MORE CORTELYOU FOOD!

Been a long time since I posted anything... The blog still gets lots of hits though so I should be better about adding info and stop being so lazy!

Last night we tried TWO new places and both were excellent. We started at the new wine bar, The Castello Plan, 1213 Cortelyou Road. We didn't even know this place had opened yet and we were excited to see that it was, in fact, open and looked really great inside. We tried a nice Cote de Rhone, a Belgian beer and some cheese - all excellent! We are looking forward to going back and trying more. After doing a little research I now understand the name.

After we went to Mimi's Hummus (our original destination.) Mimi's is located next to The Castello Plan and I also read it's the same owners. The dining room is very small but feels nice and comfortable, not cramped. Dinner was fresh, tasty and wonderful. We tried the fava bean and the mushroom hummus, the Shakshuka eggs and the meatballs special. We were stuffed but loved every bit.

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE

Bring your Christmas Tree to the park this weekend to have it mulched!

PURPLE YAM!!!

Exciting news: Purple Yam opens today, Nov. 10th, 2009! We've been waiting for this, we have high hopes and expectations for this place. 

1314 Cortelyou Road

Some Links:

The Scoop

The Goods

The Site

SUSHI TATSU III

We finally tried this place on Friday and I have to say - not bad! I am very happy to report that there is a decent sushi place very close to 34 Crooke. The interior is fine - rather plain but clean and the staff was friendly. It's not a place to go if you are looking for ambiance. The delivery guys were coming and going at a pretty frantic pace and a lot of people came in while we ate to order take-out which leads me to believe that the majority of their business is take-out. I have certainly had better sushi BUT I've also had far worse sushi at MUCH more expensive restaurants. This place is a keeper - we'll be going here every now and then I'm sure.

Sushi Tatsu III

644 Flatbush Ave.
718-282-8890

OPEN HOUSE 11/8/09

Open house today, Sunday, Nov. 8th from 2:30 to 4:30. According to the Corcoran website, looks like 3 units are still available...

PEPPER'S JERK CHICKEN

Just 3 short blocks away from 34 Crooke is a little hole in the wall called Pepper's Jerk Chicken. We tried this place last night and it was very good. The place is not somewhere you go for the decor - it's take-out only and it's pretty run down, in fact, it's a little bit gross inside. The chicken, however, is why you go, not to be impressed with the interior decorating. The chicken was great. We got one with rice and beans and one without. The "dinner" comes with rice and beans and a few wilted leaves of lettuce that is supposed to be your salad. I was optimistic that this place would be good because there were people waiting in line for chicken. We had to wait about 10 minutes and by the time we got our order the wait had grown to over 15 minutes. It's quite inexpensive too. Another place that I'll be going back to, especially on nights like last night when I'm getting home late and I'm too tired to cook.

I'm a little confused if this place is called "Pepper's" or "Peppa's" I've seen it both ways. If someone can clarify that for me it would be nice.

738 Flatbush Ave. @ Woodruff

15 MINUTES

That's how long it takes to walk from my apartment in 34 Crooke down to Cortelyou Road at a leisurely pace. We walked around there a bit today - saw some great places that we want to try.

I am very excited to try VISIONS on Coney Island Ave. @ Cortelyou Rd. We didn't have time to eat there but we did go inside and looked at the menu. We've read good things about this place and it does look great, we definitely want to eat there soon.

We had a beer at SOLO BAR (no website - come on, how hard can it be?!)- this place just opened a few months ago. We liked it and there is a pool table. No beers on tap yet but that's coming soon they said - 1502 Cortelyou Rd. @ Marlborough.

We went into SYCAMORE too, it was very busy. I really like the vibe at this place and there is a great outdoor patio in the back.

The best find of the day, however, was the Taco Stand on the corner of Marlborough and Caton Ave. across the street from the Parade Grounds. They have some AWESOME tacos. $2 gets you a big taco with whatever meat you want, fresh lime, onions, cilantro, sour cream, guacamole and any kind of salsa. I LOVE THIS PLACE. They are there every Friday and Saturday.

AUGUST ALREADY?!

It's been far too long since my last post, sorry. Between work, moving, and general summer activities I haven't had time for the blog. I'll probably be very busy through the end of September but I'll try to be better about posting.

Thanks for the numerous people that have e-mailed me over the last several weeks. To answer "the" question - yes, we have closed and are living in the building and we love it. The building is not without it's problems (I think any new construction has kinks to work out) but overall everything is great and we are very happy.