Casanova: Finally, a Good Pizza in Greenpoint!

Greenpoint has something of a pizza problem. I think that for most neighborhoods in NY, you can generally apply the same rule to pizzerias as you can to laundromats: you go to the one that is closest to your apartment.  A High density of pizzerias per neighborhood ensures healthy competition between establishments, so even your average, local pizza place should be better than a large chain.  

That's not the case for pies in the garden spot.  There simply aren't very many pizza places, and the one closest to my apartment, Triangolo, serves a kind of bland, junior high cafeteria style pie.  Like many food related things in Greenpoint, sometimes convenience and quality don't go hand in hand. 

Enter Casanova Restaurant.  Casanova occupies a horrible stretch of McGuinness Ave about two blocks away from the old, grey, Polaski Bridge - not exactly close to where I live, but within a comfortable walking or ordering distance.  It has one of those horrible 4' porcelain statues of a fat Italian stereotype holding a pizza (usually a bad sign), and generally kind of looks like someplace Hugh Grant would be taken by James Caan in "Mickey Blue Eyes", if you know what I mean. 

Anyway, their grandma Pizza is tops.  A Square pie, with a rich, almost foccacia like crust, it's dressed with thin slices of fresh mozzarella, bright homemade tomato sauce and lots of fresh garlic.  This thing tastes like summer.  The little dabs of basil don't really do too much, but the overall flavor combo is irresistible, and what's more, each slice is completely light and airy, with several huge air bubbles throughout.  Unlike a lot of really tasty pizzas, this pie is the very opposite of a gut bomb. We ordered one of these to celebrate a half day friday, and pretty much kept gnawing on it piece by piece for the next 8 hours like it was make-pretend food.  A Large (pictured above) is $16. 

Casanova 

338 McGuinness Blvd. 

Brooklyn, NY 11222

718 389 0990

My Phirst Pho at Baoguette

I tried Pho for the first time the other day on my first visit to Baoguette on St. Mark's.  I have a feeling that Baoguette maybe wasn't the MOST authentic place to try one of the most signature of all Vietnamese dishes.  Baoguette seemed like a lot of the inexpensive restaurants on St. Marks and in the vicinity of NYU - small, bright, loud, and designed to accommodate a lot of people coming and going.  Still, everything that I'd heard about the food here was complimentary, and I happened to be in the neighborhood, so I was game to check it out. 

After ordering the classic Pho at the counter and taking a seat, my meal arrived in a few minutes.  The soup its self certainly looked and smelled fresh. While I could taste a decent beefy flavor, and some citrus from the broth, the overwhelming flavor was cilantro.  The meat was certainly tender enough, as were the noodles, but literally after a few bites, they were nowhere to be found.  The rest of the meal was just slurp after slurp of the broth - a light, mostly bland beef bouillon with some citrus flavor.  Adding spriracha and some oyster sauce helped to thicken and add some base to the proceedings, but basically, the rest of the bowl was somewhat unsatisfying - just a bunch of broth with some little bits of sprouts and crap in it. Finishing the entire thing seemed like a chore after a while, so I didn't. 

I feel like Pho is becoming a pretty popular dish right now in New York, maybe on the coat tails of its sandwich cousin and the other main item at Baoguette, the Bahn Mi.  If Baoguette really wants to knock it out of the park, they could easily just add more beef and more noodles to what is one of their most signature dishes.  Not to get all Andy Rooney here...but I feel like Baoguette is charging too much for their fare and getting away with it because their serving a very trendy food.   While the only item I ordered was $8 - not a lot for dinner in New York these days - Baoguette is table service only.  The restaurant is tiny and mostly counters and communal tables - basically the same layout as your corner pizzeria or Falafal stand. Even though the waitress was certainly friendly, the only service involved was walking my soup three feet from the kitchen to the counter I was sitting at.   With tax and an obligatory 20% tip, dinner came out to $11.  Basically, if Boaguette just knocked off the table service and gave a little more protein and starch with their broth, then I would totally love to go back.  But, as it stands, I don't think I'll be hitting this place up anytime soon. 

After what was essentially a "non-start" with the Pho, I plan on trying a more authentic "OG" Pho spot in Chinatown sometime soon, so I'll let you know how that goes. 

Baoguette Cafe

37 St. Mark's Place 

(between 2nd Ave and 1st Ave)

New York, NY, 10003

(347) 892-2614

http://www.baoguettecafe.com/ (BTW, this website has a lot of kinks to work out?)

Airing of Greiveances: Brooklyn Label

            (What's all the hubbub about? Oh, people are getting ripped off?  Where can I sign?)

Sometimes I feel like Greenpoint is kind of like some sort of western boomtown when it comes to restaurants.  If a new place opens up, and there's nothing like it around, it will see how much it can get away with because it knows it has no competition. 

When Brooklyn label opened up a few years ago, it was one of the only restaurants on bucolic Franklin St., and the only place that served the sort of brunch that New Yorker's love - you know, eggs benedict, huevos rancheros, burgers, french toast, that kind of thing. For a while, it was great - great food, great vibe, great location. I feel like for many people it was a fun sort of "destination" brunch spot, especially if you didn't live in the neighborhood.  Three years ago, pretty much every entree was right nicely prepared, served in large portions, and priced under $10.  Amy and I were particularly fond of their hashbrowns.

Well, let's flash forward a few years, till, oh, I don't know, last Sunday.  The vibe is just as cool, the crowds just as big, if not more, the menu is much the same, except that most items are now in the $11-$17 range. Let me repeat: the same menu items are now in the $11-$19 range.  Oh, you can still get outa there under $10, if you order a bagel or something.  But, hey, this is brunch, a serious meal for the 9-5 crowd, especially on the weekends. What's a few dollars more, if you can really enjoy yourself, right? Is $40 for breakfast for two people really too much to pay if you're enjoying a nice meal, on a beautiful summer morning? 

It is.  If you wait over an hour after you order for your food. And the restaurant is completely empty.  And your $14 plate of huevos rancheros are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.  And the eggs aren't prepared correctly. And they skimp on the guacamole. And you could make better oatmeal at home.  For $2.  

Basically, Brooklyn Label is one of the swiftest, cruelest rip-offs around.  Its been that way for a while, but my last time there was the final straw.   This was not the first time that its TAKEN FOR FUCKING EVER to get REALLY PRICEY food THAT ISN'T VERY GOOD.  We've been burned by this place so many times, that I feel like a moron for griping about my most recent visit. 

Fool me once? Shame on you Brooklyn Label.  Fool me twice? Shame on...me? 

Actually, no, scratch that. Fool me once, twice, a dozen times, whatevs, this place has no reason to be as half-assed as it is for the price.  Shame on you, Brooklyn Label. 

Brooklyn Label

180 Franklin St. 

Brooklyn, NY 11222

718 389 2806

Cool and/or Funny Restaurant Signage in San Francisco

I'm doubling back a few months to cover some of the cool and/or funny restaurant signs I snapped photos of on a trip to San Francisco. 

Stylish, no? I didn't get to see this lit up, but it would be great if the martini glass moved back and forth. 

"Hey Honey, do you want to make tonight a New Woey Loy Goey night?"

This place looked like a real shit kicker's shit kicker bar.  

This deli did a lot of drugs in the 60's. 

Caffe Sport: Treasures from the Deep, From the Friendly Fisherman!