Arbuz owners and staff cleaning off the furniture just days after the storm.
THE BITE: The Bite’s been laying low as Sheepshead Bay struggles to recover from Hurricane Sandy. With so many still without power or heat, it seems a bit insensitive to write about a newly discovered food dish. Now’s the time to help our neighbors rebuild.
Many of our restaurants and food mongers who came out for this year’s A Taste of Sheepshead Bay are still recovering and some are already back in business. Please do your best to help support the businesses that support Sheepshead Bites and the community. Without their support we wouldn’t be able to bring you our coverage of the neighborhood. No one else provides the local news when you need it, like Sheepshead Bites.
Rovshan Danilov, the owner of Arbuz, put it best. “We need Sheepshead Bay back. We need the businesses to return. We need the customers back. We need the landlords to understand and work with the small businesses of the Bay.” We’re all in this together.
This is a paid sale announcement from JoMart Chocolates (2917 Avenue R), Southern Brooklyn’s most acclaimed chocolatiers. If you own a business and would like to announce a special offer to tens of thousands of locals, e-mail us at advertising [at] sheepsheadbites [dot] com.
City Councilmembers Lew Fidler and Mike Nelson, and Borough President Marty Markowitz with Sheepshead Bites founder Ned Berke. (Photo by Randy Contello)
If you missed A Taste of Sheepshead Bay on Thursday night, you missed history being made.
Whereas, Brooklyn is most justifiably lauded for the rich array of culinary splendor that awaits residents and visitors alike, and everyone, from the comfort food seeker to the most finicky foodie is bound to encounter everything that will wow his or her palate, it is most fitting that we recognize those wonderful purveyors of decadent delectables, whose excellent taste and hard work help create the unique and fanciful flavor for which Brooklyn is widely known; and
Whereas, all of Brooklyn joins the owners, staff and supporters of twenty one of the best restaurants in Sheepshead Bay as Sheepshead Bites – Sheepshead Bay’s only independent news blog and winner of the L Magazine 2010 best local blogger distinction for Brooklyn and Manhattan - presents “A Taste of Sheepshead Bay,” an evening of eclectic food sampling and sumptuous entertainment, pronouncing Sheepshead Bay as Brooklyn’s premier culinary destination once again
So begins the proclamation issued by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz as he declared,
Now, therefore, I Marty Markowitz, President of the Borough of Brooklyn, do hereby proclaim, Thursday, October 27, 2011, 1st Annual Sheepshead Bites, A Taste of Sheepshead Bay Celebration Day in Brooklyn, USA.
Approximately 350 people attended the first Taste of Sheepshead Bay. They braved the elements to feast on the best that Sheepshead Bay had to offer as we celebrated the best damn neighborhood in Brooklyn.
From our friends at the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association:
The Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association’s Thanksgiving Food Drive is underway. The civic group is collecting non-perishable, Kosher and non-Kosher foods, along with contributions to purchase turkeys.
Preparations to distribute food to needy neighbors will take place at a meeting on Thursday, November 17, 7:30 p.m. at the King’s Chapel, Quentin Road and East 27 Street. Also, neighborhood nutritionist Jeannette Manusco will discuss holiday eating habits.
“Until the meeting, we have food collection boxes at several neighborhood locations, and will also accept donations at the meeting,” said Ed Jaworski, president. “We really hope that people will donate items that they would use or serve on Thanksgiving.”
MMHCA’s collection boxes are at: Michael’s Bakery, JoMart Chocolates, and Pronto Pizza (all on Avenue R at Nostrand Avenue); Tom’s Cleaners and Henry’s Deli (on Avenue S at Nostrand Avenue); and, G & S Pork Store and Ave. U Fish Market (both on Avenue U near East 27 Street), and Roosevelt Savings Bank (Avenue U and Nostrand Avenue). Checks to purchase turkeys, payable to “Madison-Marine Civic Assn.,” also may be sent to: M.M.H.C.A., PO Box 432, Homecrest Station, Brooklyn, NY 11229.
The November 17 civic meeting is free and open to the public. For further information, call 718-375-9158.
Welcome back to The Bite, Sheepshead Bites’ weekly column where we explore the foodstuffs of Sheepshead Bay. Each week we check out a different offering from one of the many restaurants, delis, food carts, bakeries, butchers, fish mongers, or grocers in our neighborhood. If it’s edible, we’ll take a bite.
“Yo – youse want some salami?” is a phrase most of us Brooklynites hear on a regular basis. It’s a phrase that we’ve all probably heard in our native tongues since birth. It doesn’t phase us. But, when someone shouts, “Want some fruit salami?” most of would respond with a “Fuhgeddaboudit!” That’s great – more for me.
This week The Bite crosses the border of Sheepshead Bay and heads over to Avenue R for a very unique foodstuff; a log of JoMart Chocolates’ fruit salami.
Welcome back toThe Bite, Sheepshead Bites’ weekly column where we explore the foodstuffs of Sheepshead Bay. Each week we check out a different offering from one of the many restaurants, delis, food carts, bakeries, butchers, fish mongers, or grocers in our neighborhood. If it’s edible, we’ll take a bite.
Welcome to the 25th edition of The Bite. It’s been great eating around the neighborhood, seeking out the new and unusual, stuffing my face with the great and not so great, all to edify you, our dear readers, about the wonders of eating in Sheepshead Bay. I hope I’ve expanded our culinary horizons as much as I’ve expanded my belly.
For the 25th edition of The Bite, I’m going to break tradition and throw out the one dish rule. I’m still going to tell you about a wonderful neighborhood gem, but in a whole new way. This week, The Bite explores the birth and, sadly, the demise of a restaurant.
Enter The Ocean Room, Kingsborough Community College’s Culinary Arts Program’s weekly, student-run restaurant. Oh, don’t worry, The Ocean Room will return in the fall. You’ll get your chance. Maybe. It is by invitation only, after all.
In The Ocean Room, students learn what it takes to run a restaurant. Every Friday, aspiring culinarians throw open the doors to roughly 100 guests for lunch, so that they can put the theoretical into action. Does all that shtick in the classroom translate to the real world? It’s time to put it to the test.
Zagat, the definitive guide to NYC restaurants, has just released the 2011 New York City Food Lover’s Guide and Southern Brooklyn is finally getting some respect. Over 150-Brooklyn based specialty food shops are included in this year’s guide. While most of the top spots where in the outer borough of Manhattan, some of our local places pulled in some sweet praise.
First of all, go and hit play on that video, so the music plays as your read. Supposedly, it’s written by a Sheepshead Bay native, though we can’t confirm that.
Ah, that’s better. Now, are you just reading and realized you haven’t gone out and bought anything for your valentine? Or did you completely screw up, and forget to make plans?
Fortunately, Sheepshead Bites is here to rescue you.
The Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association has launched their annual Thanksgiving food drive, and they’re collecting at local establishments until November 18.
The group is asking residents to contribute non-perishable Thanksgiving-related food items at bins in the following locations:
Michael’s Bakery (2923 Avenue R)
JoMart Chocolates (2917 Avenue R)
Pronto Pizza (2928 Avenue R)
Tom’s Cleaners (2917 Avenue S)
Buckley’s Restaurant (2926 Avenue S)
Ave. U Fish Market (2704 Avenue U)
G & S Pork Store (2611 Avenue U)
Roosevelt Savings Bank (2925 Avenue U)
Frozen turkeys and donations (payable to Madison-Marine Civic) may also be brought to the King’s Chapel (Quentin Rd. and East 27th Street) on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or to the group’s November 18 meeting at the chapel. For information, call (917) 538-6803.
If you forgot to get your sweetheart a gift, you still have a few hours to get the old traditional heart-shaped box of chocolates right here in Sheepshead Bay. Or if your lovelife needs a little stimulating, you can get The JoMart Stimulus Package to give it a little kick (in the butt, that is).
When I was at Sheepshead Bay High School, JoMart supplied candy and chocolates for some of the fundraising events. The store has come a long way since then, and with their website, they are no longer just our neighborhood chocolatier.
Don’t wait until tomorrow to get your JoMart chocolate fix, because they will be closed for some much-needed rest. The chocolatiers must have been inundated with orders this week, since they were featured right alongside the best confectioneries in town — even Mr. Chocolate himself, Jacques Torres — in the Brooklyn Paper.
JoMart Chocolates
2917 Avenue R
Brooklyn, NY 11229
Between E. 29 St & Nostrand Ave.
Open on Valentine’s Day until 7 p.m.
