December 14, 2011 / GO Brooklyn / Brooklyn Restaurants / Foodie-in-Chief

Openings, closings and gossip

By Sarah Zorn

for The Brooklyn Paper

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Photo by Stefano Giovannini

Nanny Goat Hill owner Jeramiah Fox in happier times.

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Here’s a helping of pre-holiday gossip — Clinton Hill’s got ’cue, Williamsburg subs in, and a beloved burrito place bails on the South Slope.

Oh, brother: Brownstoner reports that Little Brother BBQ — an “urban barbecue counter” from the owners of Smoke Joint in Fort Greene and Peaches in Bedford-Stuyvesant — has just opened next to Hot Bird in Clinton Hill. Besides serving the usual smoky suspects — chopped BBQ’d beef, three-meat chili, and handmade pork sausage — the finger lickin’ spot boasts an unusual array of vegetarian and vegan items. Think meatless sausage, mixed greens salad, and a Big Veggie Plate of beans, collards, and (presumably giblet-free) dirty rice.

In the red: Presto change-o! Almost without warning, the newish (for Bay Ridge at least) Spanish small plates spot, Vela Tapas, has closed, and a new restaurant has quickly sprouted in its place. Red Oak is a standard American continental outfit — and although we reserve judgment until we’ve tried the goods, we’re already missing Vela’s Sunday morning Bloody Mary and Barcelona omelet brunch.

Brews you can use: Park Slope java aficionados mourning the loss of Seventh Avenue staple Ozzie’s Coffee and Tea — although not its relentless lack of summertime air conditioning — rejoice! Our friends and occasional nemeses at Park Slope Patch report that Noella’s Brew Bar, a new caffeinated venture from Ozzie’s owner Melissa Rapoport, has opened between Berkeley and Lincoln places — a half-block from the old joint.

Seventh heaven: Hot opening alert — we’ve received word that chef Tyler Kord is opening a Williamsburg outpost of his Manhattan-based No 7. Sub (itself a sandwich-centric offshoot of the popular No. 7 restaurant in Fort Greene). Get ready for some of the kookiest combos on white bread, like filet-o-fish with American cheese, cilantro, and roasted tomatillo-chili mayo, bologna with brussels sprouts and pickled red onion, and roasted cauliflower with potato chips, scallions, raisins, and smoked French dressing.

Got your goat: It seems like only yesterday (or Oct. 13, to be exact) that we reported on the opening of Nanny Goat Hill, a wine bar/small plates pop-up inside the Windsor Terrace coffee shop, Crossroads Cafe. That’s why it saddened us to read this open letter posted on the Windsor Terrace blog. “Due to irreconcilable differences between ourselves and our most gracious hosts, we have both agreed to end our arrangement in order to pursue our separate goals. It was our hope to provide a real local option for those to wine and dine in a community that so desperately needs it. With that said, NGH is actively seeking an alternate venue.”

Mo money? The owner of Uncle Moe’s, a cheap South Slope burrito and roasted chicken staple has closed after 20 years on Seventh Avenue between Ninth and 10th streets. Martin Einhorn told Brooklyn Paper reporter Natalie O’Neill that he shuttered the shop due to slow business and increased food costs (obviously, our editor, who bought chicken there twice a week, couldn’t keep the place afloat). “We just weren’t making money,” Einhorn said. “We had a lovely run — but we couldn’t do it anymore.”

©2011 Community Newspaper Group