Dine Out in Greenpoint For Haiti

Local restaurant Anella is participating in “Dine Out For Haiti” this Sunday, Jan 24th, and will be donating 10 percent of its proceeds to Haiti relief efforts.

Motorino on Graham Avenue is also participating in addition to a mostly NYC lineup.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out these places yet, this is a VERY worthy reason to do so.

The New/Old Graham Avenue

Photo by Eating In Translation

Graham Avenue was always referred to as ‘Italian Greenpoint’ when I was growing up. Nobody wanted to be called Williamsburg back in the day. One of the easiest ways to spot where people grew up is their pronunciation of Graham. Pronouncing it like the L train robotic chick voice indicates you’re more than likely a newbie. Going for the two syllables Gra-ham, tells me you were from the Hispanic parts of the ‘hood and going for the long a in Graham means you are Greenpoint through and through. It’s like a regional dialect or somethin’!

Brooklyn Based does an in-depth peek at the ‘new’ Graham Avenue microhood. A cool read.

Dine Out in Greenpoint For Haiti

Local restaurant Anella is participating in “Dine Out For Haiti” this Sunday, Jan 24th, and will be donating 10 percent of its proceeds to Haiti relief efforts.

Motorino on Graham Avenue is also participating in addition to a mostly NYC lineup.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out these places yet, this is a VERY worthy reason to do so.

The New/Old Graham Avenue

Photo by Eating In Translation

Graham Avenue was always referred to as ‘Italian Greenpoint’ when I was growing up. Nobody wanted to be called Williamsburg back in the day. One of the easiest ways to spot where people grew up is their pronunciation of Graham. Pronouncing it like the L train robotic chick voice indicates you’re more than likely a newbie. Going for the two syllables Gra-ham, tells me you were from the Hispanic parts of the ‘hood and going for the long a in Graham means you are Greenpoint through and through. It’s like a regional dialect or somethin’!

Brooklyn Based does an in-depth peek at the ‘new’ Graham Avenue microhood. A cool read.

GIVE: Save Haiti Benefit, Thursday January 21st

Today I received an e-mail from Bob Bland of Brooklyn Royalty telling me about a fundraiser to benefit those affected by the devastation in Haiti and I wanted to pass it along to my fellow Greenpointers:

Silent Auction of local Brooklyn Designs, Art & Fashion
All proceeds will be distributed equally to benefit Haitian Relief Efforts in the following organizations:

UNICEF (http://www.unicef.org)
American Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org)
Doctors Without Borders (http://doctorswithoutborders.org)

Clothing, Food & Water Donations also accepted on behalf of:
Food for the Poor (http://www.foodforthepoor.org)
Fashion Delivers (http://www.fashiondelivers.org)

For more details, to volunteer or give donations email: bobblanddesign [at] gmail.com

With this morning’s 6.1 aftershock, the people of Haiti need our help more than ever. Stop by this event – have a little fun, rock out to some cool tunes, bid on some amazing items – and do your part to help people in need rebuild.

Weekend Blend: 1/21-1/24

The Weekend Blend has been on a little hiatus since the holidays. The social scene is always a little slow in January but it’s starting to pick up again and you can get an early jump on it tonight with the 2010 Not for Tourists Brooklyn edition guidebook launch party at Brooklyn Bowl with a party full of freebies and Brooklyn love. Show up between 6pm and 8pm for a copy of the new book, a free drink, and free bowling, as well as the chance to win prizes from Cafe Grumpy and The Habitat and more. Facebook event here. via Brooklyn Based

Thursday night you can check out Karaoke returning to Red Star. Karaoke is back at Red Star starting this Thursday, and every Thursday to follow, upstairs, on the stage. And just to make it more interesting, Greenpoint’s favorite bar back, Oscar is taking over the bar!

This Saturday evening at 6pm $5 will get you all the pie you can eat and judge over at K&M for the 3rd Annual Brooklyn Pie Contest. Greenpoint’s own “celebrity” chef Cody Utzman will be a judge. And even more exciting, Greenpointers own Joann will be entering a pie so go over and vote for her cause we <3 her!

And might I suggest laying fairly low on Friday & Saturday nights and saving all your energy for rooting for the JETS on Sunday at 3pm against the Colts? Every bar in the neighborhood with a TV will surely be showing the game and happy hour and drink specials will be a-flowing, I’m sure. In the words of my girl Jess:

WE ARE GREEN, WE ARE WHITE, WE ARE FUCKING DYNAMITE! J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS!

Anella, Again

Photo by {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester}

Anella, the fancy-pants restaurant that took over the old Queen’s Hideaway space last year and whose executive chef Michael Sullivan left in September, is getting a new one next month.

ANELLA
Greenpoint Restaurant To Debut New Chef, New Menu In February*

January 19, 2010 (Brooklyn, NY) – The New Year brings a new chef and menu to popular Greenpoint eatery, Anella. Co-owners Josh Cohen and Blair Papagni announce today that Executive Chef Joseph Ogrodnek will take the reins in the restaurant’s kitchen starting in early February. The new menu will showcase Ogrodnek’s unique take on seasonal, contemporary American cuisine with Mediterranean accents.

“Chef Ogrodnek brings an exciting, new voice to Anella,” says Cohen. “He will keep to our philosophy of using the best and freshest ingredients possible to prepare simple, impeccably cooked food, but will also apply his considerable skills to progress our menu to new heights. We believe he’s going to deliver something our diners — both new and old — will love.”

Ogrodnek, 27, arrives at Anella with a pedigree earned in some of the country’s best restaurants. Drawn to food at an early age, he started as a line cook at only 17 at Opus 251 in his native Philadelphia. A 2002 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., Ogrodnek has worked as Lead Line Cook at Union Square Café, Chef de Partie at Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, and as Sous Chef at both Gramercy Tavern and Jean Georges at the Mark.

Ogrodnek chose Anella for his first foray as an Executive Chef because of his deep desire to cook and serve in a small, intimate neighborhood setting.

Patrons can watch Ogrodnek work in the restaurant’s open kitchen as he crafts his menu which features such dishes as Whipped Ricotta, farm-fresh ricotta cheese, roasted sweet carrots and Sylvetta arugula served with house-made bread; Macaroni & Cheese, orecchiette pasta, Fontina and Parmesan cheese, tomato confit baked in an individual casserole dish and topped with a soft-cooked egg; Potato-Crusted Chatham Cod with white-wine braised fennel and Tagiascia olives; and Pork and Bean Cassoulet, Berkshire pork shoulder, coco beans, smoked bacon and Tuscan kale.

Additionally, Ogrodnek will utilize Anella’s brick oven to bake a variety of house-made breads and pizzas.

Ingredients for the menu are sourced from as many local and sustainable outlets as possible including produce from Greenpoint’s very own Rooftop Farms.

Wine Director Alfred DiScipio complements the menu with a newly expanded list of wines focused on lesser-known Old World varietals such as Ruche, a red from Piedmont, and Pigato, a white from Liguria. In addition to wines, patrons can saddle up to Anella’s bar — made of reclaimed workbenches from the Steinway Piano Factory — and enjoy one of its many seasonal cocktails, including the popular Dark & Handsome, aged rum, fresh ginger, simple syrup, lime juice and topped with prosecco.

ABOUT

Partners, Josh Cohen and Blair Papagni, opened Anella — named after Papagni’s beloved great-grandmother — in May of 2009, to offer their Greenpoint neighbors a comfortable, affordable and delectable dining destination. Led by General Manager, Andrew Oswald, formerly of Gotham Bar and Grill, the 50-seat eatery engenders a warm, convivial feel with a rustic interior of dark woods, soft lighting, a brick oven and an open kitchen where diners can watch their food being prepared. The restaurant also features a backyard herb and vegetable garden which is open, weather-permitting, for al fresco dining. The kitchen draws upon the garden to supplement its produce, often using ingredients for food and cocktails that are picked a la minute.

Anella is located at 222 Franklin Street (between Green Street and Huron Street), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York. (For subway service, use the Greenpoint Avenue stop on the G train.) Anella is open for dinner Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday 5:30PM to 10PM, and Friday and Saturday 5:30PM to 11PM; brunch Saturday and Sunday 10AM to 4PM. Starting in early February all major credit cards will be accepted. http://www.anellabrooklyn.com; 718-389-8100.