totry:

Driving around South Brooklyn one night, my boyfriend and I came across Circus Fruits, a 24 hour supermarket overflowing with fresh produce lining three sides of the store exterior.  After some googling, we found that this supermarket specializes in fresh produce, dairy, meat, cheeses and other specialty Italian items at wholesale prices.

After looking at their weekly specials, I don’t think a better deal can be found in the tri-state area.

Circus Fruits

5916 Ft. Hamilton Parkway

Brooklyn, NY 11219

The duo who brought you Stone Park Cafe will be opening a Chinese restaurant on Fifth Avenue between Carroll Street and Garfield Place.  Never fret, it’s going to be just what Park Slope needs: another Americanized Chinese restaurant.  When asked about what will set them apart from the competition?

“We’ll cut out the stuff that Westerners just don’t go for…”  - Brooklyn Paper

From Food Is Me:

Thanks to my friend Phil, I’ve become a little obsessed with Adam Roberts and his food blog, The Amateur Gourmet.  The draw was obvious:

I live in Park Slope, he lives in Park Slope.

I’m a food blogger, he is an established food blogger.

The list goes on and soon enough, I found myself reading his book with the same title, The Amateur Gourmet.

It’s a quick, entertaining read and makes you realize that you should try eating the things you hate since your taste buds are always evolving, cooking really isn’t that hard and most importantly food simply tastes good so just enjoy it.  I found myself making Pasta with Pesto after reading his chapter Master the Market, with some help from Russo’s of course.

Beer Table Update:

I finally tried Beer Table after posting about it on To Try and the first tidbit I must share is that your Beer Table date must like to share due to the large beer serving sizes.  Beer Table specializes in unique beers from around the world including one that was served lukewarm due to the live cultures that were brewing inside.  The friendly beerista let us sample all the draft beers and we ended up with the above two beers, the names of which I unfortunately cannot remember, and a side of watermelon and tomato chips which were tasty and sweet, similar to dried apple chips you’d get from your mom’s dehydration machine.

All you can drink Sixpoint draft beer for $15 this Saturday night, September 26th from 10pm-2am at Bark Hot Dogs (474 Bergen St; Park Slope)

via Wined & Dined

Fun, rarely seen vegetables at the Park Slope Coop.

From Food Is Me:

I began craving pesto pasta after reading Adam Roberts The Amateur Gourmet and found myself buying fresh pesto sauce this afternoon at Russo’s Mozzarella & Pasta.  The shop itself was quite impressive with all sorts of Italian treats and I almost expected for an Italian grandma to pop up behind the counter to ring me up.  Alas, she wasn’t there but the pesto pasta still turned out quite tasty.

Walking around Park Slope, you see plenty of restaurants that look appetizing however if you’re like me, you’ve grown a little skeptical as they tend to be hit or miss.  A great way to sample the food for free is to take a stroll on the 2009 Park Slope Restaurant Tour.  Visit the participating restaurants and food places for a small taste of their gourmet treats.

While shopping at Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket this past Saturday, I came across Jacques Gautier, Chef/Groundskeeper of Palo Santo, teaching passersby how to make a seasonal steamed clam dish in rouille.  Yum!

Taking advantage of a summer Friday, my coworker Grace and I ventured to south slope and found ourselves at Olive Vine Cafe for lunch.  While the decor reminded us of a grandmother’s house, complete with vinyl table covers, the price was just right with only one dish above $10.  The Falafel Platter comes with the lightest homemade pita bread, perfect for spreading hummus on or for wrapping around a hummus ball to make a falafal sandwich.  The green salad accompanying the platter was nice and crisp and a perfect balance to the gently fried falafel.  The pizza on the other hand had extremely doughy crust and what looked like mounds of cheap mozzarella cheese…in two words, not recommended.  Overall, Olive Vine Cafe is a great BYOB place to go when you’re craving cheap eats, just make sure you don’t stray too far from the Mediterrean cuisine.

2 locations:

441 Seventh Ave, corner of 15th Street

54 Seventh Ave, between Lincoln & St. John’s Place