March 15, 2008 / GO Brooklyn / Brooklyn Restaurants / Breaking Chews

Tasty restaurant gossip

By Adam Rathe & Lisa J. Curtis

for The Brooklyn Paper

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New York’s Restaurant Week might be over, but savvy Brooklyn diners have been saving their pennies for “Dine in Brooklyn,” which runs March 24 – 31 and will feature more than 175 of the borough’s restaurants. Whether it’s a classic like L&B Spumoni Gardens in Bensonhurst or a new favorite like Northeast Kingdom in Bushwick, the restaurants will be offering a three-course meal for $23. For information, and to make reservations, visit www.visitbrooklyn.com.

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Spicy Pickle, a Colorado-based chain of sandwich shops, plans to open at 143 Montague St. — the former Armando’s space — in Brooklyn Heights. The restaurant, billed by its Web site as “fast and casual” food, will serve paninis, soups, salads, sandwiches and pizza.

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On Sunday, Breaking Chews trekked to Manhattan’s Javits Center to meet Kings County’s exhibitors at the International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York.

We were delighted to discover Jordan Weisz, VP of national sales for Van Gogh Gourmet Sorbet, a new company in Greenpoint. Weisz told us that his new line of six caffeinated frozen treats, named for the famous painter, was also a tribute to his paternal grandmother Phyllis Weisz, who had a gift for the brush and palette.

Weisz promised that his sorbet line — which includes flavors such as espresso chip, chai tea latte and vanilla bean latte — are made with the finest all natural ingredients, including fair trade coffee, and will be available to consumers in pint-size containers in six weeks. For more information, visit www.vangoghsorbet.com.

Sister company Wine Cellar Sorbet, which is sold in gourmet markets such as Whole Foods, promises two new, pint-size additions to its successful line — sake and port — will hit shelves next month.

Also manning a booth at the trade show was Arthur Gentile of Red Hook’s Top Catch, a seafood importer and processor. Their wares were so popular, not a ring, tube or tentacle was left of their North Atlantic squid for Breaking Chews to sample.

Adding a dash of controversy to the show was the Brooklyn Bagel Slicer. This tool, which retails for $27.95 and promises to “prevent bagel-related injury,” is actually sold by a Rochester-based company. We’re skeptical that the imposter could handle a real Brooklyn bagel.

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There’s paper over the windows at the Happy Days diner in Brooklyn Heights. GO Brooklyn has enjoyed many a short stack there and is hoping for the best!

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper