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Street Food Anniversary Party

Alison Lambert - Half Price Headliner — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:19:55 +0000

Some may argue that the “too much of a good thing” curse has fallen upon the street food trend in San Francisco. I say meh. There is no such thing as too much good, cheap food, so shut up and eat your delicious adobo/gumbo/creme brulee!

In honor of their first anniversary, the ever popular vendors Adobo Hobo, Gumbo Man, and The Chai Cart are hosting a Street Food Extravaganza at Precita Park. The event with be catered by several tasty food carts and there is promise of punch and party hats.

There is also a rumor that they will be filming and episode of the Travel Channel Series “Appetite For Life” with Andrew Zimmern, so that could be cool. Or weird. Or both. I don’t really care either way since I plan on being in a deliciousness-induced food coma in thirty minutes or less. Join me!

Adobo Hobo, Gumbo Man, & The Chai Cart’s 1 Year Anniversary Extravaganza!!!
Precita Park [Bernal Heights]
Sunday, August 1st
11:30 AM to 2:30 PM

Photo from: filgifts.com

Greenpoint ‘Last Saturdays’ Block Party

Laura S - Spendthrift Scribe — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:00:46 +0000

Even if you don’t have a wad of cash in your pocket, who says you can’t enjoy a little window shopping. Fellow Broke-Ass Anna G has already clued us into stress-free sanctity that is Franklin Ave in Greenpoint, and after making a pilgrimage myself, I have to agree with her. After trying to escape the World Cup crowds and breath-choking heat, I ducked into a random store in Greenpoint where I was greeted with blasting A/C and free cocktails. Now imagine the same laid back vibe, but free specials throughout the whole neighborhood. Hop on the G train for the Greenpoint Block Party this Saturday.

Building on the success of the “Total Franklin Street Immersion” event, the Greenpoint Business Association expanded the event and gave the green-light to all the local shops, bars, and restaurants to open their doors and throw a little block party. Get your drink on early at the Black Rabbit Bar, and be one of the first 150 customers to get a free Black Rabbit Lager. This is one of my favorite spots in the neighborhood, with swing style saloon doors on their bar booths, and enough tater tots to satisfy anyone’s childhood cravings. Bring your old paperbacks to WORD Independent Bookstore, for their book swap, to benefit Greenpoint Public Library. And be sure to check out the grand opening of Old Hollywood, another neighborhood gem, who’s expanded and moved from their old tiny space on Messerole. Jewelry addicts beware. Check out the merch while you score free wine and cheese tonight.

They may be without bursting fire hydrants and potluck dishes, but they got shuffleboard so it’s a legit block party in my book.

Greenpoint “Last Saturdays”
Saturday, July 31, 12:00-7:00pm
Manhattan, Greenpoint, Franklin, Nassau Avenues
Look for “GBA” Stickers

Hooray for Ray’s Candy Store

Jill Strominger - Budget Baller — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:48:39 +0000

Okay, guys, ready? One, Two, Three… “COLLECTIVE SIGH OF RELIEF.” So, you know how people who have lived here long enough to still call Hi-Fi the bar Brownies and remember when Tompkins Square Park was a shanty town (although it still kind of is… one homeless man once presented me with a bat and told me I could hit him for a $1 there) are always talking about the changing neighborhood and losing what makes it great? Well, I finally get that. I got it a little when they tore down that kind of creepy but cool “Tower of Toys” on Ave. B and then I got it a whole lot earlier this year when Ray’s Candy Store was almost shuttered when Ray fell behind in his rent for the first time in 35 years.

Yes, Ray’s is reminiscent of a hardware store that happens to also serve food. Yes, there are plenty of other places to get ice cream/fries/egg cream/hot dogs/coffee/other things written in thick red paint on the sign out front. But Ray is what brings you in and makes you come back, even when you leave the neighborhood and have to spend as much in subway fare to get there as you do on the food. My favorite is the pistachio soft serve in a cone with rainbow sprinkles for $3, because a) where else have you seen pistachio soft serve and b) the sprinkles, otherwise a luxury, are free! The food is cheap, good, fresh and Ray is happy to serve it to you no matter if you’re an NYU frat kid or dressed in drag.

After support for the community and even a fundraiser in March, Ray worked out a new payment plan with his landlord last week that he hopes will allow him to stay open. But just in case, now you know where to drag your drunk ass for food next time you need a fix both without judgment and a grin.

Ray’s Candy Store
113 Avenue A
At 8th Street [East Village]

Photo credit DNA info.

Milkshakes Made Out Of Pie at Chile Pies (& Ice Cream)

Rebecca Pederson - Cheap Date — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:00:48 +0000

Thanks be to my coworker and her birthday girl demands; without her, I never would have heard of Chile Pies (& Ice Cream) and their milkshakes with pies blended into them.

Chile Pies is the dessert store that’s in cahoots with and sits a block down from Green Chile Kitchen. They let you pick your own flavor of pie and choice of Three Twins ice cream. (Warning: This is more difficult than it sounds.) We settled for the daily special blueberry lime cheesecake with the famous lemon cookie ice cream, and trust me, you’re bummed you weren’t there to eat some of it.

These milkshakes usually run for $7, but ours cost $5 for some reason I didn’t get clear details on. My coworker speculates we got a discount because our pie was about to turn. I’m not sure that’s true, but I’ve eaten blue bread out of a dumpster before so I won’t even pretend to care if it is. I do know that if you bring over a receipt from Green Chile Kitchen (which also has some sweet deals to check out), they’ll shave a little off your bill.

Next trip, I’m getting their adult version of an ice cream float made with Bison’s Chocolate Stout:

Chile Pies (& Ice Cream)
601 Baker St at Fulton St
San Francisco, CA
[Western Addition]

photo courtesy of tablehopper

Cool Ass Building: Arby’s on Fulton Street

Kiley E - Ragamuffin Researcher — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:54:27 +0000

For fast food in a fancy atmosphere, there are two options: 1. Wait until Valentine’s Day when White Castle on Metropolitan covers their tables in with cloths and offers table service. 2. Go to Arby’s in downtown Brooklyn. It’s the exact same menu that’s been a staple of suburban high school lunches for years, but it ditched the regular pre-fab truck stop aesthetic. The Fulton Street Arby’s is in a brownstone that housed of Gage and Tollner, a restaurant that was a fixture in Brooklyn from 1879 to 2004. The franchise owners painted the columns on the entrance white, but kept most of the Gage and Tollner’s interior details intact.

Initially, the Arby’s takeover was controversial. After several meetings with the Historic Landmark Commission, the finished product is the most beautiful Arby’s EVER. The entire restaurant is covered in mahogany paneling, tin ceiling tiles, twisty metal chandeliers and wooden booths with an actual class partition. While you’re getting condiments you can stare at yourself in the mirrors that would reach the ceiling if they weren’t in curved molding. And the staff is so friendly you think you’re at a suburban truck stop, until you grab your food off a counter that might actually be marble.

Gage and Tollner back in the day

The only beautiful Arby's in the world

Photos from forgottennewyork.com and goodiesfirst.com

Arby’s in Downtown Brooklyn
372 Fulton Street
Between Smith Street and Red Hook Lane

Terrorist Attacks and Doin’ It!

Ashley Friedman - Cornerstore Correspondent — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:00:53 +0000

I generally buy books. I either buy them on Amazon or at The Strand or sometimes even full price at a place like McNally Jackson or St. Marks Books because I am all about supporting local outfits. All of that made me sort of forget about the fact that there are places where FOR FREE, you can take books, read them and return them. It’s called The Library and in New York we have a lot of them. You’ll hear plenty of tales about the great things you can do with a library card and how books are forever and how reading is fundamental. But I’m here to tell a different library tale. A tale of horror. Or at least kind-of disgust.

I happened to be doing work at the New York Public Library’s recently redesigned, and therefore uniquely habitable, Mulberry Street branch the other day.

It’s a small space, designed vertically, with a work area in the lowest floor where you can sit with your laptop and pretend to work while you gchat with your friend about stupid bullshit that happened on a British teen drama that you watch because your life is otherwise empty, while all around you homeless people doze in comfy chairs.

For whatever reason this particular branch of the library seems geared towards serving a youthful population. To wit:

Great work, guys. Make ‘em feel like they belong in the book place. Given this sentiment, I am never surprised to see large collections of children’s books arranged in such a way as to really catch the eye. Monday, this one caught mine:

For the ocular-ly challenged among us, the book is called:“Where Willy Went: The big story of a little sperm!”

I’m all for telling kids the Truth About Sex and Where Babies Come From but I just don’t know that a tale that anthropomorphizes a sperm and egg, refers to them both as “beautiful” (ew.) and imagines the famished moment of human conception as some sort of field day sports event is the way to do it.

But this is where things got weird. As I went to close the book, I caught sight of the frontispiece:

Really?

Apparently, far from being a twee, dance-around-the-issue glorified stork-story, this tale of a plucky sperm in a race to fertilize an egg is actually an enduring memorial.

Victims of the September 11th attacks: you did not perish in vain.

If Etsy Were a Real Place: Renegade Craft Fair this weekend at Fort Mason

Andrew Dalton - Aggressive Panhandler — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:10:05 +0000

Since it’s 2010 and you seem like a reasonable person who likes to buy nicely made, unique things for a low price, you probably already know what Etsy is and have probably also spent far too much time at work looking for the cleverest Mother’s Day gift ever. Well, if you ever wondered what Etsy would be like if it were more like a shopping mall or a roadside flea market, then you’ll probably enjoy spending part of your weekend strolling the miles of aisles at the Renegade Craft Fair going on at Fort Mason this weekend.

This year marks the Fair’s third year in SF, and as always admission is totally FREE, so you’re welcome to leisurely peruse the wares from over 200 artists, designers and otherwise crafty people. On top of all that, there will be craft workshops, DJs, marching bands, food & drink, raffles, and a free photobooth in case you need a twee new Facebook profile photo.

Renegade Craft Fair
Saturday & Sunday, July 31 – Aug 1st
11am – 7pm
FREE Admission
Fort Mason Festival Pavilion
Laguna St. & Marina Blvd [The Marina]
More info on the FAQ Page

Packing is like a Circle of Hell, But It’s Air Conditioned

Polina Yamshchikov - Flirt Poor — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:41:37 +0000

WTF IS A MOVING KIT AND HOW DO I ACQUIRE ONE

I am in the process of packing up my entire apartment and goddamn, it is terrible. I’m predestined to be horrible at packing because I’m naturally horrible at organization. You might think that’s a personal choice of mine, but oh no, sir, you’d be wrong there: I am the girl who can’t find anything after she cleans and I definitely can’t be held accountable for complex tasks like putting shit that corresponds with other shit in the right box. Jesus.

But I can try. So can you! I’ve learned a few rules.

Yes, it really will take that long.
Packing is the worst because there’s really no way to cut down on labor or hurry it along. You have so many things in your home and short of hiring someone to do it for you, you’ve gotta make it all go somewhere – even if you end up throwing it all away. Curb alert! But seriously, don’t even for a minute that packing will not take up a sickening chunk of your time. In fact, take the amount of time you think it will take and multiply it by three. And then factor in some breaks for naps on top of your heap of shit and time spent googling “PACKING STRATEGIES.”

You need boxes. So many boxes!
The thing about trying to skimp on boxes is that, even if you save some strain by lessening your trips up and down the stairs, the boxes you do end up packing will be really fucking heavy. So heavy, in fact, that you will probably either give up or throw out your back or in a more likely scenario, both. Get more boxes than you need, and don’t overfill them. They’re not hard to get – go to the liquor store. Do not buy any liquor. Getting bombed on schnapps and going out on your fire escape to liberate all of your belongings will not equate to getting packed faster. You are dooming yourself to picking bras up off the sidewalk in your bathrobe later. Trust me on this.

Group
This is the one I have trouble with. When faced with a half-empty box at my feet, my brain goes into caveman mode and shrieks of “FILL! FILL!” overpower any rationality. I reach for whatever’s handy to shove in there. The result is opening a box to find a stash of running socks and condoms alongside peach preserves and thank you cards. This non-strategy makes unpacking as pleasant as peeling your own skin off. You might want to make a list or something.

Well folks. That’s all I’ve got for you. If all else fails, cry. Your friends will come over to console you and then you can trick them into helping with beer. Or you could share those schnapps you only half-finished, but then you’ll need an extra bathrobe.

Thursday Night Plans: $5 Tequila Tasting in Noe Valley

Andrew Dalton - Aggressive Panhandler — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:12:41 +0000

Mexican 75

I don’t really watch a lot of cooking shows because I like to get all improvisational in the kitchen, but if you’re a fan of PBS’s Cooking Class then I’m sure you’ll be excited about tomorrow night’s Tequila Tasting event at Omnivore Books with the show’s host: Joanne Weir. For a measly 5 bucks Joanne will show you how to mix up a Mexico 75, which I just had to google and sounds delicious, and take you on a flight of artisanal tequilas. So you don’t drink too much on an empty stomach, she’ll also be cooking up another Mexican dish you don’t find on taqueria menus too often – her famous handpies.

No word on whether there’s a limit on how many people can attend, so I’d recommend showing up early. There are sure to be some Joanne Weir fans lining up early to get a book signed.

$5 Tequila Tasting Class
Thursday, July 29, 6-7pm
Omnivore Books on Food
3885a Cesar Chavez St. at Church [Noe Valley]
Omnivore Events Page

This one comes to us via our old buddy JohnnyFuncheap

Mexican 75 photo via CHOW

See the Oakland A’s for $2

Broke-Ass Stuart - Editor In Cheap — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:00:58 +0000

Baseball was once America’s past time and a sport that the common man could get behind. The A’s are trying to bring that sentiment back to the people by having ludicrously cheap tickets for Wednesday home games. For just $2 you can score a seat at the stadium and watch the men in green run around in tight little pants. At these so called “Double Play Wednesdays” hotdogs will also be sold for $1. There’s no guarantee of how good the seats or dogs will be, but I’ve spent $3 in a lot worse ways (yes I’m looking at you Pokemon trading cards).

Check out the A’s Double Play Wednesday schedule here.