BSR_p053

BSM04282016

APRIL 29 - MAY 5, 2016 • BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP 53 8818 3RD AVE, BROOKLYN, NY 11209 SALE STARTS FRI. 04/29/16 SALE ENDS THU. 05/05/16 FINLANDIA SWISS CHEESE $699 BOARS HEAD LB. LB. $699 $599 OPEN 7 DAYS AT 5 A.M. MON-FRI TILL 8 P.M. SAT - 8PM, SUN - 4PM 718-748-6626 $599 $599 $699 LB. $599 AMERICAN CHEESE HOmE COOkED ROAST BEEf $699 $399 wITH THIS COUPON. SALE ENDS 05/05/16 wITH THIS COUPON. SALE ENDS 05/05/16 HOMEMADE CHICKEN SALAD GENOA SALAMI fRESH BAkED vIRgINIA HAM STORE BAkED TURKEY BREAST BOARS HEAD HAM SIX BAgELS ONE DOZEN BAgELS LB. LB. $799 LB. LB. LB. H&L HOT BAGELS 1 LB minimum DANISH ATHLETIC CLUB 735 65th Street Brooklyn, NY 11220 718 748-7844 17TH OF May After Parade Party Sunday, May 15, 2016 ”Scandinavian Buffet Dinner” Doors Open at 1:00 pm Food Service Starts at 3:00 pm $30 per seat Children Ages 10-15 $10 Ages 9 and under - FREE MUSIC BY Jeanne Eriksson Andersen & Smørgasbandet For Reservations: Contact Christine at 718 748-7844, 718 442-1881 or via email [email protected] (Call for your Reservation Today!) Checks made to the order of Danish Athletic Properties Inc Mail to Christine Thorsen, 708 Jewett Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10314. Our 124th Year of Service to the Scandinavian Community BROOBKRLOYONK MLYEND IMAE GDRIAO UGPR O• UJAPN • U MAARRYC 3H0 6- F- EMBARRUCAHR 1Y2 5, ,2 2001144 arts & dining BY HELEN KLEIN [email protected] Annual Taste of the Ridge boasts food and fun BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Anna Spivak Lockyard’s “Seattle Sound” Hot dog won People’s Choice at the event. Prospect Park, 171 East Drive Entrances near Parkside/Ocean Avenue or Lincoln Road/Ocean Avenue 718-462-0010 www.lakesidebrooklyn.com Friday-Saturday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday: 1 a.m. to 8 p.m. See more reviews at homereporter.com ▲ dining out ▲ BY HEATHER J. CHIN [email protected] Bluestone Café definitely nails the first commandment of real estate: location, location, location. Sitting next to Prospect Park’s new Lakeside ice rink and outdoor community space, the restaurant is a relaxing oasis with floor-to-ceiling views of skaters enjoying the park’s winter wonderland. What makes Bluestone really stand out, however, is its menu of Brooklyn-inspired casual cuisine, created by Executive Chef Andy Seidel and designed to satiate any palate. Thus far, his ambitious goal of pleasing the masses as much as possible has met with some success. Case in point: both the Three Grilled Cheese and Kale sandwich ($7.50) and the Mac & Cheese ($5) have been popular sellers among kids and adults alike. The sandwich comes on two thick slices of buttered and toasted bread and features a perfectly gooey-yet-not-messy combination of three types of cheese and still-crisp leaves of kale and tomato slices. The Mac and Cheese is equally impressive with its cheesiness-balance, providing more than enough cheese without being overwhelming, and comes served with or without a light topping of breadcrumbs. There is more than just cheese to choose from, of course. Start with a Soup of the Day ($6.50) or try the current in-season regular, Butternut Squash and Coconut Milk Bisque ($7.50). Dotted with pumpkin seeds, the crunch and color of the seeds juxtaposes beautifully against the soup’s gorgeous burnt orange color and thickly creamy texture. The Black Pepper Chicken Wings ($8.50) is also a study in juxtaposed flavors, with the strong and warming kick of black pepper paired with a dip of cool and sweet blue cheese dressing. Bluestone’s entrees come in the form of hearty sandwiches. The Bluestone Original Burger ($7.50) is a char-grilled hamburger served with pickles, Bibb lettuce and special Lake Sauce, served on a Brooklyn-made potato roll. Made to order, the burger meat still retains a residual smokiness that, combined with the soft bun and crunchy vegetables, makes for perfect bites, especially with the Lake Sauce’s pickly tang. Also available as sliders, the burger can be served with cheese, bacon or thin cut onion rings for an additional $2 each. Vegetarians also have a delicious option in the Grilled & Roasted Market Vegetables sandwich ($8.50), which can be served with or without the herbed goat cheese, although the light and creamy mixture is an amazing and surprisingly refreshing accompaniment to the seasonal vegetables, which on our visit included artichokes, eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes. Gluten-free breads will soon be available, as well. Taco lovers can also rejoice with the Wonton Mahi Mahi Tacos ($8.50) – a trio of crunchy wonton taco shells stuffed with a sizable chunk of seasoned fish, shredded red cabbage, scallions, a dollop of sour cream, and a thin slice of jalapeño—which provides a medium amount of heat but can also easily be removed if it’s too much for you. Finally, top off your meal with a homemade chocolate chip cookie, oatmeal raisin cookie or one of the many pies, cakes and ice cream from local Brooklyn businesses such as Robicelli’s and Blue Marble Ice Cream (up to $7.50). Then wash it all down with a Hot Spiced Cider, Moccachino, Espresso, Latte, Coffee, Hot Chocolate or Lake Swirl ($2 to $5.50). A destination restaurant in more ways than one, Bluestone Café also features three party rooms and will soon add rooftop dining and weekday service. BLUESTONE CAFÉ Skating up an appetite at Bluestone Café BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Heather J. Chin Executive Chef Andy Seidel with Bluestone Original Burger Sliders. See more reviews at www.homereporter.com THURSDAYS com Specialty! Entertainment 11209 Walk into the Bay Ridge Bakery, and all your senses are immediately engaged. Glistening glass cases display elegant cakes and rows of gorgeous pastries, cookies and numerous other sweet treats – an immediate call to the taste buds to be on high alert. They will be immediately satis ed as you arrive at the cash register, where a bowl of cookies or other delights awaits, so that anyone stopping in can sample one of the bakery’s specialties. As owner and pastry chef Nick Nikolopoulos stresses, you don’t have to buy a thing. Providing the samples is just one more thing this community-minded merchant – who is Bay Ridge-born-andbred -- does for his neighbors. “To me, it’s not just a business; it’s my neighborhood,” he said. But, as our sampling of Nikolopoulos’ engaging specialties makes clear, one bite and you will likely crave more. Everything we tried was fresh and rich, made in house with the best ingredients whose avors sing through. And, whatever it is you want, Nikolopoulos – who was trained at the French Culinary Institute – is likely to offer it. “We cater to a lot of different cultures,” he noted. “We have American layer cakes, French and Italian pastries, as well as Greek desserts.” Among the specialties of this 42-yearold, family-run bakery are New York Cheesecake ($22 with strawberries) and French Cheesecake ($18), the latter a lightas air version of the former, with a bottom layer of chocolate cake. Both are incredibly satisfying, with the New York style cheesecake seeming to melt in the mouth, as the French cheesecake convinces you to take just one more bite, then another, and another… The cakes were glorious, glistening confections. We sampled the German Chocolate Cake ($4 a slice), which was comprised of rich layers of chocolate cake, iced with dark chocolate and separated by a thick layer of chocolate butter cream. The spicy Carrot Cake ($3.50 a slice) encapsulated the essence of carrot, with grace notes of spice, enhanced by cream cheese frosting. The Tiramisu ($4 a slice) was intensely coffee- avored – as rich as it was addictive. Also downright addictive were the bitesize European pastries ($18 a pound) that included such treats as chocolate covered cannoli and baklava, éclairs and rainbow cookies. Each morsel was a delight, and yes, we ate more than we should have, and enjoyed every bite. And, speaking of addictive, Bay Ridge Bakery’s Greek pastries de nitely ll the bill. We tried the Baklava, the Katai and the Galactoboureko ($3 a piece for each) and delighted in the honey-steeped confections, relishing the nuts, the crumbly lo and the light cinnamon in ection in the Baklava and the Katai (the latter topped with shredded lo) and the creamy custard lling of the Galactoboureko. Besides what’s available to customers who stop by the bakery, Nikolopoulos also has an extensive custom cake business. While his most elaborate cake to date was one shaped like the U.S. Capitol that he created for the birthday of Congressmember Carolyn Maloney, Nikolopoulos loves creating gorgeous cakes for special occasions, and enjoys the challenge. “We can do something that looks expensive without the cost,” he said, noting that, once you get past the dramatic appearance, quality is the key. That, he stressed, is “What people are going to be left with when they cut the cake.” Cake and cookies and pastry, oh my! BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Helen Klein Bay Ridge Bakery pastry chef and owner Nick Nikolopoulos displays a cheesecake and a fruitcake. BAY RIDGE BAKERY 7805 Fifth Avenue Brooklyn NY 11209 718-238-0014 Bayridgebakery.com Open every day, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. See more reviews at homereporter.com 11223 BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK & ANNA SPIVAK [email protected] Over 30 of the nabe’s fi nest restaurants served up their share at the Taste of the Ridge, held in the Aldo Bruschi Auditorium of St. Patrick’s Catholic Academy on Sunday, April 24. Now in its 20th year, the all-youcan eat event was the brainchild of Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, then a parish priest at St. Patrick’s and a trained chef, and chef Donald Penza, who went to school at St. Patrick’s, and it has grown since its inception, adding new participants each year to the roster of tried-and true favorites. The yearly afternoon of food and fun raises funds for both the school and the parish. Exhibitors included Aero, Arirang, Campania, Cappuccino Café, Cathy’s Place, Chadwick’s, Gino’s, Grenhhouse Café, Ho’Brah, Istanbul Kitchen, Las Margaritas, Leo’s Casa Calamari, Mike’s Deli, Molte Bene, Nature’s Grill, Offshore Restaurant, Paneantico, Ponte Vecchio, Positano, Salty Dog, Sancho, Sapporo, Sofi a’s, Shangri-La, Skinfl ints, The Kettle Black, The Lockyard, The Wicked Monk, Vesuvio, and Xin, among others. Of those, we tried as much as we could fi t, starting with some of Ho’Brah’s Mexican lasagna. The west-coast inspired dish was a spicy spin on an Italian classic, boasting beef, beans and cheese, artfully folded in traditional pasta sheets. Next, we stopped by Lockyard – which, alongside Ho’Brah and Kettle Black, is owned by event organizer Tommy Casatelli – to sample their “Seattle Sound” hotdog. The dish, awarded People’s Choice at the event, boasted bold fl avors and an unexpected combination of toppings like RC Cola Caramelized onions, cream cheese, banana peppers and everything bagel seeds, all topped with a little bit of Sriracha aioli. Needless to say, it was one of our top choices as well. A fi erce competitor, however, was Gino’s chicken parm and stuffed shells, which along with complimenting each other well, featured all the perfect cheesy, saucy fl avors one comes to expect from a hearty Italian dish. For the fi rst time in the event’s history, plates were judged by Celebrity Chef Vincent Tropepe, who awarded Best Dish to Istanbul Kitchen for its Lamb Gyro and Homemade Hummus, with Second Best Dish going to Tuscany Grill for its Sweet Sausage in Grape Sauce. Best Dessert was awarded to Leske’s Bakery for their Raspberry Bar and CEBU took home second place for their Tiramisu. “We’re really so blessed here with great parishioners that help keep events like this going,” said Rev. Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, who credited the event’s success to its organizers. “So many people are involved. I’m just a fi gurehead – they do all the hard work and they’ve been the legs. This is an outstanding turnout and it’s a great event for a great community. The restaurants here in Bay Ridge are just phenomenal.” Organizers were proud of some of this year’s changes, which included more seating and a fi rst-of-its-kind wine and beer tasting. “We’re very happy with how this year turned out,” said Casatelli. “We tried to do things a little differently and we’re very happy with the results.” Fellow organizer Romeo Petric agreed. “We’re happy and excited to keep this going,” he said.


BSM04282016
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