Kanye West debuted his song New Slaves last night by projecting a video on buildings throughout the world. In Williamsburg the projections popped up at N. 7th and Bedford, and on the side of Wythe Hotel. You can see Read the rest of this entry »

Photo via

Oh boy. Who’s ready for an Urban Outfitters Bar & Grill? The folks at Grubstreet noted a line a the bottom of the CB1 Brooklyn meeting agenda that said “Urban Outfitters, Inc, 98 North 6th Street (new, liquor, rest).”

From Grubstreet:

Though the retailer is apparently looking to score a full liquor license, it’s not immediately clear what form its restaurant will take. Some Urban Outfitters in other cities have in-house cafeteria-style cafés and sandwich shops, but signs point to this one being a little more upscale: Last year, Bloomberg reported that the corporation had merged shopping and eating at two of its Urban Outfitters Terrain stores, with restaurants serving menus of things like “$36 striped bass, $39 ribeye and a $19 vegetable plate.”

I was going to make a joke about a Guy Fieri or Toby Keith restaurant opening on Bedford but I’m too scared of it actually happening.

- @joshmorrissey

There’s another incredible weekend of dancing and relaxation ahead of us here. I’ve said it before and i’ll emphasize it again, lineups keep getting stronger and more enticing. Having dinner with a friend the other night brought into the conversation that it really is hard to stay indoors on a weekend lately. What with events like the rare performance of Magic Mountain High (Move D and Juju & Jordash!) and Fred P taking place at Output or the techno GODFATHER, Juan Atkins playing in Cameo Gallery’s intimate space, there’s too much to do and so much to see. Check out the five club nights featured below, where I’ve also included Disco and House heavy hitters Tornado Wallace and Detroit Swindle for a guaranteed good time on your day off.

Read the rest of this entry »

80 West Street, Brooklyn, NY 11222
8am – 2am • Every Day
347-987-3666; achillesheelnyc.com

Via

For his follow-up to Reynard, Brooklyn restaurateur Andrew Tarlow created a casual all-day bar and cafe on a quiet stretch of West Street in Greenpoint. Achilles Heel serves coffee and pastries in the morning, and cocktails and charcuterie at night. Tarlow hopes to offer sandwiches, oysters, clam chowder, and other lightly prepared foods in the near future. All the goods are sourced from his other restaurants, and Achilles Heel also offers produce and fresh baked breads to take home. The beverage list includes beer, wine, and classic cocktails, plus a few drinks from Tarlow’s other restaurants.

The corner space existed as a neighborhood tavern from the early 1900s to the 1960s, but it has sat vacant for the last 40 years or so. Tarlow tells Eater that he got the idea for Achilles Heel when the landlord for the building approached him last year about opening something in the space. The restaurateur refurbished the bar from that old tavern and touched up the room, but it still has an old-world, worn-in feel. Achilles Heel is now open from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., daily. Stay tuned for a tour of the bar early next week.

Photo of the new storefront via Oslo’s facebook page

Oslo Coffee’s Bedford (and S 2nd st.) location reopens today after suffering a massive fire four months ago. From Gothamist:

Owner J.D. Merget confirms the Bedford Avenue location is open for business this morning—sort of. “Everything’s free,” a triumphant Merget told us last night, before correcting himself. “Actually, not everything—just the coffee!” The coffeeshop will close early today, at 2 p.m., and reopen with regular hours tomorrow.

- @joshmorrissey

Photo via Eater

Since the summer of 2011 Greenpoint restaurant Calyer held down the corner of Franklin St. and Cayler St. However, owner Blair Papagni (who also owns Anella) just made a big change to the space. From Eater:

Restaurateur Blair Papagni decided to turn her Greenpoint New American restaurant Calyer into a second location of her American comfort food restaurant Jimmy’s Diner. An employee at the restaurant tells Eater that the switch happened on Monday. The menu is similar to the one served at the original Williamsburg location.

The popular weekend brunch original Jimmy’s Diner is located at 577 Union Ave.

- @joshmorrissey

This teaser from his new record seems to suggest he could be. Sleeper is out August 20 on Drag City:

River Styx, photo: Kit Chaney

Via the Times

Disco globes and vintage car pulleys dangling from the ceiling. A fire-engine-red wood-burning oven capped by a wooden, wagon-wheel-like formation. Handcrafted tables that form a heart shape when pushed together. It’s clear from these quirky design details what River Styx — the newest restaurant from the team behind Brooklyn’s Roebling Tea Room, which opened last night on a quiet, riverside street in Greenpoint — is not: another neighborhood eatery that takes itself too seriously.

“I just want people to have fun at dinner. Really, it’s all I care about,” the chef Dennis Spina explains of his inventive menu, which is categorized simply by small plates and entrees. While Spina’s cooking is graced by unconventional twists, everything somehow remains comforting and satisfying. The Big Chef, a small plate that’s one of Spina’s favorite creations, is composed of slivers of capicola, an Italian pork cold cut, and creamy béchamel, wrapped in fresh pizza dough and baked in the oven. The result is warm, chewy, salty and gooey. In the Squid Suave — which got its eccentric name after a menu typo changed “sauce” to “suave” and customers praised the dish — tender pieces of flash-fried squid get a punch of lip-smacking heat from a special blend of Clamato, Frank’s RedHot sauce and butter. A flat bread, which Spina refers to as his “house naan,” is supple and pleasantly oily, getting a tangy and nutty boost from buttermilk and spelt. Paired with puréed fava beans, curried cream and raw honey, it just might be the restaurant’s aesthetic plate, with sherbetlike colors and delicate flavors that make it soothing on the eyes and the palate. Even the house chicken surprises. After marinating in a juice of house-made pickled jalapeños, the chicken quarters are fired in the oven and generously slathered with burro rosso, a boldly colored red sauce of butter, paprika and tomato paste. The meat is tender, the skin airy and crisp, and the sauce subtle enough that you’ll chase every last bit of it.

Staying true to the house philosophy, the cocktails are also deceptively simple and balanced. Developed by Dmitri Bartlett, the drink menu is filled with unexpected surprises. The Sinking Body is made of just four ingredients — vodka, grapefruit, cinnamon and simple syrup — but tastes far more complicated. While tequila is the key spirit in the Discipline, its unlikely pairing with amaretto and serrano peppers slices that are lit on fire — you blow them out — makes the cocktail nutty and spicy. “In the end, it’s about having a good time,” Spina says. “We’re all having fun.”

Ugh:

A massive new nightclub planning to open near popular desitnations Brooklyn Bowl, the Wythe Hotel and Output Club wants to bring electronic dance parties that will last as late as 6 a.m. to the Williamsburg waterfront.

Verboten (German for “forbidden”) — a popular dance party company that throws techno and house DJ events around the city — is applying for a liquor license for its soon-to-open nightclub on North 11th Street that will hold more than 700 people, company representative Jen Schiffer said at a public meeting this week.

“It attracts a discerning crowd of music fans, Europeans, hipsters, freaks, party girls and industry types,” the company’s website explains of its “techno programming.”

Previously: Douchey Velvet-Rope Shitfuck Jersey Shore Cologne Tourist Trap Electro Dance Club Coming to Williamsburg

Brooklyn’s own Holy Ghost! filmed the video for their new single Dumb Disco Ideas on the rooftop of The End in Greenpoint. The track will be on their forthcoming album Dynamics (no release date yet). Enjoy the skyline and the vibes Read the rest of this entry »