How’s this for gut-busting gossip? You can belly up to the bar in Williamsburg, have your fill of fried chicken in Carroll Gardens, or get good and cheesy in Park Slope — just don’t look to pad your tummy with Prospect Heights’ dumplings or Red Hook banh mi.
Burn notice: Yes, there are officially more bars in Williamsburg than there are double-wide strollers in Park Slope — but we’re still excited about Burnside Brooklyn’s bread basket theme. The recently opened Midwestern drinkery at Grand Street and Union Avenue pairs its Bible Belt brews with cold weather belly busters such as fried cheese curds, Sheboygan brats, and yes, even Juicy Lucy burgers, with gobs of gooey dairy oozing out the middle. Wear a down vest — it’ll cover up your beer gut just fine.
Belly up: Fultummy’s — the quirky pan-Asian sandwich spot on Columbia Street in Red Hook — has closed. “As I was operating the business every day, I realized it will be too difficult for me to run it by myself, so I had to put the cafe on sale,” the owner said on her Facebook page. “I really didn’t want to make this decision, but I had no choice.” Sayonara to brown rice burgers, pork katsu, Vietnamese sandwiches, and teriyaki tofu!
Dumpling downer: Another blow for Asian-fusion — Brownstoner reports that the Prospect Heights outpost of dumpling mini-chain Eton has closed after just one year. Fans of the Hawaiian ramen and porky potstickers can rest easy — they can still be found at Eton’s original Sackett Street location.
Over Ice-a: Twenty months after being approved by Community Board 1, Taavo Somer’s high-flying Williamsburg project, Isa, finally has a liquor license to go with its fried sardine skeletons. We’re sure the cocktail list will be every bit as quirky as the food menu, but can’t even hazard a guess at what wine to pair with pig tails, consomme, spelt, cabbage and egg, or Treviso with nut cheese and granola.
Doggone delicious: Can’t stomach the wait for a table at Buttermilk Channel in Carroll Gardens? According to Eater, a former BC waitress is taking the Southern fried goodness to the streets with the Fat Beagle, a food truck featuring North Carolinian fare. Think fried pickles and okra with spicy yogurt, pimiento cheese on toast, and slow-roasted pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw and pepper vinegar! But remember, no one serves duck meatloaf like the maestros on Court Street.
Good shepherd: Park Slope now has Valley Shepherd Creamery, a cheese store owned and operated by real dairy farmers, to go along with Fleisher’s, a butcher shop owned and operated by real butchers. According to Here’s Park Slope, proprietor Eran Wajswol will sell over 35 varieties of the small-batch, farmstead cheese that he makes at his 120-acre New Jersey farm, at his new Seventh Avenue store.
