Hey, Greenpoint! I know you’re always looking for that history fix, and North Brooklyn has you covered. There are several wonderful history events coming up this weekend and in the next few weeks! But, at any time, our lovely little ‘nabe is jam-packed with fabulous institutions where you can dive into an exploration of what has shaped our city, from sugar, to garbage, to oysters! The array is so gloriously wide, it helps remind us that everything is history, and there’s a history of everything!
City Reliquary
Perhaps the best place to learn about “the history of everything” in New York City, is our very own City Reliquary (370 Metropolitan Avenue). The museum’s collection of artifacts and ephemera includes everything from vintage seltzer bottles to Dodgers fan merchandise and memorabilia from the 1939 World’s Fair. The museum also features community collections and rotating exhibits. The current exhibit, NYC Trash!: Past, Present and Future, is on view until April 29, 2018. The Reliquary will host a screening of the film Canners THIS SATURDAY 1/27 @ 7pm.
The Williamsburg Art and Historical Center
The next day, head over to The Williamsburg Art and Historical Center (135 Broadway). The museum is housed in the landmarked Kings County Savings Bank Building, and has been supporting arts and culture in Williamsburg since 1996.The 19th Annual Salon Show is on view until February 18, 2018. THIS SUNDAY 1/29 @ 2pm Salon Members will hold special travel presentations. Continue reading →
Zona Rosa brought their taco A game at TASTE 2016.
Last year’s TASTE Williamsburg Greenpoint was nothing short of epic—we left dizzy with tequila courtesy of 21 Greenpoint, and our bellies full of tasty tacos, pulled pork sandwiches, pizza, and other delectable bites from North Brooklyn restaurants. The fest is an ideal way to sample the range of flavors at a number of different restaurants, all in one go. Going strong in its 8th year, this year’s event on September 17th from 1-5pm andis taking over the Williamsburg waterfront (90 Kent Ave). In addition to the more than 40 food and drink vendors, they’ll again host live music, demonstrations and other fun activities for everyone. TASTE is put on by our own North Brooklyn community center The Firehouse, so the proceeds go to benefit the renovation of the former Engine Co. 212 Firehouse for community activity. The Firehouse will provide a permanent home to neighborhood social justice organizations for continued advocacy and direct services to Williamsburg and Greenpoint.
Greenpointers readers (that’s you) can get 40% off your tickets by following this link. And it’s a sweet deal—$21 gets you 4 tastes and 2 drinks, $36 gets you 8 tastes and 4 drinks.
♦ SummerScreen: Donnie Darko @ McCarren Park, 6pm, FREE, 16th anniversary celebration of Donnie Darko. Gates open at 6pm, grunge-infused rockers Sharkmuffin plays the TIDAL Rising Stage at 7:30pm, and the film starts at sundown, More info # Banned Countries Dinner Series: Sudan Edition @ Franklin Guesthouse (214 Franklin St), 6:30pm, $125, Celebrate Sudanese food and culture by enjoying a family-style feast inspired by Omer Eltigani, author of the forthcoming cookbook The Sudanese Kitchen. Multiple courses, unlimited house wine and vegetarian options are available, Buy tix ♫ WHAT NOW? Sessions: The Sifer, Sakinah Iman, Paco G Train Bandit @ Terra Firma (119 Ingraham St), 8pm, $5, Fusion of the Hip Hop cypher and the Jazz jam session. Emcees bring your bars. Singers bring your melodies. Musicians bring your instruments. Everyone bring your vibe and let’s rock out, RSVP * Microdosing Workshop: Sacred Plants to Enhance Mind-Body-Spirit @ Narayana Integrative Center (191 Nassau Ave), 8:15pm, $20, Learn how you can feel better, increase energy, improve focus, inspire creativity, balance mood, relax, sleep well, and expand awareness with sacred plant microdosing, More info
THURSDAY 7/20
# American Food and Immigration Policy @ MOFAD (62 Bayard St), 6:30pm, $20, An evening of thought-provoking discussion, followed by an informal reception featuring light refreshments from Brooklyn Brewery and Sonia Perez, a street cart vendor and member of Street Vendor Project’s Leadership Council, More info ♦ Superhero Figure Drawing @ Brooklyn Art Library (28 Frost St), 7pm, $10, Practice your cape drawing skills, with everything from pen to graphite — but leave your kryptonite at home, Buy tix * 3D VHS Festival @ The City Reliquary (370 Metropolitan Ave), 7pm, $10, In the garden, the Museum of Interesting Things takes us back to a future that the past never saw coming! See excerpts from movies–not just on VHS, but 3D VHS, More info ♦ Jonathas de Andrade Presents Bodanzky and Senna’s Iracema @ Light Industry (155 Freeman St), 7:30pm, $8, Inspired by neorealism as well as the films of John Cassavetes and Jean Rouch, the directors constructed Iracema by enacting a road-movie scenario inside everyday settings, combining artifice and documentary to yield a richly atmospheric parable whose lessons still maintain a grim relevance, More info ♫ DJ Questlove Presents: Bowl Train @ Brooklyn Bowl (61 Wythe Ave), 11:30pm, $10, Buy tix Continue reading →
♦ New Paintings by Self-Indulgence @ South 4th Bar (90 South 4th St), 6pm, FREE, All new paintings by Self-Indulgence featuring the writing styles of lengendary graffiti artist OUI, More info # Sex on Stage: Creative Activism Dinner @ New Women Space (188 Woodpoint Rd), 7pm, by Donation, Community potluck discussion with feminist activists who are using the performing arts to educate the public about sexuality, Buy tix * Royal Headache @ House of Vans (25 Franklin St), 7pm, FREE, Hell yeah good times and rad new memories with Sheer Mag, Downtown Boys, RSVP
THURSDAY 7/13
♫ Spain-Brooklyn Music Series @ Nowadays (56-06 Cooper Ave), 6pm, $15, A celebration of the best independent music from Spain and Brooklyn with El Guincho, Extraperlo, Noia and Turnbull Green (DJ set), Buy tix # Pizza Night @ Archestratus (160 Huron St), 7pm, $2, Pick up to ten of twenty available toppings to create the personal pizza of your dreams! $18 per pie day-of ($2 to RSVP). We have gluten-free crusts, too! RSVP * Resist: Learning from the Young Lords at [email protected]@UnionDocs (322 Union Ave), 7:30pm, $10, Approaching questions of how the Young Lords fight for economic, racial and social justice has changed in the present day. Discuss how the community based in the Southside of Williamsburg views and continues their work today, Buy tix ^ Lips, Teeth, Tongue: An Evening of Food Sex Lit @ The William Vale Hotel (111 North 12th St), 8pm, by Donation, Salacious evening of readings to tickle your tongue, your brain and your funny bone. From New York’s seductive burlesque performers to its hungry food editors, our readers are experts in the sensory pleasures of taste, More info ♫ Panorama x Working Women @ Black Flamingo (168 Borinquen Pl), 10pm, FREE, With Gene Tellem b2b Lis Dalton and Barbie Bertisch. Chance to win a pair of 3-Day VIP passes to Panorama with RSVP plus a pair of passes will be given out at the show, RSVP Continue reading →
Taste mezcal, dip an orange slice into salt made with worms, and enjoy.
Thursday night, the Museum of Food and Drink (62 Bayard St), a Greenpoint-based non-profit dedicated to examining culinary culture, was alive with the sound of crickets. Except by “sound of crickets” we actually mean the sound of insect delicacies being sampled by guests. MOFAD recently launched a learning series named Spring Spirits, which takes a deep look into special spirits, the process of creating them, and the food that goes along with them. Their first event gave the spotlight to a spirit that is becoming quite poplar: tequila’s smokier, more artisanal oriented cousin, mezcal. Before the tasting portion of the event began, Danny Mena, a top-rated Mexican chef at Hecho En Dumbo, spoke bout mezcal’s fascinating history, which dates back 200 years. He spoke about the process of making mezcal, the life of an agave plant (it’s nocturnal, like many North Brooklynites) and the different regions of Oaxaca that produce mezcal. Mena also discussed ancient traditions of Mexican food, which include learning to love eating insects and the many uses of corn.
The second half of the event involved tastings from three different mezcal makers and munching on crunchy bug-topped bites. The insects that were left in tact to eat as-is were a little hard to swallow, but most of the tasters could get behind the insect salsa as well as sal de gusano, which is a salt made with worms that you are encouraged to dip an orange slice in—definitely a few steps up from an ordinary chaser. Continue reading →
Since rosé has (somewhat proudly) ventured into basic terrority, you might be looking to spice things up this summer drinking season. Perhaps you could learn more about smoky mezcal and…insects! This Thursday May 4th, just in time for Cinco de Mayo, the Museum of Food and Drink (62 Bayard St.) has partnered up with the Mexican Cultural Institute for its first Spring Spirits series that features Oxacan food and drink. During this event you will learn about the production of mezcal and its variety of flavor profiles as well as the vital part that insects play in Mexican cuisine. The event will include tastes of mezcal and little bites —that may or may not feature insects. Part of the proceeds will go to support the educational initatives of the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York so your newfound education on a delicious type of alcohol and creepy crawlers will benefit others.
Tickets ($60) can be bought here and each ticketholder will also get $1 off drinks at Petes Candy Store (709 Lorimer St).
Somewhere in the aughts, Dave Arnold—an “adventurer and writer with a dash of mad scientist”—got the idea in his head that what New York and the world really needed was a museum specifically dedicated to food and drink. Think about it, what do most of us do throughout the day? We eat and drink. Where do we meet our loved ones? At bars or while grabbing something at a restaurant. In every culture, the very act of breaking bread with someone instantly forms a bond between those sitting at the table. And yet, there wasn’t a museum discussing this cultural aspect, or the technological aspect of our food system, or the marketing aspect of the industry.
Dave worked on the idea, getting so far as to build a business plan and having a goal for the first exhibit, but nothing could really get off the ground. Until 2011, when a lawyer taking weekend cooking class at French Culinary Institute—now the International Culinary Center—sat in on Dave giving a talk about this museum idea and decided he wanted to get in on it. That lawyer, Peter Kim, is now the Executive Director of the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD)—Dave is still heavily involved—and we, as you’ve probably gathered, are the neighborhood lucky enough to have MOFAD in our midst.Continue reading →
[sponsored] It’s Friday, I’m (Not) in Love: An Anti-Valentine’s Day Party Friday, February 12th, 10pm Littlefield, 622 Degraw St $5, Buy tix Leave the expensive brunches and Airbnb staycations to the lovebirds! Free yourself from the chains of Valentine’s Day this year and celebrate those who fly solo. With tunes from DJ Gordon Gloom, $5-8 drink specials, and cheap admission, you’ll spend way less than you would on flowers, chocolates, and other stuff that those “happy” people in relationships do.
WEDNESDAY 2/10 * Spring Pinball League Kickoff Party @ Sunshine Laundromat & Pinball (860 Manhattan Ave) 8pm, FREE, Start off the new season at Sunshine’s newly opened bar, RSVP ♥ Nitehawk Naughties @ Nitehawk Cinema (136 Metropolitan Ave) 7:30pm, $15, Celebrate Valentine’s with a 35mm presentation of Luis Buñuel’s Belle de Jour, More info
THURSDAY 2/11 * Glass Etching & Mixology @ Brooklyn Craft Co (61 Greenpoint Ave) 7pm, $65, Make your own custom barware, then learn how to fill it in style, More info * Natural Perfumery Workshop @ Dusty Rose Vintage (251 Greenpoint Ave) 7pm, $75, Learn the natural perfumer’s craft in this bespoke scent-creating class with Hi Wildflower, More info ☺ Cartoon Monsoon @ Annoyance Theater (367 Bedford Ave)9pm, $5, Comedians Joe Rumrill and Mary Houlihan invite you to a cavalcade of original costumed characters, animations, and sketches, More info
WEDNESDAY 1/06 * Twin Peaks Bingo @ Videology (308 Bedford Ave) 9pm, FREE, Gather with fellow Twin Peaks lovers and play a damn fine game of bingo, More info ☺ Funhouse Comedy @ Pete’s Candy Store (709 Lorimer St) 10pm, FREE, With Peggy O’Leary, Wendi Starling, DC Benny, Will Miles, and more, RSVP
THURSDAY 1/07 ♦ “KTHXBAI” Opening Reception @Idio Gallery (976 Grand St) 6pm, FREE, Brooklyn Vegan presents a memorial retrospective for beloved music photographer Chris La Putt, RSVP # Flavors, Intact @ Museum of Food & Drink (62 Bayard St) 6:30pm, $20, Learn about Slow Food’s Ark of Taste, an international project to preserve culinary culture and biodiversity, More info
City Reliquary
The Williamsburg Art and Historical Center
WEDNESDAY 7/19
THURSDAY 7/20
WEDNESDAY 7/12
THURSDAY 7/13
