August 30, 2006
Chef/owner Michael Ayoub’s wood-burning oven carries adds a touch of elegance to the laid-back vibe of this section of Williamsburg. Enter a narrow room with wooden tables and hand-blown glass fixtures, the kind that add to the ambience rather than detract from it. In the back dining room (an outdoor turned indoor greenhouse area), enjoy the view of the potted herbs that will soon be atop a disc of pizza. This is artisanal pizza at its finest—Ayoub uses organic flour, local produce and an array of artisanal cheeses. Far from the greasy, mozzarella slices that drip onto the sidewalk, the pizza served here is fresh, savory and sublimely mind-blowing. With toppings such as pancetta, gorgonzola, lamb sausage and truffles, it’s not easy to make a decision.
What's more, there is more: try the antipasti, clams or the daily pasta. Look for quality products, smoky flavors and those thin Italian crusts that confirm you have wandered into a good thing.
The all-Italian wine list features several vintages at around $20 a bottle.
Service here can be fantastic or dippy, depending on the server and the level of ennui that he or she is suffering from.
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Posted on 8/30/2006
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August 10, 2006
The blooming of a massive corpse flower (amorphophallus titanum) at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden reaches a feverish pitch in the next 24-48 hours when the bloom reaches peak and the hideous stench associated with rotting meat will pervade this charming room that normally holds decades-old Bonsai.
If you can't handle the stench of the corpse flower, fear not: BBG has a webcam showing the corpse flower, which will have staff watching it day and night as the excitement unfolds. Do not miss this event; thousands of additional visitors are expected, as seeing (and smelling) a massive corpse flower is considered a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Today's newspaper reports: In 1937 and again in 1939, thousands turned out to watch bloomings in the Bronx. According to The New York Times, the odor “almost downed” newspaper reporters, and was described by an assistant curator at the botanical garden there as “a cross between ammonia fumes and hydrogen sulphide, suggestive of spoiled meat or rotting fish.” More than 10,000 people visited a blooming corpse flower at the University of Connecticut in Storrs in 2004.
The species last bloomed in New York in 1939 in the Bronx.
photo as of 10:45 am Friday
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bonsai, brooklyn botanic garden, corpse flower
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Posted on 8/10/2006
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