Via Grub Street

“I’m a huge fan of crappy food,” says Matt Lang. By which, we might add by way of clarification, he means delicious crappy food as opposed to crappy crappy food. The former Fette Sau pit-master is a Baltimore native and so, by definition, a fan of that city’s favorite fish, the fried whiting, which is known there for some inexplicable reason as “lake trout.” That’s the name Lang has taken for the fried-whiting shop he opens next week with business partner Joe Carroll that celebrates the fast food of his Baltimore youth.

On the menu, you’ll find not only the namesake specialty of the house served with white bread and housemade hot sauce but also fried shrimp, chicken wings, and a cheese fish sandwich (fried pollack on a Martin’s potato roll with a Velveeta-based cheese sauce that you could certainly describe as falling under the heading of “delicious crappy”). Lang also aims to redeem what he considers the sorry state of the crab cake by employing the little-known crushed-Saltine-cracker method he learned at the knee of his grandmother.

To wash it all down, there will eventually be beer (Schaefer, Ballantine, and Genny Cream in cans, of course). And the décor follows the direction of the food with bright-orange plastic chairs built into the cafeteria-style tables and some blown-up Baltimore Orioles baseball cards from the seventies hung on the walls.

Lake Trout, 160 Havemeyer St., nr. S. 2nd St., Williamsburg; no phone yet

How do we get a private tasting? via GQ:

That’s why we turned to our friends at Roberta’s, in Bushwick, Brooklyn, a pizzeria-cum-culinary-empire whose bold tasting menu recently caused former New York Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton to tweet, simply: “Am rarely speechless. But #robertas #bklyn.” The guys who run the place are whip-smart and wild-eyed, such hard partiers that a night out with them is equal to three nights out with average men. And so they set about designing a threecourse, two-cocktail weed tasting menu that would leave us stoned and sated. We were still high twenty-four hours after eating it [...]

Pizza Course
Margherita: marijuananara sauce, buffalo mozzarella, “oregano”

Pot pesto: ricotta, prosciutto cotto, hemp-seed dough

(Most stoners have to smoke their weed and then eat their pizza. But not me.)

Dessert
Parsley cake made with weed butter, topped with a weed-brittle sheet; green-strawberryrhubarb gelato with weed cream

(My scrawled notes read “This needz 2 happen allo the time.”)

More information about Roberta’s here.

Northeast Kingdom Shrimp & Grits (c/o Becky Quan)

With so many great places to eat in Williamsburg and its surrounding ‘burbs, finding the perfect spot for weekend brunch can be a hard decision.

Sure, you could wait in line for two hours at Egg or Five Leaves, listening to inane conversations about fixed gear bikes, Girls, and lofi shock-rap, but who wants to waste the whole day waiting for an egg sandwich when there are so many less-crowded places to choose from. (For those who possess more patience than us, Egg or Five Leaves both have fantastic food.)

Here’s our list of favorite places to have brunch.

Radish

If you love the store or have taken advantage of their catering, you already know that Radish is great. Now, they’re about to have an event space and supper club. Via Grub Street

Two-year-old Bedford Avenue picnic favorite Radish doesn’t currently have any seats to offer you, but when it launches its event space and supper club this fall, it’ll be able to host dinners for 75. Co-owner Amy Marks says the shop’s burgeoning catering business led her and partner Laura DeRemer to seek a larger kitchen space. The one they found on 190 North 14th Street (between Berry and Wythe) has a 1,500-square-food venue attached, so they snapped that up too. The pair will rent it for corporate meetings and events, weddings, and other parties, when it’s not in use by night they’ll host the occasional ticketed supper club, with a seasonal, global menu.

Marks said she’s looking forward to “having a way of hosting our customers in a seated environment, which we can’t do now.” A full liquor license means they can host wine- and cocktail-paired dinners in the space, which is decorated with dark bamboo floors, handpainted Mexican tiles, reflective copper light fixtures, and a white marble bar.

Catskills Photography's flickr

Brace yourselves: it’s going to be 96 degrees in Brooklyn tomorrow and Thursday. The city has even put a “heat advisory” into affect until 8 p.m. Thursday night. Here are some things to do in the area to stay cool, excluding the city’s “cooling centers,” whatever those are.

1. Go to the movies.

Northside Film Festival is going on right now with screenings at Nitehawk Cinema (136 Metropolitan Ave.), IndieScreen (289 Kent Ave.), and Union Docs (322 Union Ave.).  Nitehawk, which is celebrating its anniversary this weekend, is also screening Prometheus.

2. Eat something cold.

If your whole body can’t be cold, your mouth might as well be. Check out Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory (97 Commercial St.), Momofuku Milk Bar (382 Metropolitan Ave.), or ices – not soup – from Sapienza’s Fire N Ice (359 Bedford Ave.).

3. Get in the water.

While the big return of the McCarren Park Pool doesn’t happen until next week, the lesser known Metropolitan Rec Center pool is open as usual (261 Bedford Ave).

4. Get on the water.

Purchase a $4 ticket and enjoy the nice sea breeze from the deck of the East River Ferry. Make sure to check the ferry’s website though for service alerts like this one.

Via Eater:

After just six months in business, Basque newcomer Mercado on Kent has closed, with plans to reopen with a new concept later this fall. A tipster spotted this sign in the window of the restaurant over the weekend, which explains the move. Their OpenTable account has been deactivated, and no one’s picking up the phone.

Thirsty? If it’s beer you crave, then you’re in luck! This Saturday, June 16, is the Waterfront Brooklyn Beer Festival, held at 5 North 11th Street.

This beerfest includes lots of food (The Morris Truck, Cornelius, Cool Haus, Sheep Station, The Brooklyn Star, Sigmund’s, and South Brooklyn Pizza) and live music (The Nepotist, The Suit & TYree & BiggThurrsty, Isle of Rhodes, In Like Lions, and Vinyette).

Also, this Sunday, June 17, is Father’s Day. If you didn’t know that already (you’re welcome for the reminder), you probably haven’t gotten him a gift yet. So, this could be your answer – spending quality time downing beers with Dad will probably make him much happier than a new tie or the classic “World’s Best Dad” mug.

Tickets are on sale now, with two sessions and three different ticket packages. Happy Beer Day!

Of course we already knew this was true.

Earlier this month, the “No Reservations” star wrapped up the week-long Kings County taste tour for a final fall show.

The brash New Jersey boy turned celeb chef told The News his trip to the borough was prompted by cooks he’s met from across the globe raving about Brooklyn’s eating scene.

“Brooklyn is the nexus where everything is going on right now,” said Bourdain.

“Brooklyn is a melting pot. There are traditional Jewish delis. Caribbeans are a huge part of the culture.

There was an attempt to embrace the features of what makes the Brooklyn picture.”

Sheepshead Bay got the Hollywood treatment hosting Bourdain and his camera crews at two spots: Jay & Lloyds Kosher Delicatessen on Avenue U and Randazzo’s Clam Bar on Emmons Avenue.

Bourdain also spent time in the borough’s hipster and brownstone pockets eating at Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, the pricy three Michelin-starred restaurant on Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill. And at Roberta’s on Moore Street in Bushwick.

It’s still a couple weeks away, but we’re of course very excited about this event on the Williamsburg waterfront. Organizers promise at least 150 Summer and craft beers from 75 brewers, food and live music. In short, it will be beer nerd heaven:

From the established craft brewers to the mid-majors and up-and comers, the diversity and creativity of the Craft and Specialty Brewing Community has proven to be limitless. For our Grand Tasting, we will be featuring an extensive variety of these artisanal creations from the worlds Top Breweries. Participating breweries from across the country are each expected to showcase 2 to 4 of their finest offerings with a strong emphasis on their Limited Release and Seasonal selections. Taste the flavors of the Summer season in liquid form.

Hours

Session I
VIP/Connoisseurs: 12:30 PM – 4:00 PM
General Admission: 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM

Session II
VIP/Connoisseurs: 6:00 PM – 9:30 PM
General Admission: 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM

For tickets, visit http://bkbeerfest.com/tickets.

This looks way more interesting than GoogaMooga.

Bon Appetit Grub Crawl will take you on a hands-on, interactive food tour at ground zero of the artisanal-food universe. In true Brooklyn form, you’ll experience food and drink up-close, hang with the chefs, get your hands dirty, roll up your sleeves, and peek in the kitchen in the back, as opposed to just being served in the front. And if that’s not enough, on Saturday it culminates in can’t-miss music performances.

FRIDAY: Carroll Gardens
Clover Club, Frankies/Prime Meats, Seersucker, Treats Truck

SATURDAY: Williamsburg
Meatball Shop, Maison Premiere, Allswell, Brooklyn Winery, Rye, music at the Knitting Factory

SUNDAY: Red Hook
Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Fort Defiance, The Good Fork, Mile End, Sunny’s

Belvedere Vodka Lemon Tea will served be at each stop. Tickets can be purchased here.