Samantha Hew and Anthony Piliaskas believe in evolving spaces and snacks. From Bembe to 3 Roots, both have successfully sustained businesses while layering the neighborhood with innovative adaptations. Their newest collaboration, Vittles Cafe (94 Franklin St), is a vibrant testament to 9 years of friendship and belief that food should be positive and rooted in love and community.
Nestled at Oak and Franklin, the treats – vittles – deliver scrumptious aromas and flavor. Vegans, omnivores, health nuts, and meat-ers will want to indulge in the mouthwatering menu and caffeine addicts will be delighted by the drinks list. Highlights include Toby’s Estate espresso, egg & cheese on a biscuit, Australian hot milo, cornmeal rolls, Thai vegan banh mi, Barista’s specialty, kaya butter toast and potato curry puffs. Continue reading →
Until February, Triskelion Arts shared a space deep inside a three-story, brick warehouse on 118 North 11th Street in Williamsburg, across from Mable’s Smokehouse and, more famously, on the same block as the ever-expanding Brooklyn Brewery.
“We were in a landmarked building, surprisingly, even though the building was falling apart,” explains artistic and executive director Abby Bender. One of the original co-founders, Abby is wearing navy coveralls and has a loop of keys at her waist that jangle as we walk around the new Triskelion building, recently opened for business on 106 Calyer Street in Greenpoint.
For the past fifteen years, Triskelion has been a place where anyone could go see performances by emerging artists, rent affordable rehearsal space, take fun classes (hoop dance, Poi, martial arts), and get involved with theater. In 2014 alone, over 15,000 hours of rehearsal time were used in the studios, and 128 different companies were part of the programming, which included three open-submission festivals. Continue reading →
An excellent espresso is a cafe’s best business card. On Sunday October 2, 2011, Rebecca from I love Greenpoint, Mike & Charlie from Brooklynauts and I tasted a total of 19 espressos from every cafe* in Greenpoint in order to determine the champion of the Greenpointers 2011 Espresso Tour. The density of outstanding espressos in this neighborhood was impressive and made the tour difficult to judge, but we have a winner!
Each cafe was notified and generously donated 3 espressos. We judged using the following score sheet adapted from the World Barista Championship:
TASTE EVALUATION OF ESPRESSO: • COLOR OF CREMA (hazelnut, dark brown, reddish reflection) 0/10 ___ • CONSISTENCY & PERSISTENCE OF CREMA* 0/10 ___ • TASTE BALANCE (harmonious balance of sweet/acidic/bitter) 0/10 ___ • TACTILE BALANCE (full bodied, round, smooth) 0/10 ___ • TEMPERATURE** (hot but not too hot to drink) 0/10 ___ 0/50 ___
BEVERAGE PRESENTATION: • CORRECT ESPRESSO CUPS USED (60-90mL w/handle) YES/NO • SERVED WITH ACCESSORIES (spoon, napkin & water) YES/NO /2 ___
After judges’ individual scores were added, the highest possible score was 156. Results ranged between 97-142. (Only the top 3 scores are revealed.)
*We were unable to contact Ashbox and the cafe was closed on Sunday.
