(photo c/o Kevin Hayden)

The old Supreme Trading space has taken on a new purpose this year, and Brooklyn Winery will be open on October 22 — so that New Yorkers can learn the winemaking process from grape to bottle.

Brooklyn Winery’s packages range from $300 to participate with a “community barrel” (which comes out to 24 bottles of wine per person) all the way up to $5,700 for a full barrel of wine (which will generate 300 bottles of wine when the process is complete). Owner Brian Levanthal explains that “customers really get to craft their wine at the facility,” with the help of an expert winemaker.

And no, you can’t just sign up to make one or two bottles! “It’s a commitment. The process takes about a year,” says Levanthal. As such, costs at the winery include everything: the grapes, storage, access to the equipment, the sessions, the wine bottles, customized labels and more throughout the year.

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Gilbert Gottfried’s argument comparing stealing music to stealing food doesn’t really hold up. Because I am positive that employees at Burger King do in fact give out tons of free food. I know this from experience. The push to have people legally buy music is a good idea, and maybe having Gilbert Gottfried yell at you about it is one of the only ways to get through to the torrenting youth of today. But still it’s a bit confusing. Does Gilbert Gottfried even make music?

Gwynnett St.

TAGS: American Nouveau, Fairly Expensive, Fancy Cocktails, Graham, Recently Opened, Recommended

WD-50 Veteran,Justin Hilbert, brings impeccable locavore cuisine to the Graham Avenue stop. The desserts show his love of molecular gastronomy without compromisong flavor and the Amish Chicken is the best chicken we have ever eaten, um, anywhere. Simply amazing. From the NY Times: Mr. Hilbert’s style of cuisine is not yet common in this pocket of Williamsburg. In fact, cooking this sophisticated would be a find anywhere in New York.

And while it is a restaurant in Brooklyn, Gwynnett St. is not really a Brooklyn restaurant. There are no butchers’ tools hanging from reclaimed barn doors. Under the eye of Carl McCoy, the proprietor, the dining room staff is calmly professional, utterly free of pretense and attitude. Nobody is the least bit likely to pull up a chair and offer to show you pictures of the sauerkraut the chef is currently fermenting inside a pair of Red Wing boots.

SEE THE FULL LIST »

Photo c/o Alexa Zoe Sullivant

If Jack White has anything to say about it, one of Nashville’s brightest stars, Pujol, will be at the top of everyone’s “OMG, I <3 This Band” playlist very very soon, if not already. With a sound reminiscent of your high school boyfriend’s band– you know that swoon-inducing kind of rock you wouldn’t really be into unless he was singing about you, until of course you learned a thing or two about music. This time Daniel Pujol, who’s last name is just darn cool enough as a moniker, may as well be singing about all of us. The boys will like the no-fuss delivery and the girls will, well, they’ll love it too.

Along with fellow Nashville boys, Turbo Fruits, the crew reminded Brooklyn that a good guitar hook, reverb or not, will get a crowd moving at Saturday’s Death By Audio show. On Jonas Stein of Turbo Fruits newest endeavor, Turbo Time Records, we can expect tons of vinyl coming in the direction of fans eager to eat up the booming southern city’s sound– thanks to friends JEFF The Brotherhood and the like, who’ve already paved pothole free lanes for any boy with a large sound holding a guitar. The label, which launched on October 12th with limited edition presses of both bands, will be announcing a larger roster soon– think Underwater Peoples via the Mississippi River (that’s close to Nashville, right!?).

We’re excited to have Pujol as a part of our CMJ lineup tomorrow night at Glasslands, for many other reasons than the fact that our readers will be able to say “Oh yeah, I saw that band before they got ridiculously huge”– although we’ve always been the kind of assholes who don’t mind bragging rights.

Check out the interview with Mr. Pujol after the jump for a little more insight on what makes him tick, what song he can’t live without, and what planet he’d live on if music wasn’t his thing.

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OOOOOOoooooo
We know how it is: biting your nails, waiting in constant anticipation for our CMJ showcase tomorrow night. Don’t worry, we don’t blame ya. But seriously, in the meantime (read: one day) before we get all crazy (fog, projectors, wheatpaste, geometric straw structures anyone??!) here are some gems to grab, plug into your ears and bleach the brain with Good before it all goes down.

As said this is the Glasslandic Age.

DOWNLOAD MIXTAPE HERE
DOORS at 5:30. Party ’til LATE. Open bars announced tomorrow. $7
SEE YOU THERE

Fronted by sister act Jessica and Cristi Jo, Zambri evokes a multitude of sound– almost as if they had recorded one perfectly pop love song and then buried it below another track filled with rhythmic sadness. A mix of ethereal vocals and gloomy undertones fill their debut EP, Bang For Changes, with an evolving dichotomy which can simply be described as beautifully relentless.

But a lot has changed for Zambri since the summer of 2009– with the inclusion of a live band, working with producer Chris Coady (who’s resume includes all your favorite bands– Delorean, Islands, Beach House, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lemonade, Telepathe, TV on the Radio… well, you get the point), and a slight shift in sound.

Not to worry, the sisters haven’t lost that solemn yet airy harmony… but if tracks like “Carry“, a collaboration with Bear In Heaven‘s Jon Philpot, are any indication we can expect a tonality that has matured past taking photos of their own feet– an era every girl must go through in order to stumble upon self realization. I suspect Zambri’s full length debut will be just that, fully realized, and far from disappointing.

FREEwilliamsburg got a chance to catch up with Cristi Jo while planning tomorrow night’s CMJ showcase at Glasslands (with the honorable Stadiums & Shrines) about the ready to be mixed full length, whether or not it is easy to create with one’s sister, and what it’s like to get bit on the ass by a loving fan. If you haven’t already, check out the rest of our awesome lineup and RSVP here to check out Zambri, and be sure to carry on after the jump to get to know the girls a little better.

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You can pick up tickets here & RSVP (and stalk who else is going) here.

There’s some words to describe Mayer Hawthorne at Music Hall of Williamsburg last night: Swagger. Fresh. Showmanship. Fly-as-hell. This is a guy who knows how to stoke whatever flame he has going for himself. And when that flame is super big to begin with – getting it stoked is a huge accomplishment. Did you know that Mayer Hawthorne is merely this dude’s porno name? Meaning: It is his middle name (raised as Andrew Mayer Cohen) and the street he grew up on (Hawthorne). When a guy comes to the stage with enough confidence to go by this kind of name, you know it is something special.

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The New York Department of Buildings is coming down hard on illegal lofts in Brooklyn. The latest shutdown, a building near Lorimer St. on Metropolitan Ave. was home to 40-50 residents. According to reports, these poor fools were given less than 24 hours notice to vacate the premises. From the Brooklyn Paper:

“[Inspectors] told us we can’t take a s—t, shower or use the kitchen — we just have to go before they padlock the doors,” said longtime resident Yubi Hoffmann, who lives with a handful of others on the fifth floor. “We’re young, we don’t have savings. We had no idea about the problems here.”

As G.I. Joe reminded us, “knowing is half the battle,” and in reality, it was probably less than safe for all those young starving artist kids to be living in the run-down building. According to the city, the building is zoned for commercial use only, and there are over 150 safety and environmental cases open against the building, including an improperly working elevator, unsound staircases, and blocked emergency exits. The kicker, is that tenants claim they were on leases. I guess that’s why they’re suing the building’s owners, who are suddenly pretty difficult to reach.

Sometimes, a  sweet deal on a sick loft really is too good to be true.

Brooklyn resident and founder of the self-proclaimed Brooklyn Space Program Luke Geissbuhler, along with his son, Max, sent a balloon with a camera attached to it into space. Wow! Here’s to hoping some Brooklynites can take a lesson from Copenhagen Suborbitals, two self-employed thirtysomethings in Denmark who are single-handedly making that country the fourth in the world to put a manned vehicle into space.