G'Day Bklyn

Seersucker Serving Up Brunch

This is what I have been waiting for: BRUNCH at Seersucker. The one meal I can drag a couple of hungry children to and not feel too self conscious. Thank you Seersucker for getting this going, as pledged when you opened back in  May.

Fried chicken livers, a catfish po’ boy, biscuits and grits; these I can get behind on a sunny Sunday morning. And I am curious, if a little nervous, to try the Dixie Michelada, Dixie beer mixed with lime juice and hot sauce  – sounds like a hangover cure if ever there were one.

Brunch service begins tomorrow, Sunday, July 18, from 11am to 2pm. Seersucker is at 329 Smith Street, near President Street in Carroll Gardens: Phone: 718.422.0444.

Opa! It’s Greek Festival Time Again

It’s that time of the year again when I acknowledge my Greek heritage and schlep the family to the Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral in downtown Brooklyn for some fabulous food.

It’s all about the lamb and potatoes, sticky Greek baklava and kataifi and the loukoumades dripping with syrup, made by tireless Greek mothers and grandmothers lurking in our community. They work hard through this festival, feeding masses of Greeks and non-Greeks alike.

Every year, as I am noshing on lamb and missing my own mother and grandmother’s cooking, I vow to go to church more and become a part of Brooklyn’s Greek community. And then another year rolls by and so it goes. Thank goodness for the annual festival to serve as a reminder to me of where I came from - before the Australia and New York parts that is.

Oh, and if the Greek food and dancing doesn’t lure you, there are carnival rides and sideshows to captivate the kids and empty your pockets too.

The festival is at 64 Schermerhorn St. until June 13. It opens weekdays at 11am, and 1pm  Saturday until late, and Sunday 1pm to 4pm.

Southern-Style Seersucker Opens On Smith

There’s yet another new restaurant on Smith Street; Seersucker has just opened its doors with a Southern menu, complete with shrimp and grits and deviled eggs.

Seersucker Opens on Smith

I was in the nail salon next door this morning when an older lady walked in shaking her head and commenting on “the names they come up with for these places … seersucker,” she bemoaned.

Seersucker, of course, is a bumpy, woven cotton, often in blue and white stripes or checks, considered a summer mainstay for gentlemen’s suits, especially in the South, where the light fabric was favored in the hot, humid months.

Nevermind the name; it’s a nice-looking place and the menu will lure anyone in need of chicken and dumplings, pickled okra or pimento cheese. Personally, I want to try to the biscuit box:  3 or 6 biscuits served with seasonal jellies, preserves and butter.

Right now, the restaurant opens at 5.30pm for dinner but there are plans afoot to serve lunch and brunch down the track. Oh, and in the tradition of all popular neighborhood spots, Seersucker takes reservations only for groups of six or larger. It does, however,  buck the trend by accepting all major credit cards.

Seersucker takes the spot of Pita Grill at 329 Smith Street, near President Street in Carroll Gardens: Phone: 718.422.0444.

Bagels, Pizza for 3rd Ave. Wasteland

mmm bagelz

I am always happy to see my neck of the woods spruced up with things that will be useful to me, especially the spartan span of Third Avenue characterized by auto shops that I trek along twice a day to and from my children’s school.

Enter Tony Bagelz – the name alone makes me laugh out loud. Tony was a co-founder of Park Slope fixture La Bagel Delight on Seventh Avenue, honing his knowledge of the bagel business over the years. But as a local who seems to know everyone around, he wanted to do something for his neighborhood, and so his own bagel shop-slash-mini-mart was born.

The bagels are pretty good; the coffee is tasty; the service is super friendly and best of all for any clean freaks out there, it is nice and new and clean inside. Out back there is a large patio area with tables and umbrellas, which I can see becoming handy for local parents needing someplace to stop and feed their kids on the way home from nearby schools Rivendell and PS 372, The Children’s School.

Tony says he’s planning to install some sort of water feature outside, too.

The new spot is a stone’s throw from Crooked Tail Café but the vibe is so much cheerier, and comes complete with an ATM and last-minute necessities like milk, juice, toilet paper and Italian bread for the evening dinner, so I don’t see Crooked Tail snatching much business from Tony Bagelz.

Also on track to open very soon is a revived pizzeria on the corner of Third and Carroll streets, where Bella Maria was until a few months back before quietly pulling down the shutters and joining nearby landmark Monte’s Venetian Room, whose claim to fame was being the oldest restaurant in Brooklyn dating back to 1906.

New owners are moving into the Bella Maria digs, with a June 1^stopening slated. The boys who’ve been toiling to empty the restaurant and get it ready for its new life say the place will be called Benvenuto, which means “welcome” in Italian. They also say there will be an adjoining Italian ice joint, which is going to make my daily stroll up Carroll Street a living hell each summer day as my kids beg for an ice.

Still, it will be nice to see some life back on that corner.

Tony Bagelz is at 284 Third Avenue. The new pizza spot is on the corner of Carroll and Third and Crooked Tail Cafe is at 272 Third Avenue.