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Brooklyn Bread House

There are big plans in store for the Brooklyn Bread House, which opened its doors at 1718 Jerome Avenue last Friday.

The business sells breads, cookies, cakes and other pastries baked daily on premises. That’s in addition to a wall of nuts and dried fruits, Eastern European candies, a pickle bar and specialty goods.

But the product that anchors Brooklyn Bread House is its Armenian lavash, a thin unleavened bread traditionally made by slapping flattened dough against the hot walls of a wood oven.

The bakery’s Armenian owner, a Sheepshead Bay resident and former home attendant, saw an opportunity to begin baking lavash in the neighborhood. According to her daughter-in-law and store supervisor, Mariam Margaryan, Armenian and Eastern European families around Sheepshead Bay enjoy eating fresh lavash, but there are no bakeries in the area that make it. Almost all lavash is imported from Los Angeles or Boston, Margaryan said.

Keep reading about Brooklyn Bread House’s offerings, and how they hope to expand.

A Kingsborough Culinary Arts student at work

If you’ve ever watched Hell’s Kitchen or Top Chef and said to yourself, “I wish that was me” – this is your chance to develop some real culinary skills for free!

It goes without saying that our economy is in a difficult time. With so many qualified applicants flooding the job market, younger and less experienced job applicants can find the search daunting. If you’re not currently employed or a full-time student, then the CUNY Young Adult Program has a wonderful opportunity for you to add to your skill set and open up a career path. The program is providing free Food Service/Culinary Arts training to eligible people at KBCC. The program is being advertised via Facebook and Craigslist in an apparent bid to appeal directly to 18- to 24-year-olds.

We told you about Kingsborough’s newly-launched Culinary Arts major back in May. The new kitchens, expert faculty and innovative program make this a bargain for young adults.

View the full advertisement and get more info

Courtesy of iandavid via Flickr

New York Times published an appetite-whetting article about local clam bars, beginning with a conversation between strangers at Randazzo’s counter (2017 Emmons Avenue). The writer, Sam Sifton, artfully runs readers through the four types of clams, a slew of New York City-area clam bars, and the culture of the clam. For those who, like me, got turned on to raw clams only recently, it’s a great and romantic introduction to the topic, full of imagery and reverence deserving of the under-appreciated food. On a hot day, a beer and a platter of raw clams along a waterfront – any waterfront, but especially our waterfront – is a slice of beach-town paradise. For me, like Sifton, clams have become a blessed escape from clamor.

Also, be sure to check out the video the Times produced in which Paul Randazzo teaches the art of opening a clam.

With grilling season in full swing, we got Sheepshead Bay’s resident grilling expert, Robert Fernandez, to tell us what are the best public places to cook up some dead animals. Fernandez is the organizer of Grillin’ On The Bay, the city’s only sanctioned BBQ contest, and is the editor of WhiteTrashBBQ, a city-dwellers guide to grilling.

Barbecue season is hitting the high water mark, so it’s time to answer that age old question, “Where can I barbecue in New York City?” And the answer is, “Lots of places.” NYC has over 30 parks where grilling is legal.

Some of my favorite spots in Brooklyn include:

• Manhattan Beach, which has two grilling locations, Oriental Boulevard & Hastings Street and Northeast of Promenade, median adjacent to parking lot (no amplified sound permitted)
• Red Hook Park, Bay Street near Columbia Street
• Prospect Park, which tops all the Brooklyn parks with six locations, but my favorite is by the band shell

In the Bronx, I recommend:

• Crotona Park, Crotona Park East & Charlotte Street (Indian Lake)
• Ferry Point Park, at both the north and south ends of the park
• Van Cortlandt Park, with two locations, my favorite being In front of the pool, Broadway and 242 Street

In Manhattan check out:

• East River Park, Along FDR Drive at East 10th Street but a special permit is required, but I’ve never seen it enforced.
• Wards Island Park, East River & Hell Gate (near the children’s playground)

In Queens pay a visit to Alley Pond Park, Winchester Boulevard & Grand Central Parkway and in Staten Island I frequent Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk and Beach at Midland Avenue and Lincoln Avenue

Of course these are just some recommendations, you can check out the entire list of grilling spots in New York City at the Park’s Department webpage.

Remember; barbecuing or grilling is allowed in designated areas ONLY. No barbecuing permitted under trees. All coals and litter must be disposed in trash receptacles. Please remember to extinguish all coals before dumping them into a trash can. No extra fires please. And if you’re going with a group of 20 people or more, the city requires that you get a $25 permit 21 days in advance.

Courtesy of Peak & Eat

The blogger over at Peak & Eat, a food and photography site, recently took a trip down to Sheepshead Bay.

“Yo, ho, yo, ho, a pirate’s life for me,” B sang as the Brooklyn VI slipped away from Sheepshead Bay. Surrounding me were gritty, beer-bellied, middle-aged men; some quiet veterans brought their own fishing rod and bait, while others just came with a macho attitude.

To read a Black Sea Bass’ voyage from capture to consumption – and the delicious recipe used to cook it (steamed, with beer) – head on over to Peak & Eat. If you love food and good writing, you won’t regret it.

Photo courtesy of irockiroll via Flickr

There’s no shortage of accolades for Roll-N-Roaster’s (2901 Emmons Avenue) classic roast beef, kaiser roll and cheeeeeez. But now its sister, the hot turkey sandwich, is also getting a claim to fame. Grub Street published a list of the 101 top sandwiches in New York City, and the turkey sandwich at Roll-N-Roaster was ranked 96. Sure, it’s a long way to number one, but considering how many sandwiches we’ve got in this gastronomic Gotham of ours, that’s pretty flattering. Here’s what they had to say:

Warm slices of fresh-roasted turkey piled on a soft, gravy-dipped kaiser bun nails that Thanksgiving flavor, especially with a brown-sugared sweet potato on the side.

I’ve never had the turkey sandwich, but they make it sound so scrumptious that it’ll be my order next time I’m there.

Nevermind roast beef, though. Nevermind Roll-N-Roaster, even. What do you think is the best sandwich in Sheepshead Bay?

A student prepares hors d'oeuvres for the crowd

Melisa Carbajal’s relationship with Kingsborough Community College is coming around full circle. After finishing an Associates Degree program at the school in 2007, the student is returning to be a teacher. She’ll be one of a handful of chef-instructors in the school’s budding culinary arts program, where she’ll teach healthy cooking for cancer patients and survivors in a partnership with CookforYourLife.org.

“So many good things have happened,” Carbajal said in front of a crowd of about 100 people at Kingsborough last night. “I couldn’t have started in a better place than Kingsborough Community College.”

But had it been a few years earlier, Carbajal never would have had the opportunity.

The group Carbajal spoke to was celebrating the launch of the Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts, the latest – and biggest – step towards maturing a program that was only born in 2001.

Keep reading to learn more about Kingsborough Culinary Arts program’s development

Applebee’s is honoring veterans and active duty military for Veterans Day by offering them a free lunch or dinner.

The Applebee’s website has pictures of the free meals available to those who show any of the following as proof of military service:

•    U.S. Uniform Services Identification Card
•    U.S. Uniform Services Retired Identification Card
•    Current Leave and Earnings Statement (LES)
•    Veterans Organization Card (i.e., American Legion and VFW)
•    Photograph in uniform
•    Wearing uniform
•    DD214
•    Citation or Commendation

The Sheepshead Bay Applebee’s is located at 2505 Emmons Avenue (near Bedford Avenue). Call the restaurant directly at (718) 769-4889, if you have any questions about the deal.

For those of you living in a pasta-poor home — like the one our reader, Jim, grew up in — here’s an all-you-can-eat pasta night.

And if these are not the prices you would normally expect to pay for pasta, just remember that Benny’s Gourmet Pizza serves up Kosher food and you won’t have to travel to Midwood.

Your choice is to stay home and follow the recipe for Rich Pasta for the Poor Kitchen. But if you’re a “rotten cook” — also like Jim’s mom who had some difficulties in the kitchen — you can make your way over with an empty stomach to Benny’s, singing, “Pizza, Pasta, Salads & Wraps, Hoorah!”

Benny’s Gourmet
1730 Jerome Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11235
(corner of East 18th Street; between Ave Z & Voorhies Ave)
Tel: (347) 673-7340

Why we all need to be just like Barack Obama for yet another reason: The man’s got some reflex! He’s able to hit and kill a moving fly as if his hand’s a frog’s tongue.

This particular move would have come in handy for me, recently when I visited Che — oops, no names — a certain new pre-prepared food/grocery store at 1901 Emmons Avenue to have lunch. There were so many flies hanging around that my friend and I got turned off and went to Del Mar, instead.

The doors were all open and it was a nice day out, but the flies seemed to like the food inside better than the junk food dog owners so nicely leave out on the streets for the flying guests.

It’s true that most of the pre-made food is displayed in the refrigerated glass cases — but, still, flies don’t seem to fit into the decor.

With all the controversy surrounding the place, management must have kept all the doors open to clear up any confusion for customers about whether or not they were open for business.

The goal here is not to ruin anyone’s ability to make millions. But, really, these guys are professionals, have built at least one other successful store, and know how to make it in business. The owners are tough enough to fight the city. Why not the flies?

So, like I mentioned a few months ago to the Ocean Avenue Bagel store: why not try some “Air Curtains & Air Doors”?

In the meantime, I’ll keep watching that video of Obama annihilating the fly. Maybe, I’ll catch some of his skill. Otherwise, I won’t be able to do the food review I know you’re all looking forward to reading.

If the store has since installed the air curtains, please let me know. I’d like to come out of this exile to try some stuffed cabbage.

(Image courtesy of Animation Library)