest hands—a baby—who unknowingly nibbled away at some frozen yogurt and fruits.

The dessert-filled cafe has existed at 1706 Sheepshead Bay Road for two-and-a-half years. It was a business co-owner Rovshan Danilov calls a side venture from his fulltime job in finance. Though many of his colleagues thought he was crazy, it didn’t discourage his “love for food and entrepreneurship,” and the shop opened in August 2009.

And now Danilov and his partners are proving just how far they can take the crazy side venture: all the way to Manhattan.

Danilov & Co. are opening another frozen treat venture they call a “spin on Arbuz,” and it will be right in the heart of Greenwich Village.

Named TreatPetite, the new store will carry many of the same products that exist at Arbuz – plus a new signature item: Frozen Kefir.

“Think of it as a liquefied yogurt drink! It is healthy, delicious and very dear to us,” Danilov said. “Kefir was a very popular drink in the former Soviet Union, especially in the Caucasus region republics. It is also gaining a wide popularity here in U.S.”

Danilov also hired a “talented interior designer” to help give TreatPetite its own feel. The plans aren’t finalized yet, but he said, like Arbuz, “it will still have coastal tones. We have chosen a boardwalk for our inspiration for design.”

Currently under construction, TreatPetite will be located at 61 Grove Street, on the corner of 7th Avenue. An update on the construction, and the expected grand opening, is in the works.

Cupcake Kings (1613 Voorhies Avenue) capped their first annual cupcake eating competition on Saturday with an outrageous and dastardly claim: Sheepshead Bites brought in a ringer!

After a cancellation left them with an empty seat at the competitors table, Cupcake Kings owners Dennis Roitman and Larry Kopylov turned to the crowd demanding a volunteer. A lone challenger stepped forward: Sheepshead Bites’ marketing assistant Jobana Soto. Clad in the golden insignia that is the Sheepshead Bites t-shirt, Soto claimed the top prize in the women’s category.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that she was the only woman at the table. And that there was no woman’s category. But that didn’t stop the accusations of cheating.

But regardless of these facts and falsities, Soto kept pace with the men, cramming 14 cupcakes in her mouth in the 10-minute competition, besting others, but not all. She joined our other representative at the table, competitive barbecue chef Jim Ryan (above), in making the site proud for their notable capability to jam sugary dough puffs in their pie-holes.

Keep reading about the cupcake conquerors and view photos from the event.

Just a friendly reminder that Cupcake Kings’ cupcake eating competition takes place tomorrow, starting at noon, at their 1613 Voorhies Avenue storefront.

Sheepshead Bites, as an event sponsor, will be there with stickers, and Cupcake Kings will have their own giveaways. So come on down and root for our our Jim Ryan, reppin’ the Bites in the contest!

For more details, check out our previous post.