"Little Poland" in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Greenpoint is the northern corner pocket neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Greenpoint is largely a working class neighborhood sometimes referred to as "Little Poland" due to its large population of working-class Polish immigrants, reportedly the second largest concentration in the United States after Chicago.

You can see the skyscrapers of Manhattan in the distance, with the East River between, separating Brooklyn and Manhattan. In the early days of Brooklyn, Greenpoint was mainly farmland. Come the 19th century it became highly industrialized like most of North Brooklyn with a focus on shipbuilding, given its proximity to the water. The Polish settled the area before the turn of the century and Greenpoint has been categorized as a predominantly Polish neighborhood ever since.

There is a definite Polish feel to the neighborhood churches and buildings. To the left in the photo collage above is St. Anthony - St. Alphonse Catholic Church. Its Gothic Revival style has a strong presence on Manhattan Avenue. The Polish National Church of the Resurrection, on the right in the collage above, is located on Leonard Street.

At Slodycze Wedel is a Polish specialty candy store located at 772 Manhattan Avenue

The shelves were filled with all kinds of Poland imported chocolates and wafer candies and cookies.

It even had a friendly, purring cat, who was all decked out in a shirt collar and tie.

I peeked into the windows of various bakeries....

....where I saw the most delicious babkas, breads, donuts and pastries.  It took great self control for me to not buy a cheese babka as they looked so good! Perhaps I'll come back after my daughter's wedding, when I am not dieting any longer ... sigh.

Another temptation were the fresh, daily made donuts at the Peter Pan Donut and Pastry Shop, located at 727 Manhattan Ave. in Greenpoint.

They have such a large following of fans from all over Brooklyn that they often sell out all their delicious home made donuts quickly. The jelly donuts are especially good!

The meat stores in Greenpoint are a sight for both the eyes and the nose, because as soon as you walk inside....

...the spicy, garlicky, salty, and sweet smells of kielbasi, sausage, and other cured meats immediately whiffs into your nostrils. It is a carnivores delight!

Just look at the size of those sausages!  I was also tempted by the stuffed cabbage rolls that were for sale.

Even the newsstands in Greenpoint are dominated by Polish and Eastern European magazines and newspapers.

The Greenpoint neighborhood is served by the G line subway -- the only NYC subway that does not enter Manhattan.  This fact has hindered the growth of Greenpoint but many young people are beginning to spill over from the adjoining Williamsburg neighborhood, due to the slightly more affordable rents that are available

Housing is varied, from a few brownstones to...

... predominately plain, wood frame and brick multi family homes.

That is not to say that real estate is cheap here, as you can see by this photo buildings for sale on a real estate office.



Greenpoint Brooklyn is certainly a colorful place to visit!

I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

 Mosaic Monday

 Blue Monday

 Our World Tuesday 

 Outdoor Wednesday

Many thanks to the blog hosts.

Viewing "The Chew" With Best Friends!

Have you been watching the new afternoon TV show called "The Chew"? Produced by Gordon Elliott's Chew Productions for the ABC Television Network, it is a fast paced show broadcast from New York City that "celebrates and explores life through food." It stars Chefs Mario Batali, Michael Symon, and Carla Hall, along with stylist Clinton Kelly, and author of the 2006 bestseller "The Dorm Room Diet," Daphne Oz.  (All photos will enlarge if double clicked on)

I received an e-mail a few weeks ago asking if I'd like tickets to attend a taping. I had already had plans to meet a blogger, Linda from "Ciao Chow Linda," on October 4, so I asked if she'd like to attend the show with me, along with my husband and another friend, as I was allowed four tickets.

I've been reading and enjoying Linda's wonderful food blog for many years and I was looking forward to finally meeting her and having a NYC "foodie" day with her! Linda is a wonderful Italian focused cook, and her recipes and photography are always a delight!

My friend, Rosemary, took a photo of us sitting in The Chew's audience.  If you are curious to watch the episode we attended you can watch it in full on this link.  The theme of the show we attended was "Comfort Foods." We didn't get too much camera time, as we weren't sitting behind the people chosen to be "audience tasters," but we had a good time and enjoyed watching Mario and Michael cook delicious and easy chicken dishes --Mario made Grilled Chicken in Tapenade With Fennel Salad, and Michael made Braised Chicken Fennel and Potatoes.  Carla make her famous Macaroni and Cheese with guest Sam Champion, the popular weatherman for ABC's Good Morning America. Click on the highlighted words to see their recipes.

No photography was allowed before or during the show, but I was able to take these photos afterward so you can see how many people are involved with the show behind the scenes in the studio.  Mario was engrossed in conversation with the producer Gordan Elliot after the show, but Carla, Michael and Clinton came over to the audience area to say hello.

Linda and I outside the ABC studio. Each audience member was given a sample tin of Carla Hall's delicious Alchemy Cookie Bites as a gift to take home.

No, this is not our feet, but I did want to show you the fun set of orange crocs worn by Mary and Judy, two ladies from New Jersey, who we met on the audience line before the show. I promised to show their fun shoes on my blog.  Mario Batali is famous for wearing orange crocs, and as his fans, they doned their orange crocs in honor of him!

After the show we went to the Lower East Side in Manhattan to have brunch at the Clinton Street Baking Company and Restaurant, which I previously blogged about at this link.  This popular restaurant is famous for their fluffy pancakes and buttermilk biscuits, and there is usually a line of people waiting to get in. We had to wait about 40 minutes before being seated, and we must have been very hungry, as we ate everything without taking photos of our delcious meals!  Finally feeling satiated, we continued on our day's adventure and drove into Brooklyn.

Linda lives in New Jersey, and hasn't visited the New York City borough of Brooklyn, where we live, for awhile, so we took her for a little tour of an interesting neighborhood along Atlantic Avenue.

This street is famous for its variety of antique shops and vintage architectural and industrial furniture salvage shops.  Linda's daughter was the happy recipient of an HGTV "Dear Genevieve," makeover of her Manhattan apartment early this year, and Linda thought they may have found some of the elements they used to decorate her apartment in Brooklyn, in shops such as these.

It was fun to wander in and out of many of the stores and see what was being offered.  Some of the objects we saw brought back memories.  Notice one building was once the 1925 flagship "Ex Lax" factory. It has been converted into a co-op apartment building.

Most of the objects in these stores were highly priced and unusal antiques, so we enjoyed looking but did not buy anything.

Atlantic Avenue is also known for its wealth of Middle Eastern markets, bakeries, stores and restaurants.

A market I thought Linda might enjoy seeing was Sahadi's, a Middle Eastern Specialty Food Market located at 187 Atlantic Ave., between Clinton and Court Streets, since 1948.

It is jammed packed with bins and jars and containers full of  bulk nuts, seeds, beans, grains, flours, dried fruits, coffee, cheeses, condiments and spices, all at wonderful low prices!

There are many imported foods from the Middle Eastern countries such a Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan and also foods from Greece and Italy and some European selections.

Sahadi's large selection of fresh olives available for purchase would certainly make a chef like Mario Batali very excited!

I obviously found some food delicacies to buy in Sahadi's, as did my friend Rosemary and Linda. It was a wonderful day and we promised we'd get together again on another adventure very soon!

Now for the winner of the Bertolli free frozen soup coupons, soup ladle and ceramic bread dish!  Thanks to all who entered. I had  103 comments on the give away post, and using Random.org the winning number between 1- 103 was number 85, which turned out to be Susan, from the blog Beyond My Kitchen Window.  Congratulations, Susan! Please send your name and address to me so I can forward it to the Bertolli people who will send the gift set out to you. Enjoy their delicious frozen soups!

It is my 37th wedding anniversary today, so I am also celebrating! I feel blessed to be married to my best friend, and look forward to many more years together. Love you, my sweetheart ♥


I'm linking this post to the following blog events:
Foodie Friday
Seasonal Sunday
Mosaic Monday
On the Menu Monday
Blue Monday

Please visit all these wonderful blogs and join in all the fun!

National Lobster Day!

Does this photo look like it could have been taken in New England? 

 

Or this?

I found out today that today, June 15, is National Lobster Day, and I would be remiss if I did not tell you about my favorite places to buy fresh lobster!

New England is known for its lobster, but all the scenes above were taken at a Brooklyn institution called Jordan's Lobster Dock, located at 3165 Harkness Avenue in the  Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.  Jordan's has been a favorite retail shop for lobster in New York since 1938.  

There is a 2005 Martin Scorsese film production that was written, produced, and directed by Kevin Jordan, and stars Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin, called "Brooklyn Lobster," that chronicle's the family's efforts to salvage their seafood operation when the bank defaulted on a loan they had secured to finance a restaurant extension to the business. According to the movie’s production notes, Bill Jordan, the “lobster king of New York,” “was the first to air-ship lobsters packed in barrels of seaweed and is responsible for the glass lobster tanks found in local supermarkets today.”

Thankfully, although their operation became smaller, they were able to remain in business, as Jordan's had some of the best prices for fresh imported Maine lobster of any place I know, and I have been buying my lobsters here for many years.

According to the Jordan's Lobster Dock website: "Centuries ago in North America, lobsters were so plentiful that Native Americans used them to fertilize their fields and to bait their hooks for fishing. In colonial times, lobsters were considered “food for the poor.” They were harvested from tidal pools and served to children, to prisoners, and to indentured servants, who exchanged their passage to America for seven years of service to their sponsors. In Massachusetts, some of the servants became so tired of eating lobster that they had it put into their contracts they would not be forced to eat lobster more than three times a week!"

Jordan's has a small counter style restaurant but I always stop in to buy my live lobster, have them steam it and gut it for no extra charge, and then I take it home for further preperation.

My favorite summer time way to finish preparing the steamed Jordan's lobster is just warm it up on the grill, crack it open, serve with melted butter and enjoy!

Another Brooklyn institution, in business at the same location for 56 years, is Nick's Lobster, located at 2777 Flatbus Ave.  Nick began his lobster career by docking his lobster boat at the current location on Flatbush Ave. and sell his fresh caught lobsters from a shack to passers by.

A retail fish and lobster shop soon followed.

Nick's has grown over the years to a 300 seat indoor and outdoor patio restaurant, serving new generations of Brooklynites from all around the world!

You can see the homes and boat docks of the nearby Mill Basin neighborhood of Brooklyn from their patio.

My husband and I like to drop into Nick's for some fresh clams on the half shell, and .....

 ...their delicious mixed fish fry and corn on the cob!

If we don't eat in, a few of Nick's large lobsters go home to be cooked!  Whether oiled, broiled, grilled, fresh lobster is a delicious treat! 

What is your favorite way to prepare (or eat) lobster?

There may be a food truck "Lobster War" going on in Manhattan right now, but I'm glad I live in Brooklyn, where I know where to find the best retail lobster in New York City!

 

I'm linking to Michael Lee West's 'Foodie Friday" event of her blog Designs by Gollum. Please check her link to see all the wonderful recipes and foodie treat links in all the blogs participating on Friday!