It’s a good time to be eating out in Williamsburg. The famed Michelin Guide recognized a handful of spots in our neighborhood as their “Bib Gourmand” picks for the 2010 season. Basically, it’s a list of Michelin’s favorite spots in the New York City area for good value food (under $40).
Local mentions include: Mesa Coyoacan, Baci & Abbracci, Brooklyn Star, Egg, Marlow & Sons, Motorino & Rye. You can check out local reviews on our restaurant guide.
And if you want a little recipe to take home, Chef/Owner Ivan Garcia of Mesa Coyoacan in North Williamsburg is featured in this new video making his famous Mexican Esquites recipe for corn season:

Mesa Coyoacan’s Most Popular Corn Dish: Mexican Esquites from SkeeterNYC on Vimeo.

Get out there and eat.

My CSA just sent me this notice:

Anyone in Greenpoint and Williamsburg who is interested in food justice, access, sustainability and security is invited! This first meeting will be a chance for people who are working on food issues in the neighborhood and those who would like to be more involved to meet, share experiences, and talk about how we can pool our resources and knowledge to build on the amazing food activism that is already taking place here and to talk about how we can connect with food activists in other Brooklyn neighborhoods.
DATE & TIME: Thursday, September 24th 7:00 p.m.
PLACE: Lutheran Church of the Messiah 129 Russell Street (btw. Nassau and Driggs)
We are inviting anyone in Greenpoint and Williamsburg who is interested in food justice, access, sustainability and security to join us. This first meeting will be a chance for people who are working on food issues in the neighborhood and those who would like to be more involved to meet, share experiences, and talk about how we can pool our resources and knowledge to build on the amazing food activism that is already taking place here and to talk about how we can connect with food activists in other Brooklyn neighborhoods. This is an outcome of the Brooklyn food conference, which has been instrumental in getting these neighborhood meetings organized all over Brooklyn: “After an incredibly successful and exciting Brooklyn Food Conference we are morphing into a grassroots-based Brooklyn Food Coalition. So far 10 Brooklyn neighborhoods (and hopefully many more) are creating local, neighborhood-based groups that are choosing 1 or more projects to work on to improve the food situation in their communities. Each neighborhood will send 2 reps to a Council of Neighborhood Groups so we can share strategies, projects and campaigns across the Borough.” For more information, check out http://brooklynfoodconference.org/

My favorite neighborhood restaurant, Caracas, recently got their liquor license. Go get the Classic Hemingway Mojito and the La Del Gato Arepa if you know whats good for you.

The Farm-to-Table Chef for Busy New Yorkers: Sweet Deliverance from SkeeterNYC on Vimeo.

A cool, local video about Chef Kelly Geary, founder of Sweet Deliverance in Brooklyn. A Blue Hill trained chef with a soft spot for small organic NY farms and New Yorkers with busy schedules.
She’s on a mission to help locals who want to take advantage of the farm-fresh produce in their area, but just don’t have the time to cook. Sound familiar? Plus, all the food gets delivered right to your doorstep.
You can sign up for the winter season food deliveries that start in October. It’s organic. No stress. Worth looking into…

Greenpoint’s transformed little record shop, EAT Cafe, is now doling out CSA shares to neighborhood locals looking to enjoy farm fresh goodness.
Until November, you can sign up (on a weekly basis) to pick up a “Straight Out of the Ground” box full of the latest vegetables coming into season in the NY area. And, apparently, the food is picked the same day it’s delivered. We just signed up. It set us back only $30. Looking forward to seeing what comes in next week!
FYI – Weekly pick-ups happen on Wednesdays from 6-10pm.

Urban NYC farmers have set their eyes on a new prize: transforming privately owned backyards into lush, fruitful farmlands.
By signing up to share your yard with a urban farmer, you can eat fresh from your own personal farm during the harvest months, and even sell produce to your neighbors – growing a community built around fresh local food. The best part is, you don’t even have to lift a finger, BK Farmyards does all the farming for you…
Find out more at bkfarmyards.com
Shot & Edited by Liza de Guia.

Check out this interview with La Superior where they talk an outdoor area (next summer), their favorite New Yorkers, and NYPD chill pills.

Like many of the newly employed-ish, I am always searching for ways save a little cash. I have expanded my definition of the acceptably soft avocado, abstained from fancy imports such as Olde English, and I make my own coffee as often as my days allow. However, on torpid summer nights, I usually lack the foresight and/or sobriety to brew a pot and refrigerate it. As such, I am generally willing to drop a couple of bucks on a large iced coffee to make an inexplicable 15 minute wait for an L that much more pleasurable.
But I mean a few dollars. When the L Stop Cafe opened last Saturday at 490 Metropolitan, I had hopes that anyone heading to Lorimer from the west would have an efficient, affordable alternative to Sunac, and their occasionally hot-to-the-touch iced offerings and limited counter space. But at $4, L Stop’s large iced is 60 percent more expensive than that at Sunac, Atlas, and almost any other shop nearby, where the going rate is $2.50. Even at Oslo, Grumpy, and your other ethos-included joe slingers, you’re talking $2.75 or so. (Smaller maximum size, perhaps, but a darn sight better.) At the chains, you’ll pay up to $3.03 at Starbucks, $2.65 at Cafe Europa, and about $3 for a large at Dunkin’ which, I believe, is roughly equal in volume to your recommended daily intake of oxygen. In fact, the only other place I’ve ever seen a $4 iced is Espresso 77 in Jackson Heights. As the lone upmarket coffee shop in that ‘hood, I was willing to chalk that up to supply and demand, but the L Stop, with plenty of competition nearby, has no such excuse. So is this the way the world is headed? Seems like only yesterday, before Neapolitan pies, people ate slices of pizza and the ever-rising cost of those had the city all worked up, talking inflation this, income disparity that. Is our ritualized, warm-weather caffeine boost any less important? Why get mad when our newly-arrived street urchins ask for our change if we’re willing to throw it away on such grossly overpriced refreshments? And does anyone have any other examples of the $4 and up large brewed iced from around town to add to my nascent blacklist?
(Bonus: If someone can explain to me how the refrigerator space and ice require the huge markup on iced coffee to begin with, I’ll buy you one myself. The $2.50 kind, that is.)

Following announcements that Caroline Fidenza’s Saltie is opening down the block and Stephen Tanner will take over Black Betty across the street, Spuyten Duyvil and Fette Sau owner Joe Carroll has further bolstered his claim to the corner of Havemeyer and Metro, as if it were ever in doubt. He tells that he has been quietly preparing a haute snack food joint in the building adjacent to his legendary bar, 355 Metropolitan. (Not to be confused with the ongoing Knitting Factory transformation at 361.) Though the menu is far from finalized, as a loyal son of Bergen County, Carroll will assuage the needs of Garden State natives with Jersey diner-inspired fare such as hot dogs, homemade sausages, White Manna-style burgers, disco fries, and pork roll, AKA Taylor ham. Major construction has yet to begin, so expect a mid-fall opening, at which point one of the only remaining reasons to jump on NJ Transit or a PATH train will to bribe an underpaid, unqualified elected official. (Too soon?)

Meanwhile, the shittiest burrito place in the city, L.A. Burrito, somehow still remains open. We’re going to miss you Bonita!
Says Brooklyn Based, via Gothamist

Bonita I on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg will serve its last taco on August 15. Owners Andrew Tarlow and Mark Firth, of the Marlow and Sons/Diner empire, have long had a contentious relationship with the landlord (“He hates me,” Tarlow tell us. ‚”Always has.”) and the restaurant has never been able to get a full liquor license for the space, so they’re closing up shop. Get your plate of pork nachos and your sidewalk spot while you still can (or head to Bonita II in Fort Greene).

At least we still have Papacitos and La Superior. That said, Gothamist is totally right about La Superior’s tacos being a little too precious.
image via