The Gowanus Canal Conservancy held a public meeting in Carroll Gardens this week to unveil renderings for a park and esplanade that would run along the Gowanus canal. The project’s dubbed Sponge Park because planners hope it will help absorb some of the raw sewage that currently contaminates the canal during heavy rainfall. (Brownstoner believes oily runoff from the nearby Gowanus Expressway is another big problem.) The idea is that when the canal is finally......

Fans of Ditmas Park favorite the Farm on Adderley, get ready: The newest venture from co-owners Gary Jonas and Allison McDowell, a French bistro dubbed Pomme de Terre, is on the verge of opening. Apparently the regular customers at the Farm are jonesing for another mid-range restaurant in the neighborhood, and it's unlikely a recent shooting on the very same corner will deter them. Jonas and McDowell have teamed up with restaurateur Jimmy Mamary,......

Rendering of proposed Public Place development by The Hudson Companies. Earlier in the week, the department of Housing Preservation and Development [HPD] revealed renderings for a proposed housing development and park on 5.8 acres of heavily polluted land by the toxic Gowanus canal. Located on the site of a former manufactured gas plant, the city has owned the land, which stretches from Smith Street to the canal, for two decades. National Grid, who took over......

It appears the rumors of autumn's demise have been greatly exaggerated and you're going to have to start wearing a jacket outside after all. But the change of seasons is not without its perks; there are those hot winter drinks to look forward to, and a number of bars around town offer the perfect accompaniment for your hot toddy: a crackling fireplace. Below are some of New York's best places to chill out on a......

Given the city's more nuanced real estate market, NY magazine covers "degentrification," focusing mostly on Red Hook. Adam Sternbergh chronicles the neighborhood's ups and downs - for pre-gentrifiers, the stroller set and real estate enthusiasts, of course. He tells the story through a 30 year-old named Ivy Pochoda, who grew up in Cobble Hill when "Smith Street was still too sketchy to walk home on alone." (NB: Smith Street still was sketchy into the 1990s.)......

Bacaro: Frank DeCarlo of Peasant and his wife Dulcinea Benson transport you to Venice in their 80-seat wine bar/restaurant on the Lower East Side. Northern Italian menu offerings include cicchetti, (think Venetian bar snacks) like crostini, sardines, artichokes, and more, cheeses selected by Lou DiPalo, and pastas, quail, and duck for those seeking heartier fare. 136 Division Street, between Orchard and Ludlow Streets, 212-941-5060. Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill: The Blue Ribbon team is......

Last week Racked reported that there's word of an Apple store opening in Brooklyn. The question is, which neighborhood will iNvite them in. Dumbo NYC reports that Two Trees has reached out to Apple in the past, but they "weren’t ready". If they're ready now, their options in Dumbo would include the 6600 sq.ft space at 70 Washington Street and the 6700 sq.ft space across the street at Washington and Front Street. Racked had a......

The NY Times takes a look at Smith Street and the corporate companies creeping into the area and setting up shop. The most recent big announcement is that Trader Joe's is taking over the old bank on Atlantic Avenue and Court Street. How long until more big fish come to feed? Urban Outfitters originally wanted the new Trader Joe's property, so we suppose they'll be hawking "Ski Cobble Hill" T-Shirts soon enough. Just last week......

It's July 14, which means it's time to appreciate the je ne sais quoi of all things French as you celebrate Bastille Day. Eating frites is one way, but there are many other events and activities today and tomorrow. Today there's the Waiter's Race at Les Halles (and they have specials), there's music, can-can dancers and French food on sale at Chelsea Market, and tonight's Bastille Ball. Tomorrow has the big Bastille Day on 60th......

EVENT: If you haven't taken a trip back to the Summer of Love yet, head over to the Whitney tonight for the exhibit and enjoy their Whitney Live event. DJ Scientific and Dana Leong will be providing the tunes. Friday // 6pm // The Whitney [945 Madison Ave] // Free with museum admission MUSIC: Tonight at the Seaport Music Festival Menomena and Beat the Devil will rock the sun down. Menomena "makes experimental rock that......

July 15: Bastille Day at Bar Tabac If you've never played petanque, head on down to Smith Street for North America's largest petanque tournament -- the two block stretch betweeen Bergen and Pacific will be shut down and covered with sand just for the occasion. While your'e watching the action, enjoy special cocktails from Ricard and other drink specials ($5-6), nibble on grilled merguez and chicken sandwiches ($5) and groove to Jazz band Blue Orchid......

June 21-23: NYC Food Film Festival, Part 2 See last week's calendar for the full description of the festival and the website for the schedule of events. This weekend's fim focus in on hot dogs and sausages, currywurst in particular, and even includes a hot dog eating competition, so get your gullets ready. At Water Taxi Beach. June 21-24: Staten Island Restaurant Week In their first ever restaurant week, over 50 of Staten Island's restaurants......

Sample is small. But not like Minibar small, or even Tini, where what you see is what you get. It is long and especially narrow, and feels like it has more to show. We kept expecting to find another room, or a little cove behind some tables. But even the back garden only has enough room for two tiny tables. If you have the misfortune to sit in the middle of the bar you’ll have......

May 26 - 27 Barbecue at Flatbush Farm The gang at Flatbush Farm hosts a barbecue the last weekend of every month, including this one. Feast on grilled clams, barbecued chicken legs and ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, veggie chili and more. 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 76 Saint Marks Avenue, Brooklyn. Call 718-622-3276 for details. May 29: Is New York Dining Really Better Than Ever? Ask the experts! Mike Colamenico will moderate a panel discussion......

Mo-mo-mo Momofuku! David Chang and company is moving the Noodle Bar into bigger digs down the street to make room for the new Momofuku Ko. Eater's got the details. And now, says Chang, "just shut up and eat." Brooklyn Record visits Peru via Mancora on Smith Street and found "a delicious and hearty feast, extremely friendly service, and drinks that left us thirsty for more." The Amateur Gourmet visits Stand. In a word? Forgettable. Remember......

Just when you thought that you might have put some distance between you and your folks, the Brooklyn Paper stirs things up with "the invasion of the suburban grandparents!" Now it makes total sense why developers are selling condos and buildings in up-and-coming neighborhoods at crazy prices: Not only will parents buy apartments for their kids, heck, they might leave their homes and move to the Big Apple too! The Brooklyn Paper makes an examples......

There's been a flurry of activity on the openings front recently. Even if spring hasn't quite made it to town, these new spots are starting to bloom and shake off the winter blahs: - Insieme, the new restaurant from the folks at Hearth (Paul Grieco and Marco Canora, pictured at right), is scheduled to open on Monday. It will be serving an Italian menu, focusing on "uncomplicated food" and "sincere hospitality." If Hearth is any......

With all the craziness going on in South Brooklyn recently -- Jason Neroni leaving Porchetta (law suits, arrests, excitement!), and with recent news that the Brooklyn Inn may be closing (converting into a bistro?) -- it'd be easy to miss the little slip about Vegas. During a short message on the Brooklyn Record, a commentator "confirmed" that the rumors about the Brooklyn Inn were true and then added that "Vegas, on Smith st. is also......

-Food and Wine magazine released its Best New Chefs 2007 list earlier this week. April Bloomfield, the 32 year-old chef and co-owner of West Village gastropub The Spotted Pig, is among the ten honorees to be featured in the magazine’s July issue. Eater attended Wednesday night’s announcement party at 7 World Trade Center and watched “everyone who has ever been on an episode of Top Chef” party like it was 1999, the not-so-distant year that......

THEATER: It’s “go time” for The Butane’s Group’s Operation Ajax, which ingenuously sets the CIA’s 1953 overthrow of Iran’s first democratically-elected government in the context of a casino. “Constructed from no less than 25 text sources (memoirs, documentaries, plays, poetry, novels, films, reality tv shows), the densely-layered performance explores how the addiction to risk and gambling has become a potent metaphor for U.S. foreign policy.” (For an enhanced theater experience, explore the show’s thorough bibliography,......

Gothamist would like to congratulate Chef Jason Neroni of Porchetta on today’s New York Times review. The following conversation took place two weeks ago at the Smith Street restaurant. Jason Neroni has no socks. The thirty year-old chef of Porchetta, the New Italian/Creative American place on Smith Street in Brooklyn, is going commando with his clogs. Owner Marco Riviero is behind the bar squeezing blood oranges with a citrus press for one last round of......

Park Slope development is nothing new. But Fourth Ave. as a foodie destination? Now that’s news. The NY Sun has the write-up, marking the trend with the recent arrival of Sheep Station, an Australian pub with no sign (no sign that we’ve seen at least), following Cherry Tree and Mule. Sheep Station owner Martine Lafond of Smith Street Kitchen fame says, "There'll be more — everybody's looking. Look around at what's going up, building-wise,......

- Beloved dive bar Siberia (wall signage pictured at right) to close? - Get a look at a roundup of "casual dining" burgers on Serious Eats, from Houlihan's, Applebee's, T.G.I.Friday's, and Red Robin, just in case you find yourself trapped somewhere in the middle of the country. - Jennifer Leuzzi of Snack dives into the rumor mill around Le Cirque. True: Christophe Bellanca, formerly of L.A.'s, L'Orangerie, will be joining the kitchen as of the......

If you enjoyed yesterday's post about the massive fire on 4th Avenue in Park Slope, then you'll probably like this one as well. Lindsay sent in a bunch of pictures of a big accident on Smith Street and President, along with this account: A little after 11, a drunk flipped his car on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. The vehicle skidded out of control at the corner of Smith and President, sideswiped a......

Bruni three-stars the recently renovated Picholine. Though he doesnt much like the physical changes-"still too quiet and sadistically bright"-the renovation "reinvigorated this restaurants soul," he says. In fact, he now likes it so much he celebrated his recent birthday there. And the Eater oddsmakers nail it again. Theyre also all over the reopening of Waverly Inn (Graydon Carter edition). Also in the Times, Peter Meehan visits Italian restaurant Lunetta on Smith Street in Brooklyn for......

It’s a common phenomenon in Brooklyn: a chef creates an ambitious restaurant only to later downscale it to a more casual place in hopes of better capturing the neighborhood market. We’ve seen it happen at Cucina/Tempo, Minnow/Bar Minnow, and Luce/Bar Toto. This scenario recently played out again on Smith Street, along Boerum Hill’s restaurant row. The space used to be a somewhat far-reaching (for the area) Japanese restaurant called Taku, under chef Adam Shepard. But......

As the summer air cools into fall and peach season passes into apple, there's no better place to observe the changing of the season's than in a backyard garden enjoying swell food. Chestnut, whose white French doors sit invitingly on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, is just the antidote for a meal whose inviting atmosphere is as addictive as you will find its food. Inside, exposed beams and wood planks are complimented by candlelight;......

Only a decade ago, mostly it was just people up to no good who could be found outside on Smith Street after a certain hour. It was the edge of a particularly rough Brooklyn neighborhood known as Gowanus that real estate developers pretend no longer exists. People who visited Smith Street late at night in those days were not in search of the gourmet. Today, however, Smith Street is perhaps the one street in all......

March 10: The Back of the House Michael Harlan Turkell's photographs focusing on the behind-the-scenes world of restaurant kitchens will be on display through April 20th at The Fall Café. The opening night festivities, sponsored by the local Sixpoint Craft Ales, are from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. this Frida. 307 Smith Street, Brooklyn, 718-403-0230. March 11: Raw Cocktail Party at Organic Academics At first we were skeptical about the raw food thing, but then we......

Leah Allen is not from a town in Texas. She doesn't speak Hebrew either but her new bar, Abilene, is a paean to both. The word, in Hebrew, means grass, and on there are waves of the same on walls, under beautifully understated lighting. A native New Yorker and Carroll Gardens resident, Abilene is her first bar in Brooklyn but she's no novice- she opened Lolita in 1999. We had a drink with Leah......