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It’s the economy, stupid

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People vote with their hip pockets. As an Australian American living back in Australia these days, I watched the US election results unfold with disbelief but also with clarity on a few things. The economy trumps (sorry) everything.

If you don’t have a job and can’t buy groceries; if your cost of living is rising while your wage is stagnant; or if you think foreigners are succeeding while you’re struggling, apparently you vote for a trust fund billionaire with The Apprentice credits over a pro-choice woman of colour without an economic solution you can relate to.

The prospect of a better economic future than Americans feel they have now was enough to get people to the polls, and for them to overlook Trump’s dirty track record.

Remember, he’s the guy who incited insurrection at the US Capitol in 2021; lied; bullied; politicised the Justice Department and the FBI; abused the pardon power; obstructed investigations; fired whistleblowers and truth tellers; profited from his presidency by refusing to divest from his international business empire; cosied up to dictators; and has worn countless accusations of sexual impropriety, among other cons.

But here we are. It’s the economy. stupid, a phrase coined by Jim Carville, a strategist in Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 US presidential election.

With all the commentary on the latest election, it became apparent that no-one in Washington is fired for spending too much (moreso for spending too little) and no one votes for a Scrooge. Notably, the word ‘spending’ came up only three times in the Trump/Harris debate, and even then it was only associated with Ukraine.

It’s always easy to see things in retrospect: the economy was always going to hold the key.

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Van Horn Dishes Up Mean Chicken Sandwich

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There are certain foods I love the idea of, but which never really live up to my expectations in their execution; scallops, for instance. Don’t even get my husband started on how many times I have ordered scallops in a restaurant and then been disappointed.

Fried chicken is another. I love the sound of chicken soaked in buttermilk and fried to a crunchy, well-salted shell with tender chicken within, but am frequently underwhelmed, even at restaurants I count among my favorites. It’s me, it’s not you, I want to tell them.

Finally, though, I may have met the fried chicken I always think I am going to get. It came in a huge, thick portion piled on a toasted bun with red slaw at the just-opened Van Horn Sandwich Shop on Court Street, Cobble Hill.

I don’t usually write about places after only one visit but an hour after finishing that sandwich, and I am still thinking about biting into the delicious fried chicken. A pickle and some tastily dressed greens come with the simple sandwich. There are a bunch of other Southern-style sandwiches, including a cornmeal dredged catfish, smoked pulled pork, a blt and a vegetarian version with smoked sweet potato strips, a plt. Plus, there’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich ideal for kids, and for their parents, a beer and cocktail list.

I have to return with a group next time to justify ordering a Pimms Cup and sides of hush puppies, mac and cheese, roasted beets and collard greens.

Van Horn Sandwich Shop is a collaboration between architect Jacob Van Horn and chef Rick Hauchman, who both grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and crossed paths again years later in Brooklyn. While Southern at heart and in menu, the eatery has a clean, modern feel with high bentwood stools and plenty of bar space so that eating alone, as I did, doesn’t feel conspicuous. It’s also entrenched in the neighborhood by sourcing ingredients from local producers including Caputo’s Bakery and Paisano’s Meat Market.

Until now, the location at 231 Court Street has seemed somewhat cursed. It previously housed Café Ribant, which formerly went by the name Café Mei Mei, and never really took off as either. And it was Jill’s before that. I’m rooting for this sandwich shop, and I think all bodes well, especially with much-acclaimed newcomer Brucie across the road, Strong Place and Karloff down the street and stalwarts like Quercy and Sam’s Restaurant just a  stone’s throw away.

Van Horn Sandwich Shop is at 231 Court Street, between Warren + Baltic streets.; phone: 718.596.9707.

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Brucie In Business

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Brucie, the new Italian restaurant-market on Court Street, is finally open and in spite of my early hesitation at the name, the menu looks worthy of a few tries. That, and the fact that while I loitered outside peeking in this morning not only did a local walk by and tell me the food is terrific but the people inside waved and a guy, who turned out to be the chef-owner’s boyfriend, came out and chatted enthusiastically about the new business.

I’m loving the sound of the panelle sandwich with ricotta, vinegar peppers and honey for $9, the Finnociano Salami sandwich with fig mustard, provolone and fennel slaw at $10 and the roasted cauliflower lasagna with hazelnuts and pesto at $11. As is the rampant trend, produce and meats are locally sourced and the menu changes according to daily availability. Whatever is cooking, for example chicken parmigiana, will also be available to take home from the mini market set-up. 

The restaurant opened ominously last week during the now-infamous Brooklyn tornado touchdown. But in good spirits, the guy I chatted to today figured that was a good omen. I already like the cheerful buzz of Brucie and will be trying it soon!

The hours for now are Tuesday to Sunday 5pm to 10pm but once they are up and running, I’m told there are plans to open all day, including brunch. Brucie replaces the defunct sushi joint Cube 63 at 234 Court Street, near the corner of Kane Street. Here’s an example of the menu posted on the website at www.brucienyc.com.

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Seersucker Serving Up Brunch

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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.

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Southern-Style Seersucker Opens On Smith

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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.

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Bagels, Pizza for 3rd Ave. Wasteland

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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 1stopening 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.

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JB’s Burger Opens on Smith

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Provence en Boite’s newest spin-off a couple of doors down on Smith Street promises delicious burgers, hot dogs nestled in baguettes, salads and ice cream, sort of a laid back, faster food version of the bistro that moved into the neighborhood from Bay Ridge a few years ago.

Given the apparent success of Oaxaca Tacos nearby, which is also working on its own spin-off for 4th Ave., near Carroll Street, JB’s Burger should do a roaring trade too. Named for Executive Chef and co-owner Jean-Jacques Bernat, who with his wife Leslie Bernat, runs Provence en Boite, the newly opened JB’s Burger takes over the space once occupied by Patois, and most recently by La Petite Provence.

Here’s hoping the burger/hot dog formula works better than the couple’s short-lived La Petite Provence, which offered much the same fare as the restaurant proper but in the small-plate style sweeping New York.

With the sun shining at last, there’s been a crowd outside and a lot of buzz about the newest burger joint; my husband spied a burger on his way home one evening and commented that it “looked really good.” I’ll give it a try next time I’m in a burger-beer mood and report back.

JB’s Burger is at 255 Smith Street in Carroll Gardens; 718 254 0007.

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Eat the Rich

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Graffiti Spied En Route to School

I like graffiti; there’s a rawness to good, creative graffiti art that I really admire. Then, of course, there are the random scrawls sprayed across public and private property – many of them infantile and uninspired, like a middle school anatomy lesson some delinquent plastered on the freshly-painted sidewall of  a recently renovated house on Sackett Street.

And somewhere in between, there’s stuff like this scrawling spotted on the Union Street bridge crossing the murky Gowanus Canal, best known these days as a noxious Superfund site in urgent need of a cleanup. I don’t know if the sign is a jab at the much contested Superfund project or just insightful commentary on local property prices, school admissions or the lines outside Blue Marble to get an ice cream  on a warm spring day.

Mostly, it makes we ponder who went to the effort to stop on the bridge, pull out a spray can and leave this note. What was the motivation? It’s too political to be kids – and do kids these days even know what a yuppie is? It seems too self-loathing to be hipsters. So, I’m left wondering.

Either way, it makes me stop, smile and mutter Eat the Rich out of earshot of my children  en route to school and back each day.

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Is Your Car Kosher?

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This sign perplexed me and made me smile, chuckle even, one sunny afternoon this week, when I pondered what could possibly make a car wash kosher. I have a pretty good working knowledge of things Jewish, being a New Yorker and having many friends from whom to seek guidance, plus both my children went to a Jewish preschool. So, by default, we inherited token Jewish status for the duration.

I did seek guidance on this one. I asked three Jewish friends what could possibly be meant by the sign, planted outside a car wash on Fourth Ave. near 1st Street in Brooklyn. And I came up with nada. Since the place doesn’t sell food, neither enlightened friend could think of any reason a car wash could guarantee a kosher vehicle. One friend suggested perhaps the workers expertly remove any trace of leavened food product from a vehicle in time for Passover, but that was a stab in the dark, to be sure.

I’ve yet to wander inside and ask the Golden Touch folks what the sign means, but I will, and I promise to report back. Meantime, it still gives me a chuckle whenever I pass by.

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Meat Pies and a Flat White?

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Where do local Aussies want to hang out when they want to be around other Aussies, or at least drink a Coopers beer, nosh on a sausage roll or watch a footy game? Here are a few places in New York that I go if I want a slice of home.

For a decent meal, some kangaroo or barramundi perhaps, there’s the perennial favorite Eight Mile Creek in Soho. We’ve spent many an evening in the upstairs dining room or the heated outdoor area, enjoying top-notch Australian wines and slightly more elegant food than befits the misguided Crocodile Dundee stereotype that America has too long embraced. It’s one of the few places I’ve been able to find good pavlova too.

Tuck Shop in the East Village is the place for a quick cup of coffee – that’s a flat white where I come from – and a meat pie or sausage roll. And the lamingtons and vanilla slices are about as good as you can find in NY. I was here for Australia Day, the Aussie version of St. Patrick’s Day celebrated January 26, and the staff was great. The server treated us to lamingtons and threw in an extra one for me to bring home to the kids. A lamington for the uninitiated is an Australian childhood favorite; a slab of white sponge cake, filled with strawberry jam, dipped in chocolate syrup and dredged in shredded coconut.

There’s a second location too, at St Marks Place, and hot off the presses, they just got a license to sell beer and wine. As part of the long-awaited coup, Tuck Shop is introducing New York to the Esky. For $30, you can get six beers at the table in a mini Esky to keep it extra cold. The St Marks Place location also has Billy Tea, Tim Tams, beloved Vegemite and other Aussie treats for sale.

And while you’re downtown, the Sunburnt Cow and Bondi Road Fish + Chips are great spots for drinks and eats. Yep, you’ll get meat pies, burgers, lamb chops, fish+ chips – all the usual drinking food with a fun, laid-back vibe. I hear there is a The Sunburnt Calf now on the Upper West Side too, but I’ve yet to check it out.

The Australian is where you go for very large glasses of red wine (and very large headaches the next morning!) and non-stop sports action. Sports junkies are glued to the TV screens for cricket matches and rugby league, and the proprietor, a former rugby league player himself, will happily shoot the breeze about the game. Great place to take visiting sports writers or wannabe sportsmen.

If you’re in Brooklyn, the coffee and meat pies at The Pie Shop in Prospect Park come straight from the ovens of DUB Pies  (Down Under Bakery), which started out with its prime storefront on Columbia Street. The coffee is good, the pies and sausage rolls are pretty decent, there’s catering and delivery to boot, and chances are you’ll hear an Australian or New Zealand accent working the counter.

Then there’s Sheep Station on Fourth Avenue, Park Slope, where the shearer’s burger (a burger topped with beets, pineapple and a fried egg), lamb chops and fish + chips are worth the trip to the otherwise pretty barren block. There is a fireplace too.

If you just want to read about Australian food, hit the newsstand at Barnes & Noble for the occasional good, out-of-season and pricey Australian food mag. Donna Hay’s breezy, beautifully styled magazines channel Martha Stewart but with that laid back Aussie feel. And there’s usually a Vogue Entertaining + Travel lurking on the shelves.