Dakota Kim is a writer and event producer. You can often find her buying wines at Dandelion, biking to Smorgasburg, shopping the farmers market in McGolrick, eating Van Leeuwen ice cream, and swimming in McCarren Pool.
Steve Seabury, Lisa Seabury and Jimmy Carbone host the annual NYC Hot Sauce Expo with the city’s most insane pepperheads. But not every year plays host to a Guinness World Book-breaking record of the most Carolina Reapers (the world’s hottest pepper) eaten.
This year, Wayne Algenio smashed the record by housing 119 grams of the wicked mouth-burner. To see the video and photos of the event, follow the jump.
When our intrepid group of cannabis cooks walks into the room, we think maybe, just maybe (just for a moment, from afar), that the green spread out across the tables is the real green.
Turns out it’s a more innocuous herb, but that brief moment of enchantment is enough to make us realize we’ve entered a magical land of possibilities. The land of cannabis cooking.
We’re guessing you, in your 420 haze at home, didn’t even know this class was happening in your backyard (at least, that’s what we call Williamsburg when we’re feeling less charitable) — but just barely. Just beyond the BQE lies the golden land called The Brooklyn Kitchen with its massive, well-stocked classroom, and if you’re willing to ford or float across, that’s where a razor, a shiny knife has taken up residence. Details on the next class after the jump. Continue reading →
Kings County Supper for Queens and Paupers is a new gluten-free popup run by Molly Franklin, a celiac chef. Franklin had been doing a five-month popup at Cake Shop in the Lower East Side when the opportunity to do a popup at Café Ghia in Bushwick arose. Franklin’s next popup is a benefit for Say Yes to 722, a group working for affordable artist space in Williamsburg.
I recently got a beautiful tattoo of my favorite flower done by Three Kings’ talented Amanda Rodriguez, who specializes in flowers. Amanda lives in Greenpoint and until recently worked at Evil and Love. She’s recently moved to Three Kings and I’m excited to see what she does there.
I was impressed with her floral work and I also really enjoyed hanging out with her, so we chatted about how a portrait artist made the transition to tattoo art.
More after the jump. Follow her on Instagram at @amandatattoos.
Photo by Rima Brindamour, courtesy of Brooklyn Winery
Brooklyn Winery owner Brian Leventhal is yet another resident with a business in Williamsburg, who makes its northern neighbor of Greenpoint his home. Leventhal and John Stires are the innovators behind the beautiful urban winery and event space, which they started after they visited a winery in New Jersey.
Greenpointers chatted with Brian about the challenges of owning a business that depends not only on the harvest and transport of grapes, but also on the whims of Brooklyn drinkers.
Haven’t heard of Girl Party? You’re missing out, Greenpoint.
The Greenpoint-based group throws parties, dinners and events in Brooklyn, like this alternative Valentine’s Day dinner and the in-vogue yoga parties of our generation (in case you didn’t know from trips to neighborhood spots like New Love City and Maha Rose, yoga isn’t yoga these days unless it’s accompanied by things like tarot card readings, sage smudging, crystals, reiki, aromatherapy, past-life regression or witchy spells).
Together with Cooking With Claire, a local chef pop-up by Claire Phelan, and Power Plants Herbals, an herbalist company founded by Ray Edwards, Girl Party is throwing a dinner and discussion called “Eat Your Grief” as part of its Second Servings series.
Hannah Dilworth may own Williamsburg shop Concrete + Water, but her heart belongs to Greenpoint, where she lives with her fiancé and their dog Henry.
Hannah’s shop is a beautiful, stylish sight to behold, with gorgeous, well-curated items, from the perfect summer bikini to the most current pair of sunnies.
A recent panel at the shop, sponsored by Made Real Vodka and moderated by its founder Nicole Williams, featured a fun and lively group of female North Brooklyn entrepreneurs. As would-be entrepreneurs sipped a spicy honey-vodka cocktail, they listened to Hannah, Victorian Deych, Kilee Hughes and Lenore Champagne Beirne discussing the confidence required to be your own boss in a hostile economic climate. Afterwards, we chatted with Hannah about the event, her shop, collaborating with her partner, and how she turned her passion into a lifestyle.
We’ve all had that moment on the platform when we just couldn’t take it anymore. The G train wasn’t just late — it was non-existent. As in, its existence was doubted by anyone who took the train after 10:00 a.m. and before 3:00 p.m. You were so late to your class/art modeling gig/poor excuse for a job, you started having thoughts about jumping on the train tracks with the rats just to alleviate the pain of your broke life.
To add insult to injury, once you got on the G, the man next to you was jamming so hard on his headphones that his flailing appendages were certainly very definitely in your personal space. Continue reading →
Upstate Stock’s new flagship store and café. All photos courtesy of Upstate Stock and Bram Robinson.
Upstate Stock, a clothing and accessories store, opened a large flagship store on March 12th at 2 Berry Street, next to Berry Park. The store includes a coffeeshop and plentiful seating space, with laptops allowed, according to owner Bram Robinson.
Coffee isn’t just a hashtag on social media — it’s an outright online phenomenon (peep these analytics for coffee if you don’t believe us). With that many likes, The Coffee & Tea Festival at the Brooklyn Expo Center was a crowded event, featuring 60 exhibitors and drawing fans of both divinely-caffeinated beverages.
Australian companies were a significant presence at the event, with Williamsburg’s Toby’s Estate featuring the best coffee at the festival. Continue reading →
